ANWR Lease Sale Set for January 6th; Extremists Pitch a Fit!

December 3, 2020

When Congress authorized the opening of the 10-02 Section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in 2017, and President Trump signed the action into law, the screams of the eco-Left were heard from near and far.

After all, the feelings-over-facts arguments made by the leave-it-in-the-ground radicals had focused on preserving the Refuge for decades.  Hundreds of millions of dollars had been spent on fearmongering ads to show how responsible drilling of the area set aside by Congress in the 1970s for development would inevitably devastate wildlife, flora and fauna.

Opponents have kept up their tactics these past few years, marshaling groups and individuals to protest, write slanted op-eds in mainstream media outlets sympathetic to their whining ways, influence banks to (illegally?) avoid Arctic development financing (while they invest untold amounts in Chinese and Russian energy ventures!) and more.  Yet, the process to officially begin the development continued to steadily move forward under our President’s “America First, America Dominant” energy agenda.

Yesterday’s announcement that the first lease sale in ANWR will take place on January 6^th was met with cheers from the majority of Alaskans, who understand our economy, already hurting, needs all of the job-growing opportunities it can gather right now.

But the radicals reacted differently, with groups across the “wildlife-above-human-life” spectrum expressing renewed vitriol against the Trump administration for “rushing” the process.  To read the Tweets, emails and press releases that have come out these past 24 hours, you’d think the lease sale represents the single-worst moment in history to these eco-fanatics. 

Here’s hoping that the lease sales is a smashing success, and that future sales are as well.  The jobs for Alaskans, revenues for the state and federal governments and enhanced domestic energy production will all be lasting success stories for an administration that brought back American energy dominance.  Now, let’s hope the potential incoming administration doesn’t take those many steps forward and throw America’s energy workers down the stairs of success to the floor of energy failure.