A Big Legal Win for Beluga Whales and Alaskan Communities

An Alaska federal court suspended a Cook Inlet oil and gas lease in response to a lawsuit filed by NRDC and our partners. The court ruled that the U.S. Department of the Interior failed to fully consider the potential wildlife harms and other environmental risks when greenlighting the sale, sending the agency back to the drawing board to revise its environmental analysis and suspending activity in the lease area until the agency’s review is complete. This is a major victory for critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales, whose population has plummeted in the last 30 years from 1,300 to around 300. 

The increasing industrialization of Cook Inlet threatens brown bears, sea otters, migrating seabirds, and the local population of beluga whales—highlighted as one of the species most at risk of extinction by NOAA Fisheries. Two-thirds of Alaska residents live along the shores of the inlet, and many rely on the waters of the inlet for recreation, commercial fishing, and wildlife tourism. Alaska Native communities rely on Cook Inlet for their food, livelihoods, and cultural practices.

Further developing Cook Inlet will also add fuel to the climate crisis, whose effects are already being felt in the region. According to the most recent U.S. National Climate Assessment, Alaska is warming two to three times faster than the global average; this accelerated warming is shrinking the region’s glaciers and snowpack, spurring fiercer wildfires and closing key fisheries. 

Specifically, the court’s order held that Interior Department violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by: 

1. Failing to consider a reasonable range of alternatives, including reducing the size of the lease area to “meaningfully reduce overall impacts” to beluga whales and other environmental resources
2. Failing to take a “hard look” at how increased vessel noise from new oil and gas development would affect beluga whales, ignoring record evidence to the contrary. 

The court also held that Interior was not excused from its obligations under NEPA and did not lose its discretion to alter the scope or conditions of the lease sale, even though the Inflation Reduction Act required the lease sale to take place. 

The court ordered Interior to revise its analysis and report on its progress every six months. It also suspended activity in the lease area until Interior completes its work.

The court’s order is a victory for critically endangered beluga whales and Alaskan communities, and we will watch to ensure Interior fully complies. NRDC will continue to fight to protect Cook Inlet—and the people and wildlife it supports.