The Trump administration announced it will grant oil and gas companies a categorical exclusion from environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act to conduct Arctic drilling operations. The Bureau of Land Management approved the exclusion, allowing seismic surveys, ice road construction, airstrip construction, and exploratory drilling to proceed without the environmental analysis typically required by NEPA.
Mike Scott, National Oil and Gas Campaign Manager for the Sierra Club, said the decision amounts to "handing Big Oil another free pass to exploit America's public lands, this time by gutting environmental oversight in one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet." Scott added that "this isn't about lowering energy costs or helping Alaskans" but rather "doing the fossil fuel industry's bidding at the expense of wildlife, Alaska Native communities, and our public lands."