Washington (August 5, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, led 27 Democratic colleagues in writing to the Department of the Interior condemning the Trump administration’s move to eliminate protections for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, one of the most ecologically sensitive and culturally important regions in the Arctic.

“The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) is home to many of our nation’s Arctic treasures, including a variety of wildlife, vast waterways, and sensitive coastal resources,” the lawmakers wrote. “Yet, the Department of the Interior has proposed rescinding the Bureau of Land Management’s 2024 rule governing the NPR-A’s protection, a step that flies in the face of sound environmental stewardship. It would be disastrous for the region to repeal this common-sense and legally grounded rule— which ensures responsible management of the Western Arctic—and reopen the NPR-A to oil and gas drilling.”

They warn of the impacts of unconstrained oil and gas development and industrialization in the region, especially on subsistence resources and the climate. “Repealing the 2024 rule means reopening millions of acres of undisturbed public land to oil and gas drilling. And drilling can bring with it myriad environmental harms: seismic blasting; oil spills; gas leaks; habitat destruction; and contamination of water and soil. Without the 2024 rule, we could see massive industrial sprawl in areas such as the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area or the Colville River Special Area, which are vital to wildlife and subsistence users.”

The lawmakers continued, “Rolling back the regulations would enable more projects without strong protections for the sensitive landscape, species habitats, and impacted communities within the Western Arctic—projects like Willow, ConocoPhillips’s oil drilling project on the plain of the North Slope of Alaska in the NPR-A, a disaster from a wildlife and climate perspective.”

Read the full letter HERE.

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