WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWLP) - The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has not received any bids for the December oil and gas lease sale for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Arctic Refuge). According to the Department of the Interior's website, the sale is required by the 2017 Tax Act. The deadline to submit bids was Monday, January 6, 2025. Senators introduce measure making daylight saving time permanent year-round  “The lack of interest from oil companies in development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reflects what we and they have known all along – there are some places too special and sacred to put at risk with oil and gas drilling. This proposal was misguided in 2017, and it’s misguided now,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis. “The BLM has followed the law and held two lease sales that have exposed the false promises made in the Tax Act. The oil and gas industry is sitting on millions of acres of undeveloped leases elsewhere; we’d suggest that’s a prudent place to start, rather than engage further in speculative leasing in one of the most spectacular places in the world.”   “Today confirms what we already knew back in 2017: new oil and gas extraction in the Arctic Refuge is not only bad for people, climate, and the environment, but also simply bad economics," said Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. "The fact that there were no bids on the most recent lease sale reflects that reality. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sustains key species and Alaska Native peoples, including the Indigenous Gwich’in and Iñupiat. This failed mandatory lease sale only underscores how the Republicans’ 2017 tax giveaway for the ultra-wealthy was paid for with false promises and unnecessary efforts to sell off our public lands. I will fight against any similar giveaway efforts this Congress, and I look forward to reintroducing my Arctic Refuge Protection Act to permanently provide critical protections to the Refuge, uphold the sovereignty of Arctic Indigenous peoples, and halt any new oil and gas leasing, exploration, development, and drilling on our nation’s largest national wildlife refuge.” Of the nine leases sold during the previous Administration’s sale, the two held by oil companies were canceled and refunded at the request of the lessees, and the remaining seven, held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, were canceled by Secretary of the Interior Haaland due to the multiple legal deficiencies in the underlying record. There are currently no existing leases in the Coastal Plain.   Local News Headlines Northampton considers fossil fuel ban for new buildings AIC nears ‘Hispanic Serving Institution’ status Experts warn of dangers skating on frozen ponds Shelter arrest raises concerns statewide WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.