Congress moves to permanently block Arctic oil drilling, reversing 2017 tax law
H.R. 3067 — Arctic Refuge Protection Act · Filed by Jared Huffman (D-CA) · 109 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 29, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill repeals the oil and gas leasing program in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that was authorized by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and designates approximately 1.56 million acres of the refuge's coastal plain as permanent wilderness. Ordinary citizens benefit by preserving a pristine ecosystem and preventing oil development that could harm wildlife and climate; the oil and gas industry loses access to federal lands.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to undo a 2017 authorization for Arctic oil and gas leasing and convert the affected land to protected wilderness. It is a straightforward environmental preservation measure with no hidden provisions or narrow beneficiaries.
What the text implies
- Eliminates a potential revenue stream for the federal government estimated at billions over decades, reducing future appropriations capacity unless offset by other revenue.
- Locks in current climate policy by preventing a major domestic fossil fuel development, making future energy policy shifts more difficult without legislative reversal.
- Strengthens the legal precedent that Congress can reverse tax-law provisions authorizing resource extraction, potentially affecting other resource-development authorizations in prior tax bills.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens gain permanent protection of a unique ecosystem, reduced climate-warming emissions from prevented oil extraction, and preservation of subsistence hunting grounds for Alaska Native communities. The primary cost—foregone federal oil revenues and reduced domestic oil supply—is diffuse and long-term; the environmental and cultural benefits are concrete and irreversible.
Named in the bill
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), U.S. Department of the Interior, Public Law 115–97 (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017), Wilderness Act, Alaska, National Wilderness Preservation System
Where it stands
109 cosponsors: 108 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Apr 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 29, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $370,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 58 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Jared Huffman, the sponsor, reported $332,813 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Defenders of Wildlife — $370,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,049 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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