The Pentagon did not give the Army Corps of Engineers a directive to revoke the road’s permitting until five days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Arctic
Biden’s Interior Department, as a last act, proposes subsistence protection in NPR-A
It’s not clear any of the new management guidance for the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska will survive the transition to the new administration. Its focus is resource development.
Quintillion fiber ring could quell Alaska’s Arctic internet outages
The company says a new 950-mile fiber optic cable from Nome to Homer should offer redundancy against undersea damage that caused a major outage in 2023.
Oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge draws no bids
Gwich’in and environmental opponents celebrate the results, while state officials expect the incoming Trump administration to make it easier to drill in the refuge.
Why Alaska is trying to stop the feds from issuing drilling leases in the Arctic Refuge
The state of Alaska has been the biggest fan of oil and gas drilling in the refuge. It says this lease sale is designed to discourage development.
Biden closes Northern Bering Sea to offshore drilling
The decision adds to a closure Obama created. It’s not clear Trump can reverse it without an act of Congress. The oil and gas industry is not active in the area.
Inland caribou herds aren’t recovering, report says
The 2024 Arctic Report Card also documents increasing sea traffic and thriving ice seals.
New conservation program on Alaska’s North Slope to offset Willow drilling impact
A right-of-way agreement gives Nuiqsut’s city and tribal governments and Native corporation authority over 1 million acres to protect caribou habitat from oil impacts.
Arctic tundra now emitting more carbon gases than it absorbs, annual report says
The tundra regions have become a net carbon source rather than a carbon sink, the result of permafrost warming, increased wildfires and other effects of climate change.
Coast Guard secures new icebreaker from civilian service
The Aiviq, named after the Inupiaq word for walrus, was acquired for service last month. It will join the Coast Guard fleet in 2026.