Congress Fights Back Against Biden’s Attacks on Alaska Energy

April 30, 2024

With 63 administrative and executive actions having been ordered against Alaska’s resource development industries since Joe Biden assumed the Presidency, no one can say that the federal administration has ignored the 49^th State.

Alaskans from across the state have done what they can; testifying at Congressional hearings, writing thousands of letters to the administration and working through local, state and Congressional government officials to amplify the message: No more!

And with a piece of Congressional legislation hitting the House floor this week, maybe Alaska will have its voice codified by the Peoples’ House.

Sponsored by Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber (R) and co-sponsored by a bipartisan set of his colleagues (including Alaska’s lone member, Democrat Mary Peltola), HR 6285 aims to ensure that Congress “ratify and approve all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the establishment and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program, and for other purposes.”

Originally written because of Biden’s shut-down of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Alaska’s North Slope, it has been amended to include the recent lock-up of over 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

It’ll be interesting to see how the House votes on this, and what happens should it hit the Democrat-controlled Senate.  Energy security is national security, and anything that takes away opportunities to develop Congressionally mandated areas of the country decreases that security.