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For the remainder of his term, the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump wants to stimulate oil and natural gas production on an Arctic nature reserve in Alaska. The Home Office has launched an invitation to oil and gas companies to submit an offer to lease drilling rights within 30 days. The move comes about two months before newly elected president Joe Biden, who is opposed to oil and gas drilling in the region, takes office.
The area is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the northeastern part of the state. The nature reserve covers a total of about 80,000 square kilometers, which is more than the area of Bavaria. Considerable deposits of raw materials in the nature reserve are suspected; Possible exploitation has been debated for decades.
Companies must register their interest in some plots in an area of almost 650,000 hectares within the next month. This is a preliminary stage for a subsequent drilling license auction. The corresponding document will be officially published on Tuesday.
In August, the Home Office kicked off drilling in the coastal region of northern Alaska, which is home to polar bears, reindeer and many other animals. This immediately caused harsh criticism from environmentalists. Initially, up to 8% of the nature reserve should be usable for drilling, as the Interior Ministry had stated.
The United States Congress essentially approved drilling in the nature reserve three years ago. At the time, Trump’s Republicans had a majority in both houses of Congress. Since early 2019, Democrats have had a majority in the House of Representatives. Trump’s government paved the way for drilling in 2017 with a change in the law.
Trump is a declared climate skeptic and promoter of the national oil industry. During his tenure, he loosened numerous environmental regulations in order to accommodate the economy. Meanwhile, newly elected President Biden, who is expected to take office on January 20, has made climate protection one of his main political goals.
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