The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Opens For Resource Drilling

On Oct. 23, 2025, The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the last untouched wildernesses on Earth, was opened for oil and gas drilling by President Donald Trump. The plan is to discover new resources for the growing global demand, but the question comes up, how does this action affect the environment?

Oil and gas drilling is used to extract oils and gas from underneath the Earth’s surface, which is then used to power modes of transportation and other technology.

As the world economy grows, so does the usage of oil and gas drilling, which increases the negative impacts of such on the environment and the species living there. Climate change, wildlife decreasing and pollution increasing may all be effects of this act.

According to The Wilderness Society, “Drilling projects operate around the clock generating pollution, fueling climate change, disrupting wildlife and damaging public lands that were set aside to benefit all people.”

This shows that the reality of the impacts of oil drilling is much more than what we are able to see in our daily lives.

Now the Arctic is opening up for oil drilling. A proposal to build a gravel road has also taken place, which is creating doubt about how the environment will react.

According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, more than 200,000 migratory birds that cross the refuge annually, among other wild life, will be endangered once this road is built. This is a major example of how wildlife will be greatly impacted by oil and gas drilling and other changes.

“In a recent Ecofys report ranking the planned fossil fuel projects that would be most dangerous for the climate, oil and gas drilling in the broader Arctic region came in at number three, with the potential to add more than 31 billion metric tons of additional CO2 into the atmosphere by 2050,” states American Progress.

This quote emphasizes just how drastic of an effect the opening of the Arctic region for drilling could possibly have. This amount of greenhouse gas being released causes huge problems for all of the species throughout the world.

Many people and websites are strongly against this act, claiming it to be unfair and harmful to the environment and the species living there.

Earthjustice, a website that strongly advocates for the Earth’s well being, has published an article where it claims to have spent decades fighting in court for gas and oil interests to be stopped from tearing up the Arctic. They do this for all of the communities who have lived there for generations, for the wildlife that can’t live elsewhere and for the entire planet that can’t have more climate pollution than it already does.

As the demand for oil and gas increases, the Arctic region is being opened up for oil exploration, impacting everyone and everything.

Photo from Wikimedia | Trump’s decision encroaches on arctic wildlife.