Balanced News: Biden bars oil drilling across wide swath of Alaska’s Arctic

The Biden Administration announced plans to protect millions of acres of land in Alaska’s Arctic, preventing drilling in certain areas and canceling all remaining oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Interior Department will also limit drilling in more than half of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, banning it on nearly 11 million acres and restricting it on another 2 million. The administration proposed a ban on drilling across almost 3 million acres offshore in the Beaufort Sea. Conservation groups praised the moves, but the Willow oil project, approved earlier this year, will not be affected.