🚨 Alaska Headlines November 26, 2025: New Drilling, Climate Threats, and What’s Next

By Gina Hill | Alaska Headline Living | November 2025

Federal Offshore‑Drilling Expansion Targets Alaska Coasts

Arctic sea ice has declined dramatically between 1980 and 2020, showing the minimum extent shrinking year by year.
Image credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Decline in Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Extent, accessed November 26, 2025.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced its 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, proposing 34 lease sales from 2026–2031, including 21 offshore areas off Alaska’s coast. (doi.gov)
This means Alaska could soon see lease proposals, environmental reviews, and planning for drilling infrastructure. Coastal communities, Indigenous groups, and environmental stakeholders will have opportunities to comment as the draft program becomes public in the coming months. (doi.gov)

NPR‑A Opens for Major Onshore Development

Several partially frozen lakes dot the landscape of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, illustrating the region’s Arctic tundra and seasonal freeze-thaw cycles.
Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

On November 13, 2025, the Interior Department rescinded the 2024 rule limiting leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve‑Alaska (NPR‑A), a 23‑million‑acre area on the North Slope. (doi.gov)
With the restriction lifted, companies can resume large-scale leasing and exploration, setting the stage for pipelines, drilling projects, and other development in the coming months. This regulatory change restores the Reserve to the framework planned for decades, potentially bringing economic growth while raising environmental and cultural considerations. (blm.gov)

Alaska Native Villages Face Escalating Climate Threats

The village of Kipnuk, partially submerged after flooding from Typhoon Halong on October 12, 2025, highlights the growing vulnerability of western Alaska communities to climate-driven storms, erosion, and rising waters. The storm displaced at least 1,500 residents and caused one death, prompting search and rescue operations by the Alaska Air National Guard, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Alaska Organized Militia, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Photo credit: Alaska National Guard.

As winter approaches, many remote Native villages along western Alaska’s coast face severe threats from flooding, erosion, and thawing permafrost, jeopardizing homes, infrastructure, and community stability. (GAO Report, 2022)

Federal relocation and mitigation programs remain limited, leaving communities such as Kipnuk and Kwigillingok with few viable options for adaptation or relocation. Experts warn that without accelerated action, these villages will continue to experience increasing damage from storms and rising waters. (PBS FRONTLINE, 2025)

With new federal approvals for offshore and onshore drilling, Alaska is entering a period of critical decisions. Upcoming lease sales, environmental reviews, and community consultations will determine how development proceeds, balancing potential economic gains against environmental and cultural impacts.

The state’s congressional delegation, tribal governments, and local stakeholders will play a central role in shaping which areas are developed and which are protected.

⏭️ What to Watch Next

  • Offshore lease program rollout: Public draft expected soon; stakeholders can submit comments.
  • NPR‑A development proposals: Industry could submit exploratory plans this winter.
  • Climate response in Native villages: Federal aid, relocation, and mitigation efforts will be closely monitored as storms and erosion continue.
  • Community and legislative pressure: Tribal and local leadership responses will influence future leasing and environmental safeguards.

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