Multiple Alaska government officials have expressed anger at the way the Biden administration is coordinating the final lease of land in Congress-mandated Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Section 1002 for fossil fuel exploration. There is.
Alaska's two senators, the state's governor, and local officials from the remote areas closest to the North Slope refuges jointly said the January sale planned by the Interior Department was set up in bad faith. .
“These leases must be enforced in good faith, consistent with established historical processes, and clearly the Biden administration over the past four years has committed brutal acts against Alaska,” Governor Mike Dunleavy said. I just arrived,” he said.
“And, you know, they're in the twilight of their tenure here. But despite that, they deny opportunities for Alaska, they deny opportunities for our people, they deny opportunities for America to get more oil. We will continue to double down on denying potential opportunities.” [exploration] I'm going to the future. ”
AK Government: Biden is looking for oil everywhere but at home
Anchorage, Alaska. (Zihao Chen, via Getty Images)
Despite his top position in Juneau, Dunleavy wonders what the Biden administration will gain by treating Alaska as it claims while buying energy from America's rivals and working to develop alternative fuels. He added that it remains unclear exactly what he is doing.
“I think when we look back on this over time, we're going to scratch our heads wondering what the purpose of this was,” he said.
“I keep telling people this idea that if we don’t allow drilling in Alaska, no one wants oil, and that doesn’t make sense.”
Dunleavy expressed openness to pursuing alternative fuels, including the idea of harnessing the Kenai Peninsula's Cook Inlet tidal currents, the second strongest in the world, for energy production.
The governor said President-elect Trump could reverse such a move, just as the Biden administration canceled the ANWR-1002 lease.
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“They defied the very spirit of the law,” he said. “So, I'm looking forward to January 20th.”
Meanwhile, leaders of the Iñupiat village of Kaktovik, the only community in ANWR-1002, denounced the lease sale structure.
Green interests have long argued that local residents and indigenous communities oppose development on their land, but Inupiat leaders disagreed in a statement to Fox News Digital. .
“The release of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Record of Decision for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Lease Program has left the community of Kaktovik, Alaska frustrated and dissatisfied,” community representatives said.
“The land in question is traditional Kaktovikmiut land. However, in the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) process, well-funded external environmental groups have a preferential say. It has become clear once again.”
Local leaders accused the government of not listening to local residents' opinions, which differ from their own, and of aligning themselves with outside interests.
“Kaktovik does not support this outcome and does not condone the process that led to it,” community leaders jointly said of the lease sale structure.
Edward Rexford, chairman of the Indian Village, said this was a “predetermined outcome” and that as a small tribal organization, they had not been given sufficient opportunity to participate in the impact statement process. Ta.
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Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. (Getty Images)
“The City of Kaktovik is outraged by this outcome,” Mayor Nathan Gordon Jr. said.
Officials at the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) agreed, saying an analysis found the Biden administration's record of decisions blocked “substantially all, even a small portion” of development of ANWR-1002. He added that it was found.
“Sadly, the Biden administration continues its illegal actions to block all natural resource development in Alaska,” said AIDEA Executive Director Randy Luaro.
“Jobs from the ANWR development will provide Alaskans with high wages that allow them to keep their families in the state.”
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Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said in a statement that the sale was an “eleventh-hour” decision and “another demonstration aimed at subverting the will of Congress in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” ”
Trump-era legislation set a timeline and forced the Biden administration to implement the sale.
“This is a fitting finale for an administration that has routinely allowed Iran, Venezuela, and other adversaries to produce resources, regardless of the consequences, while seeking to shut down all of Alaska.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Interior Department and the White House for a response to the collective criticism, but did not receive a response by press time.
