Alaska court to hear challenge to Arctic refuge oil leases

Weak response to ANWR lease sale applauded by Yukon politicians, activists



The weak response to the initial sale of oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Wednesday shows that activists' campaigns are working, says a Yukon environmentalist.

Malkolm Boothroyd of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Yukon says the lack of interest from big players is significant.

Big oil companies were revealed not to have entered any bids Wednesday as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management opened sealed envelopes containing bids for oil and gas rights for parts of the pristine arctic coastline.

The long-anticipated sale received 16 bids on 12 of the 22 tracts offered, and the state itself — through the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority — was the sole bidder on at least eight of the 12 tracts.

Boothroyd says it's a sign that economics are changing when it comes to oil — and that activists' campaigns to protect the refuge from development are working.

"All the big players turned their backs on this lease sale, and I think that speaks to the work that the Gwich'in and their allies have done in the last decades to stand up to oil drilling in the Arctic refuge," he said.

"Companies knew they would face incredible opposition to drilling, they would struggle to find banks to loan them money," he added.