As the Trump administration moved forward Friday with a lease sale opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development, Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) didn't hold back, calling out the administration for prioritizing industry over people and sacred lands.
"The Gwich'in people, who have called this area home since time immemorial, refer to its coastal plain as the sacred place where life begins," Grijalva said. "Today it's up for sale."
The refuge's coastal plain stretches along northeast Alaska's Beaufort Sea coast and the caribou herds the Gwich'in people have depended on for centuries.
Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk are two of Alaska's largest producing fields and federal geologists estimate the area could hold anywhere from 4 to nearly 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil, though the actual quality and quantity remains largely unknown.
Arguing Against the Administration
"These are the same oil and gas companies that have had this administration's ear from day one," Grijalva continued, adding that the White House had made no secret of its willingness to deliver for energy industry interests.
"The American people deserve to know who this administration is really working for," she said. "It isn't you, it isn't me, and it sure isn't the Gwich'in people."
Friday's auction is part of the administration's broader push to expand energy development across Alaska.
A March sale in Cook Inlet attracted zero bidders, while a separate auction in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska drew considerable industry participation despite active legal challenges.
A coalition of conservation groups, including the Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society, urged major oil companies to sit out Friday's sale, citing legal uncertainty and reputational risk.
Gwich'in leaders have pledged to keep fighting any effort to drill in the refuge, which they consider irreplaceable.
"I'll be watching what happens with this sale very closely," Grijalva said.
