The Biden administration is suspending oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were issued in the final weeks of the Trump administration. The Interior Department said the Trump leasing program wasn’t properly reviewed for its environmental impacts. The move comes a week after the Biden administration defended a massive oil and gas project in northern Alaska known as the “Willow Master Project.” Environmental and Indigenous groups are suing the government in an attempt to stop the multibillion-dollar deal with ConocoPhillips, which was approved last year by the Trump administration. Groups say the project, which is set to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 30 years, will disrupt fragile wildlife and contribute to the climate crisis.
