Maxwell Bernstein | November 18, 2020

As of Tuesday, the Trump administration auctioned off development rights for land in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to allow oil and gas companies to drill, according to NPR.

The Bureau of Land Management will receive all nominations and comments on the tracts of land before Dec. 17, 2020, according to the official “Call for Nominations and Comments for the Coastal Plain Alaska Oil and Gas Lease Sale.”  

The Arctic refuge’s coastal plain, the region that is being auctioned, is about 1.6 million acres of land where caribou migrate, polar bears den, and migratory birds feed. 

In 63 days president-elect Joe Biden will take office on Jan. 20, 2021, making this auction a last push for the Trump administration to benefit oil and gas companies.