No Tourism This Summer…Small Businesses on the Brink…Mining & Oil Under Attack…Why Aren’t Alaskans More Outraged?

No Tourism This Summer…Small Businesses on the Brink…Mining & Oil Under Attack…Why Aren’t Alaskans More Outraged?

March 24, 2021

There isn’t one single Alaskan who hasn’t been impacted this past year.  COVID-19 clearly hit all of us in many different ways.

But as the pandemic begins to turn the corner here in Alaska – leading the nation in vaccinations, third in the nation for per-capita deaths and released or relaxed mandates for most of the state – our economy is still in trouble.

Alaska’s Legislature is scuffling along, trying to fill a $1 billion budget deficit.  Canada’s recent decision to deny cruise lines the ability to utilize their ports until at least 2022 means the 2.25 million cruise visitors from 2019 won’t reappear throughout the state, which has an incredible impact on small businesses in tourism-centric communities. 

Then there is the attack from the Biden administration on our state’s keystone jobs and revenue stream: natural resource development.

From day-one executive orders shuttering development in the 1002 section of ANWR, as well as putting on hold any leasing and permitting activity on federal lands, the administration put thousands of current and potential jobs at risk.

The extremist views held by many of Biden’s top administrators – especially those running the EPA and Departments of Energy and Interior – coupled with the vast amounts of political payback to suffice the radical environmentalists who helped Biden get elected, means that there is ample reason to believe an all-out attack on traditional energy is coming.

All of that is bad news.  But it is also a reason to get energized, mobilized and fight back.  Let’s work together to fight for energy workers, for jobs and opportunities in Alaska, and for Alaska’s future.  Join Power The Future as we stand up to those who desire to harm American energy independence and our national security.