Gov. Mike Dunleavy was joined by representatives from five of the state’s leading resource development organizations to call out the Biden Administration for actions that have affected Alaska’s natural resource-based economy, that’s resulted in lost jobs, revenue and economic prosperity.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced that it will ‘reevaluate’ the approved plan of development for the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, an area set aside by Congress for oil and gas development. The decision affects the proposed Willow Project, which could produce up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will file legal proceedings to re-start the Clean Water Act 404c veto process for Bristol Bay.
The governor said that he will request additional funding in his proposed FY 22 budget for the Alaska Statehood Defense legal fund to preserve rights to the state’s land and waters, which will be used to take the Biden Administration to court.
Dunleavy’s office provided several examples of the Biden Administration’s acts against Alaska:
- Cancelled oil and gas exploration leases in ANWR
- Stopped all new oil and gas leases on federal public land
- Reversed lifting the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest
- The radical 30X30 program that could lock up Alaska forever
- Changing the definition of Waters of the United States, to grab more land and water from Alaska
- Ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in the Sturgeon Case
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