{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-and-rep-huffman-lead-letters-opposing-lame-duck-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-and-seismic-exploration-in-arctic-refuge", "Senator Markey and Rep. Huffman Lead Letters Opposing Lame Duck Oil and Gas Lease Sale and Seismic Exploration in Arctic RefugeRead More", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Edward Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington (December 16, 2020) Senator Edward J. Markey\r\n(D-Mass.) and Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02), Chair of the House Natural\r\nResources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, were joined today by 29\r\nSenate and 79 House members in expressing strong opposition to the\r\nArctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas lease sale scheduled for January 6,\r\n2021. In companion letters sent to the Department of Interior, the group of\r\nlawmakers ask the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to halt efforts to proceed with\r\nthe lease sale and reject an application for seismic exploration that, if\r\napproved, would allow seismic testing to occur in the Arctic Refuge this\r\nwinter. Oil and gas exploration and seismic testing would threaten endangered\r\npolar bears in dens on the Coastal Plain, and would likely result in\r\nsignificant and long-lasting harm to the unique Refuge habitat.  The Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge is a national\r\ntreasure that is no place for oil and gas exploration and development\r\nactivities, and none should occur there, write the Senators in their letter\r\nto Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt. It is also wholly\r\nunacceptable that the Trump administration seeks to hold a lease sale as one of\r\nits final actions. Given the result of the 2020 presidential election, any\r\nlease-sale decision should be left to the incoming Biden administration.\r\n  The oil and gas leasing program was adopted in violation\r\nof numerous laws that protect the Coastal Plain and ensure the integrity of the\r\ndecision-making process, write the House members in their letter. As a\r\nresult of these violations, BLM's actions to date are currently the subject of\r\nfour separate lawsuits. Before moving forward with these proposals, the BLM\r\nmust remedy these legal deficiencies and ensure full compliance with numerous\r\nfederal laws  including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act,\r\nthe National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act,\r\nthe Wilderness Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Tax Act, and the National\r\nWildlife Refuge System Administration Act  not run roughshod over them.\r\n A copy of the letter signed by the Senators can be found HERE.\r\nA copy of the letter signed by the House members can be found HERE.  The Arctic Refuge is one of our nation's most majestic\r\npublic lands, and its coastal plain contains the calving grounds for the\r\nPorcupine caribou herd and is home to denning polar bears, musk oxen, wolves,\r\nand more than 150 species of migratory birds. The Gwich'in Nation, living in\r\nAlaska and Canada and 9,000 strong, make their home on or near the migratory\r\nroute of the Porcupine caribou herd, and have depended on this herd for their\r\nsubsistence and culture for thousands of years.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-and-rep-huffman-lead-letters-opposing-lame-duck-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-and-seismic-exploration-in-arctic-refuge"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3935118913650513, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}