Patagonia's Official Comment Regarding the Draft Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Deb Haaland

1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 2024

Comments re: Draft Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, DOI-BLM-AK-0000-2021-0006

Dear President Biden and Secretary Haaland,

On behalf of Patagonia, I thank the Biden administration for canceling the seven remaining oil and gas leases on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Patagonia is a U.S.-based outdoor apparel brand that, for over 30 years, has advocated for the strongest possible protections for the Indigenous people, wildlife, lands and waters of the Refuge. We oppose all oil and gas development and extraction in the Refuge, particularly on the Coastal Plain. Given the Coastal Plain’s critical importance to Indigenous culture and beliefs, food security and traditional activities that link thriving communities to wildlife and the landscape, the profound negative impacts of oil and gas development on the Coastal Plain’s biodiversity would not only permanently damage this rich natural ecosystem, but also violate the rights of local Indigenous Peoples. Further, we need the administration to more urgently address the impact that increased fossil fuel extraction will have on our global climate.

We appreciate that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have put extensive effort into the draft supplemental environmental impact statement, however we find the analyses of the impacts of an oil and gas program on Coastal Plain resources and users falls short of providing a full picture of what those impacts would be. With adequate analyses and alignment on science regarding impacts to important species like caribou and muskoxen, the large array of bird and aquatic species, sensitive soil and permafrost, air quality and many other factors, we are confident a complete assessment will demonstrate that any level of oil and gas development is completely incompatible with necessary protections for this region’s natural resources, and therefore the cultural, community and food security needs of local Indigenous Peoples.

Currently, 25% of U.S. carbon emissions come from fossil fuel extraction on our public lands and, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has warned that our domestic oil and gas production is likely to increase steadily in the coming decades. This scenario, which would likely be realized with approval of new drilling projects across the Arctic Refuge and Western Arctic, would result in erasing at least half the projected CO2 reductions from the Inflation Reduction Act within a decade, undermining our nation’s climate goals. Further, the Arctic is experiencing the impacts of climate change at a rate four times greater than the rest of the world – including permafrost thawing and the subsequent release of stored carbon. But we have the answers we need. Protecting and restoring our lands and waters can provide roughly one-third of the solution by way of carbon sequestration and reduced carbon emissions – two measures necessary to solve the climate crisis.

In summary, we urge the Biden administration to adopt the highest level of protections for the biodiversity and cultural resources of the Coastal Plain – to protect the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd and subsistence for local communities, and safeguard threatened species from the impacts of oil and gas development and extraction. We also urge the Department of the Interior to conduct a thorough assessment of the climate impacts of leasing and its compatibility with U.S. climate goals. Finally, we ask you to work with Congress to repeal the Tax Act’s leasing program.

This moment represents a historic opportunity for the Biden administration to protect tens of millions of acres of habitat and cultural resources and leverage the critical role the Arctic must play in addressing the climate crisis.

Sincerely,

Hans Cole, VP of Environmental Activism

Patagonia