Alaska court to hear challenge to Arctic refuge oil leases

Conservationists will try to persuade a US judge on Monday to stop the Trump administration from issuing leases to oil and gas companies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The video-conference in US District Court in Anchorage is expected to determine whether the Bureau of Land Management can open bids in an online lease sale scheduled for Wednesday, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The land agency said in a statement that it is required by law to create an oil and gas programme for the refuge’s coastal plain and hold at least two sales there.

The agency has offered 10-year leases on 22 tracts covering about 4,048sq km (1,563 square miles) in the coastal plain, which accounts for about 5 percent of the refuge’s area.

Conservation groups described the sale as a last-minute push by the Trump administration to help secure drilling rights for oil companies before President Donald Trump leaves office this month.

The lawsuit was brought by the National Audubon Society and three other conservation groups, which are represented by lawyers with Earthjustice.

Federal lawyers will defend Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, the Bureau of Land Management, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and others that intervened in the case, including the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.

Kara Moriarty, head of the oil and gas group, said she could not discuss the hearing because it is an ongoing legal issue.

The group said in a legal brief that issuing a lease will not cause irreparable injury to the Arctic refuge.

The case is one of four lawsuits from conservationists, Alaska tribal entities and 15 state governments. The lawsuits seek to halt drilling in the refuge after the Republican-led Congress in 2017 approved the lease sale.

Karlin Itchoak, state director for The Wilderness Society in Alaska, a plaintiff in one of the cases, said his group hopes to put the oil leasing issue in the hands of President-elect Joe Biden, who has said he opposes drilling in the refuge.

Monday’s arguments will only cover the potential issuing of leases and not resolve the cases.