Conservation groups ramp up national campaign to chill ANWR bidding and investment

Conservation groups and Alaska Natives have ramped up their campaign to persuade major oil and gas companies not to bid in a lease sale planned for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by the Trump administration.

The U.S. 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act requires the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, to hold a lease sale in the refuge’s 1.5-millon-acre coastal plain by December, 2021. The agency has completed its required environmental review of the leasing but has not yet set a date for the sale of leases.

Campaigns aimed at company managements, investor groups and analysts, warn of delays and costs of lawsuits and damage to company reputations. It is a new weapon fashioned by conservation groups that has been used successfully to chill investment in controversial projects like Pebble, a proposed large mine in southwest Alaska.

A letter from 259 indigenous, conservation and faith organizations was sent Sept. 18 to Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Hilcorp Energy asked the companies not to pursue oil and gas development in coastal plain.

“The environmental, climate, human and economic risks of drilling in the refuge will certainly leave a stain on a company’s reputation,” said Karlin Itchoak, Alaska state director for The Wilderness Society, who is an Alaska Native.

The letter states that “Chronic spills of oil and other toxic substances in addition to air, water and noise pollution in the fragile tundra would scar this now unsullied land while disrupting wildlife like caribou, polar bear and countless migratory birds.”

Investors are taking notice, the companies were told. As evidenced by the recent announcements from five of the six largest U.S. domestic banks, the pursuit of oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge comes with financial risk as well.

“At a time when demand for oil and gas is likely in permanent decline, drilling in the Arctic Refuge doesn’t make fiscal sense. Arctic lease sales are likely to be challenged legally, resulting in additional costs for your beleaguered industry. The risks of investing in new oil exploration are high,” the letter said. nLawsuits aimed at blocking the sale have already been filed.

The campaign will go further than writing letters, the companies were warned. “Soon we will also be briefing asset managers, insurance and reinsurance companies on the risks of doing business in the Arctic Refuge. As the global community works to pivot away from fossil fuels in the face of climate change, the pursuit of oil and gas in remote corners of the globe will continue to face strong social and political opposition,” the letter said.

“Any company that bids on leases or expresses interest in destroying the Arctic Refuge for oil will face a major public backlash and long-lasting damage to their reputation. As you plan for tomorrow,” the companies were told.

“We hope you recognize that drilling in the Arctic Refuge isn’t worth the risk — financially, in terms of your reputations, or for our future,” the companies were told. “Over 70 percent of voters in the United States oppose drilling in the Arctic Refuge,” the letter said.