U.S. Interior Department Wants To Hear From Public On Alaska Energy Drilling

As Connecting the Dots reported in early August, the Biden administration will formally launch an environmental review of the Trump administration’s decision to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling. (Previously, the Biden administration had said its predecessor’s action had “legal deficiencies.”)

Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it will hold three virtual meetings for the public to comment on the new environmental review. The meetings, which would be held virtually twice a day on September 14-16, 2021, would allow the public to voice their opinions on the current drilling plan and flag any issues for the new review, which the Biden administration plans to finish in October.

More information about, and registration for, these sessions is available here.

MSCI supports an all-of-the-above energy policy and encourages its member company leaders and employees to weigh in with policymakers on energy issues.

As Connecting the Dots reported earlier this year, President Biden’s decision to end construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline cut off the potential delivery of 830,000 barrels of Canadian oil per day to U.S. refineries, making the United States more dependent on foreign energy sources.

The Biden administration also has suspended new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, which accounts for 22 percent of total U.S. crude oil production, contributes $76 billion to the economy, and supports over 300,000 U.S. jobs.