ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL OPPOSES INCREASED OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT IN ALASKA’S COASTAL PLAIN

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL OPPOSES INCREASED OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT IN ALASKA'S COASTAL PLAIN

June 23, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 14 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief supporting three lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's decision to authorize an oil and gas program that would maximize development of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

In the brief, which was filed in three separate lawsuits filed by Alaska Native villages, communities and environmental nonprofit organizations, Raoul and the coalition argue expansive oil and gas development in an area previously untouched by industrial development will harm migratory birds and increase greenhouse gas emissions that worsen the devasting impacts of climate change.

"The Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is a national treasure, requiring protection of its delicate ecosystem, natural resources and wildlife habitat," Raoul said. "I will continue to work with fellow attorneys general to ensure we do our part to alleviate the impacts of climate change and threats to wildlife, particularly migratory birds that regularly travel through or live in Illinois and the Great Lakes region during the winter."

The coalition argues that the Bureau of Land Management rushed an incomplete environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and that the Secretary of Interior failed to comply with the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (Refuge Act), which illegally ignored more environmentally protective alternatives and disregarded required public participation and transparency legal standards.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the nation's largest refuge. The 1.6-million-acre Coastal Plain provides habitat to hundreds of species, including threatened polar bears and caribou. Millions of migratory birds spend the summer on the Coastal Plain breeding and feeding before migrating southward across North America, traveling upward of 3,000 miles. For example, snowy owls live in the arctic during the summer and winter in Illinois. Tundra swans cross the continent to winter on the Atlantic coast. Brant, Pacific loons and yellow-billed loons from the refuge winter primarily along the Pacific coast of North America.

Raoul and the attorneys general explain these birds are an integral part of the coalition states' ecosystems and, in many cases, are protected as species of concern under state law. They also provide a significant economic benefit from birdwatching and hunting that occurs in the coalition states.

Raoul and the coalition states have a history of fighting to protect the Coastal Plain and prevent damage to these irreplaceable public lands and wildlife. In 2020, Raoul and the multistate coalition challenged the Trump administration's 2020 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and underlying environmental review. In June 2021, the Secretary of Interior halted all development under the program, identifying multiple legal deficiencies and ordered a new environmental review. In 2025, following congressional action, the Trump administration authorized a nearly identical 2025 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program.

Joining Raoul in filing the amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.