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The state of Alaska has officially filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration, challenging the federal government’s decision to impose severe restrictions on an oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Some shit you should know before you read: Back in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law under the Trump Administration, included a provision mandating two oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s (ANWR) Coastal Plain, an area believed to hold significant untapped energy resources. The law required the Interior Department to have these sales, each covering at least 400,000 acres, as part of efforts to boost domestic energy production and generate federal revenue. However, under the Biden Administration, the scope of these lease sales was drastically limited. In December 2024, the administration announced the lease sale would include only the minimum acreage allowed under the law while imposing stringent restrictions on surface use and occupancy, effectively curtailing any viable development. This decision was part of broader efforts to reduce drilling in the environmentally sensitive Arctic region.

What’s going on now: In court filings, the state of Alaska argues that the Biden Administration’s decision to restrict the acreage available for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) violates the mandates of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Alaska, argues that the imposed restrictions on surface use and occupancy make it “impossible or impracticable” to conduct economically viable development in the Coastal Plain. Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor stated, “President Biden’s Administration ignored the law and took this unlawful detour without even presenting their final decision to the public for comment.” The state’s legal challenge demands that the court nullify the December restrictions and prohibit the Department of the Interior from issuing leases under the restrictive terms.

Alaska officials also said the economic impact of the Biden Administration’s actions would be consequential, arguing that they threaten both state revenue and energy independence. According to state leaders, the 2017 law projected lease sales in ANWR would generate $2 billion in federal revenue, with substantial economic benefits to Alaska through job creation and state royalties.

This all comes as President-Elect Donald Trump has vowed to reverse the Biden Administration’s restrictive policies on oil and gas development in the ANWR. Despite Trump taking office in less than two weeks, Governor Mike Dunleavy said, “We have already heard comments from the incoming president that his administration will thankfully take a different tack and open up those areas that are meant to be developed. But unfortunately, we can’t wait for that—we have to challenge this unlawful action now.”