The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😜
Main Topic: Senate GOP Sends Trump Bill Handing Over Arctic Refuge to Big Oil
Dear Diary. As I’ve been reporting over the last nine months, the egregious climate and environmental policies from the Trump administration just keep piling up. One big item this week is that Trump and his fossil fuel cronies have breached the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. Environmentalists have been fighting to cordon off the refuge from oil drilling for decades but due to Republicans controlling all three branches of government, it looks as if they have run out of options to keep the vast area in Northern Alaska pristine.
The good and bad news is that currently an oil glut due to fracking has developed in America again, so there is little incentive to drill in northern Alaska, but that could change. The bad news is that gasoline prices are relatively low, so there is less incentive to switch to EVs.
For more details, here is an article from Common Dreams:
Senate GOP Sends Trump Bill Handing Over Arctic Refuge to Big Oil | Common Dreams
Polar bears feed on whale carcasses in Kaktovik, Alaska on July 1, 2024. The fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, its wildlife, and the oil reserves within it have been fought over for a half-century. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Senate GOP Sends Trump Bill Handing Over Arctic Refuge to Big Oil
“Once again, oil and gas development is taking precedence over science-based solutions for conserving wildlife and mitigating climate change,” said one campaigner.
Dec 04, 2025
Climate campaigners, conservationists, and Indigenous people vowed to keep defending the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after US Senate Republicans on Thursday sent legislation that would restart fossil fuel leasing in ANWR’s Coastal Plain to President Donald Trump’s desk.
All Republicans present except Sen. Susan Collins of Maine supported House Joint Resolution 131. The 49-45 vote came after three Democrats—Reps. Jim Costa (Calif.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), and Vicente Gonzalez (Texas)—joined all GOP House members but Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) in advancing the bill last month.
If Big Oil-backed Trump signs the joint resolution of disapproval, as expected, it will nullify the Biden administration’s December 2024 efforts to protect over 1 million acres of land in Alaska from planet-wrecking oil and gas exploration.
“Simply put, the Arctic refuge is the crown jewel of the American National Wildlife Refuge System,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said in a Wednesday floor speech against the measure, noting that the area is “home to hundreds of iconic wildlife species.”
“The Arctic refuge is also deeply connected to the traditions and daily life of the people who have lived there for thousands of years,” the senator continued, ripping “the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on public lands.”
Heinrich’s speech was welcomed by groups including the Alaska Wilderness League, League of Conservation Voters, and Defenders of Wildlife, whose vice president of government relations, Robert Dewey, also blasted lawmakers’ use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal the refuge’s protections.
“Once again, oil and gas development is taking precedence over science-based solutions for conserving wildlife and mitigating climate change. In these instances, the use of the CRA accomplishes nothing meaningful and instead harms iconic species such as polar bears, caribou, wolves, and migratory birds,” Dewey said after the vote. “In addition to threatening wildlife, severe regulatory disruption in Alaska is the inevitable result of targeted rollbacks in one of America’s most ecologically critical regions.”
Andy Moderow, senior director of policy at Alaska Wilderness League, said Thursday that “while we are deeply disappointed by the final vote, we’re grateful to see bipartisan support from lawmakers who stood up for the Refuge and upheld a long-standing, cross-party legacy of protecting this truly incredible place.”
“America’s public lands—including the iconic Arctic refuge—shouldn’t be on the shortlist for a public land selloff to the oil and gas industry,” Moderow continued. “We’ll continue fighting the management chaos brought by today’s vote in favor of actions that respect the Arctic Refuge for what it actually is: a national wildlife refuge, and not an oilfield.”
Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, a group formed decades ago by Alaska Natives in response to proposed oil drilling in the Coastal Plain, also spoke out after the Senate vote.
“The Gwich’in Nation views the decision by lawmakers to leverage the Congressional Review Act to advance oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a deliberate attempt to undercut the standards and laws that are designed to protect this sacred landscape,” Moreland said.
“This action from DC ignores years of consultation and communication with our Gwich’in communities that rely on this landscape for not only our subsistence and survival, but also our culture and spiritual health and well-being,” she added. “We stand united in our opposition to any oil and gas development in the Arctic refuge, and will continue to fight this effort from the Trump administration and decision-makers who ignore our voices.”
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
Here are some “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is More Climate News from Saturday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)