It is time for Congress to take action to protect taxpayers from
another failed lease sale in the Arctic Refuge.

TCS Wordmark with the word ACTION beneath

Unbeknownst to many taxpayers, over one million acres of Alaskan land are available for oil and gas leases. The government estimated those leases would help bring in tax revenue. There’s only one problem: no one wants to lease them

Broad changes were implemented to the federal tax code back in 2017, including tax cuts totaling more than $1.8 trillion over 10 years. Part of those changes included a new program aimed at raising tax revenue through leasing out parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. 

While some may assume companies like Chevron, Hilcorp, and Exxon Mobil would be clamoring for the opportunity to develop oil and gas resources in the Alaskan Arctic Plain, they’d be wrong. Chevron and Hilcorp showed some initial interest, but eventually abandoned their plans. Exxon Mobil informed their investors that they had no plan to explore the Arctic Refuge. 

That may have something to do with banks refusing to fund oil business in the arctic. Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Chase, and others are unwilling to partner with oil companies on those projects. 

This miscalculation came at a cost. Specifically, taxpayers were promised that oil and gas leases in ANWR would raise $1 billion, but they’ve only raised a fraction of that – less than three-quarters of one percent to be precise. 

As if that weren’t bad enough, current law requires another attempt at a lease sale despite there being no interest garnered and hardly any revenue raised. The most desirable parcels were included in the first lease sale, and those only received two bids. There’s no reason to believe land with less potential would garner more revenue, or any revenue, given the history of past lease sales.

Further, drilling for oil and gas in the ANWR, a sensitive and remote region, could create significant near- and long-term liabilities, meaning taxpayers would ultimately have to foot the bill. 

With all this in mind, it’s clear arctic leasing is hurting taxpayers in more ways than one. 

We’re urging policymakers and the Administration to move to limit or repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s authorization to issue oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before it’s too late.