Season 3 Extra 2

The controversy over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is at a critical point: a lease sale may be just days away, but lawsuits have piled up that could put a stop to that sale and put a wrench in the federal government’s efforts to open the refuge to drilling.

In this update to our Peabody Award-winning series The Refuge, we dive into this moment through conversations with three lawyers and Vebjørn Aishana Reitan, a polar bear guide in Kaktovik, the only village within the refuge. 

Do these lawsuits hold water? What impacts might they have? And what’s next for the people living closest to the refuge, whatever happens in court?

And listen to our Peabody Award-winning series The Refuge for an in-depth look into the tangle of politics, economic aspirations, traditional culture, and environmental activism that have shaped this controversy for decades.