On last full day in office, Trump grants Arctic drilling leases

Leaseholders would still need to seek permits from the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden before any wells could be drilled.

The administration of outgoing United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that it had issued drilling leases on more than 162,000 hectares (400,000 acres) of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), delivering on a promise to fossil fuel proponents on the president’s last full day in office. Formal issuance of the leases by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) comes a day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has pledged to protect the 7.9 million-hectare (19.6 million-acre) habitat for polar bears and caribou and to ban new oil and gas leasing on federal lands. Leaseholders would still need to seek permits from the new administration before any wells could be drilled, among other challenges.