ON ICE

Trump Promised Billions in Arctic Oil Exploration Profits but Real Figures Likely Far Lower

Administration sold the plan to drill for oil in Alaska refuge on a promise of $1.8 billion for the federal treasury, but new estimates point to a fraction of that sum.

The Trump administration was able to force open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration on a promise that the drilling would net the federal treasury around $1.8 billion. But a new report in The New York Times suggests that the real profit will be much lower—around $45 million over a 10-year span. The big profit promise was a key element in the Trump campaign, which promised to finally open the Arctic plains to oil potential after years of refusal by Democrats and environmental advocates. But now even the White House has admitted Trump’s original goal was off. Opponents of the plan have long argued that drilling in the 19-million-acre refuge could cause irreparable damage with little financial benefit to American taxpayers.