U of Wyoming Report: Biden Executive Orders Would Cost Alaska Over $300 Billion

December 17, 2020

Anyone familiar with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign website knows that he promised aggressive actions in a number of policy areas on day one of his potential presidency.

One area he focused on was stopping federal oil and gas lease sales and drilling on federal lands and in federal waters.  His website says to expect Executive Orders (EOs) for those, as part of his commitment to supporters to implement a transition away from traditional energy sources.

A study published this week, by University of Wyoming Professor of Energy Economics, Dr. Timothy J Considine, took those Biden promised EOs and modeled their economic impact on several states, including Alaska.

What his models provided for output – while expected by anyone following the industry and energy jobs – was still shocking in their sheer numbers: Over $111 billion would be lost in industry investment between now and 2040 if a leasing moratorium was implemented, and over $116 billion if a full-scale ban on drilling on federal lands and in federal waters was ordered.

Furthermore, the report calculated not only the lost investment, but lost production under the Biden EOs.  Those numbers are staggering, in part because of the loss of revenues from responsible development in ANWR: More than $182 billion under a leasing moratorium and $187 billion with an outright ban.

Numbers don’t lie.  Job losses and lost opportunities are why Power The Future continues to fight for America’s energy workers in Alaska and elsewhere. The numbers above, while sobering, are also a deafening call to action to our team.  We will stand up for energy families – to do otherwise would be a complete injustice.