Trump officials rush to auction off rights to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before Biden can block it

Officials aim to sell drilling rights to the pristine wilderness’s coastal plain before the president-elect takes office

By Juliet EilperinNovember 16, 2020 at 8:29 a.m. PST

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/16/arctic-refuge-drilling-trump/?fbclid=IwAR0Uf4B7Yp8stiA7W8E-nTgmkqX2GBMid4BrIq2tGp05w7oxIV-519stvgc

The Trump administration has called for oil and gas firms to pick spots where they want to drill in Alaska’sArctic National Wildlife Refugeas it races to open the pristine wilderness to development and lock in drilling rights before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.Follow the latest on Election 2020

The “call for nominations” to be published Tuesday allows companies to identify tracts to bid on during an upcoming lease sale on the refuge’s nearly 1.6 million acre coastal plain, a sale that the Interior Department aims to hold before Biden takes the oath of office in January. The…