We’re applauding the total bust that was the expected oil and gas drilling lease sale on the Coastal Plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this week.

The Interior Department announced Wednesday, Jan. 8 that there were zero bids.

Trump has repeatedly stated that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—one of the largest intact remaining ecosystems left on Earth—remains one of his top energy priorities, and that drilling there would help in bringing down the price of gasoline and groceries.

He even promised that lease sales would generate over $2 billion in royalties.

Despite insistence by the incoming Trump Administration and Republican lawmakers alike, oil companies continue to prove that they aren’t interested in drilling in the refuge.

The first auction held by the Interior Department came two weeks before Trump left office in 2021. That, too, was a total failure.

Friends of Animals’ efforts to preserve Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have been ongoing for nearly a quarter century and will continue.

In the spring of 2001, FoA delivered a report to members of Congress detailing the ways in which oil drilling would cause irreversible damage to the refuge’s ecosystem and voicing our opposition to any legislation that would permit it.

That summer, we took an aerial tour of the refuge, flying over its snow-capped mountains, arctic tundra, foothills, wetlands, boreal forest and fragile coastal plains.

We wanted to see for ourselves the home of 250 species of animals including polar, grizzly and black bears, one of North America’s largest wildlife herds—the Porcupine caribou herd—muskox, artic foxes, beluga whales and over 200 species of migratory birds hailing from all 50 states. The refuge is also home to four species protected by the Endangered Species Act.

The Coastal Plain represents over 1.5 million acres of truly pristine wilderness located along the coast of the Arctic Ocean.

Since the passage of Trump’s 2017 Tax Act, there have been two mandated lease sales on the Coastal Plain (the first being the 2021 dud). In the sale conducted this week, however, the Biden administration offered just 400,000 acres, the minimum amount required by law.

The state of Alaska sued the Biden administration over the minimal size of the leasing area earlier this week, too, meaning that if they’re successful in the suit, the Trump administration could potentially redo the sale, offering more land.

Friends of Animals will be watching what unfolds and railing against any plan that might harm the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.