Some climate advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit at Alaska Federal Court challenging U.S President, Donald Trump administration’s environmental policies.
A news report from Reuters indicated that groups sought to block Trump from revoking former President Joe Biden’s ban on offshore drilling in certain coastal areas, following a new filing in a case from the first Trump administration that seeks to reinstate prohibitions against drilling in 128 million acres of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.
The Northern Alaska Environmental Center and other groups alleged that the U.S President had no authority to undo Biden’s permanent protections against drilling in parts of the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, which Trump recently renamed the Gulf of America.
Commenting on the basis of the legal action, Steve Mashuda of Earthjustice, was quoted by Reuters as recalling that they “defeated Trump the first time he tried to roll back protections and sacrifice more of our waters to the oil industry. We’re bringing this abuse of the law to the courts again.”
Reuters reported that its efforts to reach out to the White House for comment did not immediately yield result as there was no response to its request for comment on the lawsuit.
Shortly before leaving office, the President Biden banned new offshore oil and gas development along most U.S. coastlines ahead of Trump taking office.
However, analysts considered the move as mostly symbolic as it did not impact areas where drilling was already underway and mainly covered zones lacking important development prospects.
Within hours of his inauguration, Trump sought to reverse the ban as part of his sundry executive orders aimed at boosting the U.S’ already record-high oil and gas production and unwinding Biden’s climate agenda.
The groups say drilling in those areas would have “significant, wide-ranging adverse impacts” on endangered species, sensitive ecosystems and local tribes.
