by James Brooks, Washington State Standard
February 11, 2026
Fifteen Democratic-led states have dropped a six-year-old lawsuit challenging the legality of a federal plan that allowed oil and gas drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
The states announced their plans in a notice filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, where the lawsuit was filed in February 2020.
The state of Washington was the lead plaintiff. Mike Faulk, deputy communications director for the Washington State Attorney General’s office, confirmed that the states are dropping their case but said they will continue their opposition to ANWR drilling.
“Washington is proud to have led the multistate lawsuit challenging the 2020 actions regarding the Arctic Refuge,” he said. “New congressional and administration actions require a new course of action on our part. We are evaluating the best path forward to continue to advocate for a clean and healthy Arctic, including supporting the litigation of Alaska Native organizations and community groups.”
The coastal plain is to the east of the vast Prudhoe Bay oil deposits and is believed to hold similarly large amounts of oil and gas. The Trump administration has made drilling in the refuge a top priority as it seeks to expand American oil and gas production.
The other participating states were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
A group of environmental and tribal groups had filed suit in 2020 at the same time as the Democratic-led states. Last month, that coalition renewed their suit.
Faulk declined to say whether the Democratic states would be siding with the coalition.
While two oil and gas lease sales have taken place in the refuge and additional sales are expected, no oil drilling or seismic surveying has occurred to date.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, Alaska’s state-owned investment bank, won several leases in the first lease sale, which took place in 2021, and is seeking to keep the refuge’s coastal plain open to development.
Last year, Judge Sharon Gleason ruled that the Biden administration had illegally canceled AIDEA’s leases. That ruling has since been appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Those cases are separate from the lawsuits challenging the overall legality of the oil and gas program in the refuge.
This story was originally produced by Alaska Beacon, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Washington State Standard, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: [email protected].