Oil, and humanity’s dependency on it, has dominated global media headlines this month. Now, our country’s most pristine ecosystems in the Western Arctic is being dragged into that same extractive-focused conversation.
Late last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held the first lease sale in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) since 2019. Another lease sale in the NPR-A is on the horizon this July, thus we must make our collective voice louder to ensure giants like ConocoPhillips – who already operates the controversial Willow Project on Alaska’s North Slope – know their sales won’t go unnoticed by Americans.
This first sale drew 430 bids on 187 tracts totaling 1,334,967 acres and brought in $163.7 million in winning bids (summary of what companies paid for these leases). These areas leased include land set aside to protect local community subsistence needs, critical wildlife habitat and designated Special Areas (map of the leases sold).
Below are two way we can take action against Big Oil and protect the NRP-A:
Action 1) Join in on the #NoArcticLicense coordinated social media pressure campaign, by showing up directly in the comments section of oil companies’ posts, namely ConocoPhillips.
- Here is a toolkit and press release by Alaska Wilderness League to learn more. Take inspiration from this series by local artist, Rachel Phol!
- More context on ConocoPhillips: An already dominate industrial giant in the Western Arctic, ConocoPhillips leases 1 million acres through the Willow project and recently bid on parcels immediately adjacent to it – seeking to reclaim those very acres makes clear it has no intention of honoring the “smaller footprint” commitment it made when the project was approved. The company made headlines after a recent drilling rig they had under contract collapsed and caught fire outside the NPR-A boundary, and for their pursuit of a controversial drill site just two miles from the community of Nuiqsut.
Action 2) In-Person Action this week in Portland and Houston.
- Houston: Attend CERAWeek, Big Oil’s biggest gathering of leadership, including in-person demonstrations and another Peoples’ Hearing.
- Portland: Join Alaska Wilderness League and local community partners on Thursday, March 26th from 6-8pm to learn what’s at stake and share testimony that will help demonstrate opposition to drilling. RSVP here!
The stakes in the Western Arctic are immense. The NPR-A supports the Western Arctic caribou herd, millions of migratory birds, and iconic species like polar bears and wolves. At its heart, Teshekpuk Lake—one of the Arctic’s most sensitive ecosystems—provides critical habitat for molting geese and calving caribou. Some of the lands now proposed for leasing, including within this special area, have been protected from development since 1999. Opening them to Big Oil risks irreversible harm—making it critical that we act now to defend this irreplaceable landscape.
Header photo found on NRDC’s article “A river snakes through the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska”. Credit: Mark Newman/Getty Images
