The United States on Monday invited oil companies to choose arctic drilling prospects as President Donald Trump races to enact a controversial Alaska leasing plan in his final days in office.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said it will on Tuesday officially open a 30-day period to accept nominations and comment on some 650,000 hectares in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, pushing the plan a step further in the period before the Trump administration departs in January.
But US environmentalists, who have opposed drilling in ANWR for decades and garnered support from President-elect Joe Biden, vowed to fight the effort.
Leasing tracts normally takes months in between the period when a property is first publicised and a contract is finalised, posing challenges to Mr Trump's timetable.
The refuge is home to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife. Source: U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service
"Nobody should ever underestimate the Trump administration's willingness to ignore the law in favour of its agenda, but I don't see how they could sign leases before they are ushered out," Niel Lawrence, Alaska Director at the National Resources Defence Council told AFP, adding that environmentalists "are girding for battle."
The move aims to open up to development a target area long sought by petroleum interests and defended by environmentalists. Some major banks have said they won't finance projects in the refuge.
'Day-one' priority
Mr Biden, who is scheduled to take office on 20 January, 2021 after defeating Mr Trump in this month's presidential election, said during the campaign that permanently protecting ANWR stood among his "day one" priorities.
"The United States must have a bold plan to achieve a 100 per cent clean energy economy and net-zero emissions no later than 2050 here at home," his campaign website reads. "On day one, Biden will sign a series of executive orders that put us on this track."
Tuesday's announcement, published in the Federal Register which documents new laws and rules, creates the official comment period and will be followed by a subsequent public notice announcing the lease sale date "published at least 30 days prior to the sale date," BLM said.
"Receiving input from industry on which tracts to make available for leasing is vital in conducting a successful lease sale," said BLM Alaska State Director Chad Padgett.
Environmentalists have long fought the plan and filed a lawsuit in US court in August contesting the proposal on the basis that it would irreparably harm a place of pristine wildlife that is home to migrating caribou and polar bears.
The BLM statement made no mention of Mr Biden or of the change in administrations. Mr Trump is the first US president in modern times not to concede after electoral defeat while he embarks on a series of longshot lawsuits to overturn the election.
A polar bear swims in the water off a barrier island in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just outside the Inupiat village of Kaktovik, Alaska. Source: EPA
"This is another example of the Trump administration on the way out the door refusing to accept reality," said Mr Lawrence, who hopes oil companies won't participate even if the Trump administration moves ahead with the sale.
Oil industry backers note that 2017 tax reform legislation authorised drilling in the refuge.
"Congress has already acted to open ANWR for safe development, and we welcome any progress in moving forward," said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute.
That group is among the Washington organisations that have recognised Mr Biden's win, congratulating the president-elect on November 7 along with running mate Kamala Harris, and pledging to work with the new administration to "support America's economic recovery."
