Trump administration issues Arctic refuge drilling leases on last day in office

The Trump administration said on Tuesday it had issued drilling leases on more than 400,000 acres of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, delivering on a signature promise to fossil fuel proponents on President Donald Trump's last full day in office.

Formal issuance of the leases by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management comes a day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre habitat for polar bears and caribou and to ban new oil and gas leasing on federal lands. Lease holders would still need to seek permits from the new administration before any wells could be drilled.