Eco-Left-Driven States Sue to Block ANWR Development

September 15, 2020

Last week, a coalition of 15 states got together and filed suit against the US Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, in an effort to stop development in the 10-02 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

According to the story by Alaska Public Media, the states gave various reasons for joining the action, including damage to birdwatching tourism in New York and waterfowl hunting in Michigan.  All say what happens in the Refuge affects some portion of their states’ economies, and that DOI/BLM failed to take that, as well as climate change effects, into account before they issued their recent Record of Decision for 10-02 development.

The states conveniently forgot that the 10-02 area was specifically set aside by Congress as a development zone within ANWR.  Congress always intended for it to be responsibly developed, as there are billions of barrels of oil under its permafrost.

By filing suit, states have taken the “NIMBY” philosophy (Not in my backyard!) one step further.  It is now “NIYBY” (Not in YOUR backyard!).  Imagine if that was the philosophy all states decided to take with one another on every development project?

The states suing DOI/BLM, all under Democratic leadership, have pressing issues of their own:

• Oregon, Washington and California, because of an over-aggressive and extremist eco-bent, now are facing wildfires fueled by underbrush that responsible and practical land management would have cleared.
• New York and New Jersey face obstacles to new construction of homes and businesses, since they have refused to let natural gas pipelines be constructed in their states. The same types of energy struggles are true for other Northeastern states involved in the lawsuit (Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut).
• Minnesota’s northeastern areas – rich with copper and nickel mining opportunities – continue to have exceptionally high unemployment, since state government has thrown up roadblock after roadblock for the companies looking to provide jobs, while extracting the minerals.

Here’s hoping that the lawsuit is dismissed by the federal judge who will hear it, and that ANWR – and its tens of thousands of American jobs, billions of dollars in state, local and federal revenues and oil reserves that will add to the US’s energy independence – is allowed to move forward.