There’s nothing radical about protecting the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska

With climate change rapidly reshaping the Arctic, the Biden administration’s recent change to management of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska is overdue. This is the first significant update in 40 years, and it is a critical step toward prioritizing community health and protecting the intact ecosystems of the reserve.

This rule change will make it easier for the government to adapt its management policies for changing environmental conditions, and requires mitigation for development impacts. It encourages the Bureau of Land Management to pursue co-stewardship opportunities with local communities. It also clarifies existing protections for the reserve’s special areas—13 million acres recognized for their cultural, subsistence and ecological values. By setting up a process to update and designate new special areas at least every 10 years, this rule helps the government respond more quickly to local feedback and new scientific research.

Some say this update shuts the door on future development in the reserve. That’s not true. Existing leases remain valid. And there’s been no shortage of opportunities for oil companies: Developers had the chance to bid on a cumulative total of 60 million acres during the 15 most recent leases between 1999 and 2019. Many of them chose not to—only 12% of the available tracts actually received bids. This spring’s rule simply provides balance after many years spent prioritizing industry interests.

There is nothing radical about ensuring that corporate profits are not put above the health of Alaska’s communities and ecosystems. In fact, a core tenet of the 1976 Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act is to protect fish and wildlife, subsistence, recreation and the cultural resources of the reserve. 

While the five existing special areas—Teshekpuk Lake, Colville River, Utukok River Uplands, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay—are indeed special, this entire region supports vital biodiversity. Millions of migratory birds arrive from around the world each summer, fish spawn and overwinter in rivers and streams, and caribou herds calve and forage from south of the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean. 

Unfortunately, 2.5 million acres of the reserve are already leased to oil companies, including roughly 800,000 acres within designated special areas. That’s what allowed the recent development of several major oil fields, like ConocoPhillips’ Willow project. Industry advocates fall back on the tired refrain that Alaska does mining and oil better than the rest of the world—but local Alaskan communities still live with the consequences. 

In 2022, for example, after the blowout at ConocoPhillips’ Alpine oil field, company employees got evacuated, while the people of Nuiqsut were left wondering how it would impact their health. ConocoPhillips was eventually fined nearly $1 million for the weeks-long release of natural gas. 

Change will not happen overnight, but supporting Arctic communities is not synonymous with more oil. The Northwest Arctic Borough’s recent push for heat pumps and solar power is just one example of locally ed innovation. Instead of advocating for future oil development, our politicians could make an immediate difference by closing tax loopholes and subsidies for oil companies that cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

As the cultural and economic costs of climate change multiply around the state—from a decline in the population of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd to permafrost thaw and coastal erosion—it’s time to put Alaskans before oil.