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For Immediate Release
April, 13 2021, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Maggie Caldwell, mcaldwell@earthjustice.org
Ninth Circuit Court Confirms Obama-Era Protections for Arctic, Atlantic Oceans
Court agrees with motions to end appeal of Alaska District Court win upholding Obama-era protections.
WASHINGTON
This morning, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to dismiss the appeal of LCV v. Trump, re-affirming a permanent moratorium on 128 million acres of ocean territory in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Today's order recognizes that President Obama's ban on oil and gas leasing in these vibrant and sensitive waters will be in effect without the need for continued litigation.
Early in his administration, President Trump issued an order purporting to undo his predecessor's permanent protection of the vast majority of the Arctic Ocean and important areas of the Atlantic from oil and gas drilling. Earthjustice, co-counseling with Natural Resources Defense Council, on behalf of 10 national and Alaska conservation groups, successfully challenged the order under claims that President Trump had exceeded his constitutional authority and violated federal law.
On his first day in office, President Biden revoked President Trump's order, re-affirming President Obama's protections. Earthjustice et. al jointly sought today's dismissal along with the Biden administration.
The following is a statement from Erik Grafe, Earthjustice attorney who argued the case:
"We welcome today's decision and its confirmation of President Obama's legacy of ocean and climate protection. As the Biden administration considers its next steps, it should build on these foundations, end fossil fuel leasing on public lands and waters, and embrace a clean energy future that does not come at the expense of wildlife and our natural heritage. One obvious place for immediate action is America's Arctic, including the Arctic Refuge and the Western Arctic, which the previous administration sought to relegate to oil development in a series of last-minute decisions that violate bedrock environmental laws."
In this case, Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council represented Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Greenpeace USA, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), Sierra Club, and The Wilderness Society.
More background can be found here.
Additional information about the campaign to stop drilling in America's Arctic can be found here.
Online version available here.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 7, 2026 at 1:40 PM
The woman killed has not been identified, but US Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said she was a US citizen. The senator also joined Frey and other elected officials, including Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), in calling on ICE to leave Minnesota's largest city.
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One witness told Minnesota Public Radio that she saw a federal agent confronting the woman, who "was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun and put it right in—like, his midriff was on her bumper—and he reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times."
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In a pre-dawn action this morning, the Department of War, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended a stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker without incident.
The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and… pic.twitter.com/JQm9gHprPk
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) January 7, 2026
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As Donald Trump blows by Barack Obama's record for most countries bombed by a US president, progressive observers are fuming over Democratic leadership's inaction in response to the abduction of Venezuela's president and other illegal acts of war.
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