Eleven AGs Urged BLM to Improve its Consideration of the Environmental Impacts of Arctic Oil and Gas Leasing Program

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey led a coalition of 11 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter in response to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed scope of a supplemental environmental impact statement on land that has been leased for oil and gas development in some of Alaska’s most protected land in its northern region. The letter argued that the previous environmental impact statement failed to consider alternatives, inadequately evaluated climate impacts, and insufficiently evaluated the program’s impact on migratory birds. The coalition advised that if BLM cannot correct the mistakes of the last environmental review, then the issued leases and any future lease sales should be canceled.