1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I am opposed to oil and gas development in the Western Arctic. There are no tracts of land in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) or anywhere in Alaska’s Arctic that should be nominated for oil and gas leasing. This is a place of staggering natural beauty and a globally significant ecosystem that supports countless species, from migratory birds to caribou and polar bears. It is also home to Indigenous communities who have stewarded the land for millennia. The Western Arctic also plays a critical role in stabilizing our climate: its permafrost stores vast amounts of carbon, and its reflective sea ice helps cool the planet. Protecting this region is essential not only for preserving biodiversity but also for slowing global warming and avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. And the law supports it. Protections for the Western Arctic’s lands are embedded in the National Petroleum Reserves Protection Act (NPRPA). When Congress transferred management of the Western Arctic from the U.S. Navy to the Bureau of Land Management in 1976, it recognized the area’s rich ecological values and required “maximum protection” of fish, wildlife, and habitat. When Congress authorized leasing in 1980, it again directed the federal government to ensure the protection of the Western Arctic’s ecological and cultural resources. Now, this administration wants to go backwards. Offering up the NPR-A to oil and gas leasing and industrializing even the most sensitive areas in the Western Arctic in pursuit of dirty oil that should have no place in our energy future. The administration should be working to develop a post-oil future for the region, not paving the way for outdated, destructive oil development. It is especially troubling that the administration is prioritizing exploiting public lands for the benefit of oil companies while hard-working federal employees are working without pay or out of work due to the ongoing government shutdown, and while so many residents of western Alaska are still contending with the aftermath of Typhoon Halong, which devastated some coastal communities. Recklessly exploiting these priceless public lands to benefit oil companies without considering the true costs of this development is the last thing the federal government should be focused on right now.