President Donald Trump's sweeping executive order aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska is being cheered by state political leaders who see the development of new fossil fuels as vital for a time to Alaska's economic future and criticized by environmental groups who see the proposals as a cause for concern in the face of a warm climate.
The order, signed on Trump's first day in office Monday, is in line with a wish list submitted by Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy shortly after Trump's election. He is seeking, among other things, to open up to oil and gas drilling an area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that is considered sacred to the Gwich'in Native, to remove limits placed on activity by the Biden administration drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on. the north slope and behind barriers to logging and road construction in a temperate rain forest that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon.
In many ways, the order attempts to return to policies that were in place during Trump's first term.
But Trump “can't just wave a magic wand and make these things happen,” said Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Environmental laws and regulations must be followed in efforts to undo existing policies, and legal challenges to Trump's plans are almost certain, he said.
“We are ready and looking forward to the fight of our lives to keep Alaska big, wild and abundant,” Freeman said.
What's in store for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?
The order seeks to reverse the Biden administration's decision to cancel seven leases that were awarded as part of the first sale of oil and gas leases in the reservation's coastal zone. Major oil companies did not participate in the sale, which was held in early 2021 in the waning days of Trump's first term. The leases went to a state corporation. Two small companies that won leases in that sale had been awarded earlier.
Trump's order directs the Interior secretary to “initiate additional leasing” and issue all permits and consents necessary for oil and gas exploration and development. Gwich'in leaders oppose offshore drilling, citing its importance to the caribou herd they depend on. Leaders of the Kaktovik Inupiaq community, which is located inside the reservation, support drilling and have expressed hope that their voices will be heard in the Trump administration after being frustrated by the former President Joe Biden.
This comes weeks after a second lease sale, mandated by a 2017 federal law, he did not submit claims. The law required two lease sales to be offered by the end of 2024. The state earlier this month challenged the Interior Department and federal officials, claiming among other things to the terms of the recent sale were too restrictive.
What are Alaska's political leaders saying?
Alaska leaders applauded Trump's order, titled, “Eliminating Alaska's special facility capacity.
“It's morning again in Alaska,” said Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan.
“President Trump delivered on his first day in office! ” Dunleavy said on social media. “That's why elections matter.”
Alaska has a history of fighting over overreach by the federal government that affects the state's ability to develop its natural resources. State leaders during the Biden administration complained that efforts to further develop oil, gas and minerals were being unfairly blocked, although they also won a major victory with approval in 2023 for a major oil project called Willow in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Environmentalists are fighting that permission in court.
Dunleavy has repeatedly argued that developing Alaska's vast resources is critical to the future, and has described carbon storage and carbon offsetting programs as a way to diversify revenue while it continues to develop oil, gas and coal and pursue timber programs.
The state faces economic challenges: oil production, throughout its life, is a fraction of what it once was, in part due to aging fields, and for more than a decade, Alaska has outnumbered people leave what has moved here.
What happens now?
Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the conservative group Center for Western Priorities, called Trump's order an “everything, everywhere, all-in-all order” that seeks to impose measures of which in some cases took the Biden administration years to implement.
“The time it would take the Department of the Interior to complete everything in that executive order is at least one term, maybe two. And even then, you'd need the science on your side when it comes back. And we know inside. in the case of Alaska in particular, the science on the side of drilling is not unlimited,” he said, highlighting climate concerns and Arctic warming.
Communities have experienced the effects of climate change, including thinning sea ice, coastal erosion and permafrost that weakens infrastructure.
Erik Grafe, a lawyer with the organization Earthjustice, called the Arctic “the worst place to expand oil and gas development. Nowhere is good because we need to be under contract and move to a green economy and deal with the climate crisis.”
