By Dawnell Smith Agencies produce environmental impact statements to analyze and assess the impacts of a project proposal on people and the environment. An EIS is meant to help agencies make good decisions about proposals that impact land, water, animals, … Read More
The Biden administration announced in January 2022 that it intends to reverse a Trump-era plan that would have allowed for increased and extensive oil extraction within the largest unit of public land in the country. This is good news, and also it’s not enough. … Read More
Our work feels less frantic and chaotic than it did a year ago. Nonetheless, the divisive 2020 election that led to an insurrection slashed any hope of taking a break from staying vigilant about defending democracy, ensuring climate action, and sustaining the health of Alaska’s lands and waters.
Yes, a lot has changed in 2021, with real hope that climate policy will honor and prioritize frontline communities and Indigenous ways of life. Yet the Biden administration continues to defend Trump era decisions and actions that threaten Alaska communities, animals, and landscapes. … Read More
August brought good news for the Arctic and planet when a federal court voided illegally issued permits for the ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil and gas project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. And September brought more good news when the Interior Department directed the Bureau of Land Management to reevaluate the destructive Trump-era 2020 management plan that would open up protected areas of the Reserve to oil and gas and further driving up carbon emissions.… Read More
We were in court calling out an illegal Trump-era approval of the massive ConocoPhillips’ Willow Master Development Plan. The Biden administration–against some of its state climate and public health goals–defended the approval in court, as did ConocoPhillips. … Read More
The Biden administration confirmed through legal briefs filed in court May 26 that it will undermine its own climate promises by continuing to defend the legally flawed Trump-era approval of ConocoPhillips’ massive Willow oil project. Those legal briefs were submitted … Read More
The climate crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. Scientists knew as early as the 19th century. Researchers worried about the impacts on people in the 1950s and 60s. Exxon and likely other oil companies knew in the 1970s. Elected officials were warned in the 1980s. … Read More
We got good news when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted our motion for an emergency order stopping blasting, gravel mining, and road construction on the ConocoPhillips’ Willow project. On-the-ground construction would do real and immediate harm.… Read More
We’re taking the Interior Department, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to court for unlawfully and prematurely authorizing the ConocoPhillips Willow Master Plan despite its known harms to people and wildlife. BLM approved the Willow proposal in late October, despite the lack of a permit application and despite serious concerns from the public about the agency rushing the public process during a pandemic. … Read More
Trump agencies have become conveyor belts for moving public lands into industry hands with zero respect for the law, public input, science, climate consequences, Indigenous homelands, or the harm to air, water, land, wildlife and people.… Read More