AG Brown leads states’ brief opposing increased oil and gas development in Alaska’s Coastal Plain

Attorney General Nick Brown led a coalition with 13 other attorneys general in filing 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.

The states have filed the amicus brief in three separate lawsuits filed by Alaska Native villages, communities, and environmental non-profit organizations.

Washington’s brief argues that expansive, maximalist oil and gas development in an area previously untouched by industrial development will harm our states’ migratory birds and increase greenhouse gas emissions that worsen the devasting impacts of climate change in our states.

The coalition states argue that the Bureau of Land Management’s rushed and incomplete environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Secretary of Interior’s failure to comply with the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (Refuge Act) illegally ignored more environmentally protective alternatives and disregarded legally required standards for public participation and transparency.

“Once again, this administration is breaking the law to prop up the fossil fuel industry, with no regard for the costs to our natural world,” said Attorney General Nick Brown. “The interests of oil and gas are not above the interests of the American people and our extraordinary ecology.”

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is our nation’s largest refuge. The Coastal Plain is a 1.6-million-acre national treasure at the heart of the refuge that 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, including Washington, travelling upwards of 3,000 miles. For example, 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.

These birds are an integral part of the coalition states’ ecosystems. In many cases they 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.

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, a multistate coalition led by Washington, Massachusetts, Alaska Native villages, communities, and environmental non-profits 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.

This program is one of a series of actions that the federal administration has taken to dramatically increase oil and gas drilling in ecologically sensitive areas of Alaska at the expense of our environment, resulting in devastating harm to our states’ wildlife and climate.

AG Brown is joined on this brief by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

A copy of the brief filed in each case is available here:

Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, et al., v. Doug Burgum, et al. 

Natural Resources Defense Council, et al., v. Doug Burgum, et al. 

Gwich’in Steering Committee, et al., v. Doug Burgum, et al. 

-30-

Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

Media Contact:

Email: press@atg.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 753-2727

General contacts: Click here

Media Resource Guide & Attorney General’s Office FAQ