"ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Environmental and Alaska Native groups asked a federal court in Anchorage on Tuesday to stop the U.S. Interior Department from opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas exploration before President Donald Trump leaves office next month.
Four lawsuits have been filed since August challenging the Trump administration’s plans to auction drilling rights, or lease sales, in the ecologically sensitive but potentially energy-rich coastal plain of ANWR along the Beaufort Sea.
The plaintiffs in three court cases filed motions on Tuesday seeking a preliminary injunction to block the lease sales, which the Interior Department has said it intended to hold by Jan. 6."
Yereth Rosen and Nichola Groom report for Reuters December 15, 2020.
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