August 25, 2026 — A federal judge in Alaska has blocked environmental groups’ challenge against the Trump administration’s decision to reopen millions of acres of offshore waters in the Arctic and elsewhere to oil and gas development.
Chief Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska on Monday ruled the environmental coalition led by the Northern Alaska Environmental Center lacked standing to bring their suit.
The groups failed to show they faced imminent harm from President Donald Trump’s 2025 decision to reverse his predecessors’ orders to permanently close off broad swaths of the outer continental shelf (OCS) from fossil fuel development, she said.