The Alaska delegation was quick to praise an executive order regarding the state’s natural resources on day one of President Donald Trump’s second term. The executive order he signed favors oil and gas and mining, logging, and more extraction of natural resources in Alaska.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, as well as Rep. Nick Begich, all Republicans, posted quick praise on Jan. 20 shortly after Trump’s inauguration, establishing “immediate end to the assault on Alaska’s sovereignty and its ability to responsibly develop (its) resources for the benefit of the nation.”
Cordova officials reserved comment on this executive order – which focused mainly on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the Ambler Access Road project – but did say that a stronger overall state economy would benefit all areas of the state.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy tacked on the praise, stating that under Trump’s leadership “we can unlock Alaska’s vast potential to fuel the nation and create jobs for our people.”
Some environmental entities, however, voiced strong concerns about the potential environmental destruction that would take place along with fossil fuel drilling, logging, mining, road building, and other extractive ventures. Those included Earthjustice, Wilderness Society, and Oceana.
“Alaska is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, a trend that is wreaking havoc on communities, ecosystems, fish, wildlife and ways of life that depend on healthy lands and waters,”
said Carole Holley, Earthjustice’s managing attorney for the Alaska office. “That reality requires us to create economic opportunities that respect the lands and people of Alaska and benefit all.”
Holley said the Trump agenda would destroy valuable habitats and subsistence hunting and fishing grounds, while furthering the climate crisis. The Western Arctic, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the Tongass National Forest are a few of the public lands under attack in the new administration’s agency, she said.
Meta DeWitt, Alaska senior manager for The Wilderness Society, speculated that the climate burden will unfairly be put on Indigenous people.
“Once again, the Arctic’s Indigenous communities are forced to fight for their rights and ways of life, and to defend lands and subsistence resources from this reckless, no-holds-barred assault on the Arctic and public lands across Alaska,” DeWitt said. “But fight they will, and we will stand beside them while battling to protect irreplaceable landscapes and resources.”
Oceana U.S. Vice President Beth Lowell added that not prioritizing marine and coastal health is “shortsighted.”
“Our oceans are not a chess piece to play with,” she said. “Part of what makes the United States great is our beautiful coasts, thriving coastal economies, and productive fisheries — all of which depend on clean coasts and healthy oceans.”
The executive order supports further progress on the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas Project, removes resource restrictions within NPR-A and other parts of the state, protects Alaskans’ hunting and trapping rights on federal lands, restores unlawfully cancelled oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, advances the Ambler Access Program and King Cove Road, revokes former President Joe Biden-era regulations that imposed the 2001 Roadless Rule on Alaska, and removes hurdles that prevent Alaska Native people from receiving lands they are due, the congressional delegation said.
“President Trump is picking up right where he left off, reversing years of damaging decisions and prioritizing Alaska’s unrivaled opportunities for responsible energy and mineral development,” said Murkowski. “The policies laid out in this executive order will improve our economy, our budget and our quality of life while simultaneously making energy more affordable and enhancing national security.”
Sullivan added that inauguration day felt like “morning again.”
“With the stroke of a pen, President Trump has sent America and the world an unmistakable message that unleashing Alaska’s energy and resources will be a top priority of his administration literally from day one,” he said.
Begich slammed the Biden administration while praising Trump’s executive order.
“Today the failed policies of the Biden administration are now but a page in the history books – one that will soon be forgotten,” he said. “The golden age of America has begun.”
