Environmental groups sue to block Alaska's Arctic drilling

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Environmental groups filed lawsuits aimed at halting efforts by the Trump administration to open up wide swaths of Alaska’s Arctic to oil drilling.

Two separate lawsuits were filed late Monday challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s plan to allow drilling on more than 18 million acres of land in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The legal actions contend the administration is rolling back protections for the ecosystem.

The lawsuits came the same day environmental groups filed legal challenges to the Department of the Interior’s opening of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas lease sales.

“We’re pushing back against the Trump administration’s assault on the Arctic and drawing the line,” said Rebecca Noblin, an attorney for the law firm EarthJustice, which filed separate lawsuits against drilling plans for both areas on behalf of four environmental groups.

Interior spokesperson Conner Swanson said responsible exploration and development of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is vital to the nation’s energy independence and economic security.

“The department’s commonsense actions are lawful and based on the best available science, and we will continue to implement President Trump’s agenda to create more American jobs, protect the safety of American workers, support domestic energy production and conserve our environment,” Swanson said.

In June, the Department of the Interior said it planned to open more than 18 million acres of the reserve — an area the size of Indiana — to oil drilling.

The reserve was set aside by President Warren Harding in 1923 for its potential petroleum value. The entire 23-million-acre site on the western North Slope contains about 8.7 billion...