Every Oil Spill Started with a Lease Sale

On Tuesday, we celebrated a significant victory as a federal district court judge overturned Lease Sale 258 after we took our case to court!

Thanks to your comments, the Interior Department initially canceled Lease Sale 258 in May 2022. However, it was resurrected with a congressional mandate following the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. This decision was extremely disappointing after our coastal communities had stood up repeatedly to say ‘no’ to oil and gas leasing in Lower Cook Inlet.

The area auctioned off in Lease Sale 258 covers critical habitat for the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale, along with other marine life that would be impacted by new oil and gas development and the likelihood of oil spills. According to the government’s own data, offshore drilling in the area comes with a 20 percent chance that a large oil spill would happen. Increased development also exacerbates the climate crisis and increase carbon emissions at a time when there is zero room for new fossil fuel development when the we should be going full speed ahead on renewable technologies.

Although Lease Sale 258 only resulted in one bid, the areas auctioned off to Hilcorp encompassed critical habitat for the federally endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale. With Hilcorp’s history of flouting environmental, safety, and regulatory standards, this was not a just call. It is unnecessary and irresponsible to drill in the last bit of habitat that the Cook Inlet Beluga needs to survive.

If we jeopardize local livelihoods in fishing, tourism, and mariculture for another decade of affordable gas, we’d be sacrificing in vain. The gas BOEM expects companies could profitably extract from the Lease Sale 258 area is not enough to meaningfully contribute to local energy security.

As a result of yesterday’s ruling, the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) must conduct a supplementary environmental review and decide, based on this review, whether to add protections or redo the lease sale. The ruling also suspends Hilcorp’s lease during this process.

The federal government should stop wasting taxpayer money on failed lease sales in the middle of a climate crisis. Alaskans know our climate crisis is no joke and are ready to move beyond the fossil fuel era, as well as those who prioritize economic profits over liveable communities. We won’t give up trying to protect Cook Inlet from carbon pollution, oil spill risks, and shortsighted thinking.

Offshore drilling is political theatre, not an energy solution

by Inletkeeper | Jan 22, 2026 | Lease Sales

As the Cook Inlet gas we’ve historically relied on for heat and electricity becomes more expensive and precarious, the Trump administration is offering a golden chance to prolong our dependence, spend more on energy, and create a long-term drag on our economy by doubling down on what isn’t working. What’s the price of this opportunity? Only a 1-in-5 risk of major oil spills, which increases with each new piece of extraction infrastructure. The art of the deal!

Not interested? Well, it’s your lucky day. BOEM is signing you up anyway.

The Rising Risk of an Oil Spill in Cook Inlet | Tikahtnu

by Cook Inletkeeper | Jan 19, 2026 | Lease Sales, Oil & Gas

Of all the risks Cook Inlet has faced in recent decades, one of the most insidious — and the most dangerous — is the risk of a major oil spill. But how do we measure risk, and how has the way our government offers offshore oil and gas leases steadily increased that threat over time?

We can’t risk turning climate pollution into water pollution

by Cook Inletkeeper | Jan 19, 2026 | Oil & Gas

Carbon capture has a host of uncertainties upstream of the injection well. But let’s set aside for now the unsolved technological question of how CO2 can be affordably captured at any significant scale. Likewise the economic and political questions of how to price and/or police carbon to make polluters capture it. What concerns do we have about pumping CO2 underground, and the vigilance needed to be sure it doesn’t harm the people and ecosystems above?

11th OCS 5 Year Plan Talking Points & Comment Guidance

by Inletkeeper | Jan 13, 2026 | Lease Sales, Oil & Gas

Front and center talking points: With new offshore oil and gas development, it’s only a question of when accidents and spills will occur. It doesn’t have to be on the scale of the Exxon Valdez disaster to be a catastrophe for Cook Inlet. A recent estimate from Lease...

« Older

Every Oil Spill Started with a Lease Sale – Lease Sale 258 Victory

Lease Sale 258 Victory!