Proposed Interior Department rules may complicate oil drilling in Arctic amid climate change concerns and conservation efforts.

Proposed Interior Department rules for drilling in the Western Arctic may result in conflicting views on climate change and the future of the oil industry in the region. The Bureau of Land Management proposal could strengthen Interior’s ability to block future drilling on protected lands in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, following Biden’s approval of the Willow oil project in the same reserve. Earthjustice attorney Jeremy Lieb said the proposed rules don’t address the question of how ongoing oil development in the reserve aligns with climate commitments. The rules, expected to be finalised soon, would direct BLM to consider cumulative impacts of oil and gas activity in the NPR-A and require actions to mitigate these effects. The proposal does not explicitly bar development across the roughly 13 million acres of the reserve that are currently set aside for conservation, but could make drilling more difficult where it is allowed.