Biden ends drilling in ANWR, sparking criticism, as Willow Project moves forward

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP hide caption

toggle caption U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP

The Biden administration is canceling the only seven oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The leases were originally issued by the Trump administration over the protests of environmentalists and some Alaska Native groups who argue the region should be protected as a critical wildlife habitat.

In January 2021, nine leases covering more than 430,000 acres were issued by the Trump administration; the Biden administration has already canceled and refunded two of the leases at the request of the leaseholders. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state-owned economic development corporation, owned the remaining seven leases — this action applies to those tracts.

In this file photo, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, left, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, leave the chamber after a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 10, 2017. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

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In this file photo, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, left, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, leave the chamber after a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 10, 2017.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The move drew quick pushback from Alaska's two Republican senators, , the law that required Trump to hold the oil and gas lease sale.

Speaking to reporters in the Capitol, Sen. Dan Sullivan accused Biden of not following the law.

"They just yanked those leases," Sullivan said. "But now we're going to get ready for the next lease sale. Give me a break. Who the hell in their right mind would invest money in a lease sale when they just watched the first lease sale get yanked?"

The administration is required to hold at least one more lease sale in ANWR. Senior administration officials said they "intend to comply with the law" in regards to that mandate.

The original sale, held during the last weeks of the Trump Administration, . Major oil companies did not participate, and the state of Alaska was the largest bidder.

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This summer 2018 file photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy on a research cruise in the Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska borders the Chukchi Sea to the west. Devin Powell/AP hide caption

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This summer 2018 file photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy on a research cruise in the Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska borders the Chukchi Sea to the west.

Devin Powell/AP

While the new regulations will block new oil and gas leases in the protected areas, they will not block the development of existing leases in the NPR-A, including ConocoPhillips' controversial Willow Project.

Alaska oil drilling projects have been top of mind for both the administration and voters this year. The latest announcement comes several months after resulting in blowback to the administration.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre to confront the administration specifically with concerns about the Willow project.

But the administration insisted the new protections are separate from decisions about the Willow project.

"These are two entirely different processes," a senior administration official said on Wednesday.

Its approval has raised concerns from other young voters, who than their older counterparts.