Mr. Trump’s controversial intention to ‘wake up Alaska’

On his first day in office on January 20, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order promoting oil, gas, mineral and timber exploitation in Alaska.

It includes opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration; lift restrictions imposed by the Biden administration on exploration in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve; Lift restrictions on logging and build roads in temperate forests, home to wolves, bears and salmon.

Mr. Trump also asked the Secretary of the Interior to “initiate additional land leases and issue all necessary permits and land use rights for oil and gas exploration and development.” During the previous administration, Mr. Biden canceled seven oil and gas land lease contracts in the coastal plain area of ​​the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Theo APthis decree is a move to return to policies that existed during Mr. Trump’s first term. The Alaska state government voiced its support, calling the decree “unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential.”

Alaska is the largest state in the US, with an area of ​​more than 1.47 million square kilometers and famous for its rich natural resources. It has large oil and gas reserves, concentrated in the North Slope and Cook Inlet regions, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The state also owns many minerals such as gold, silver, copper, coal and rare earths. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the locality has one of the largest gold mines in the world, Donlin Gold. The Tongass National Forest in Alaska is the largest temperate rain forest in the world. The fishery provides more than 60% of America’s commercial seafood production – famous for salmon, cod and king crab – according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has repeatedly argued that developing its vast resources is vital to the state’s future. He promoted underground carbon storage and carbon offset programs as a way to diversify revenue, while continuing to extract oil, gas and coal, and pursue logging programs.

Alaska is facing economic challenges because oil production – once the lifeblood of the economy – is now a fraction of what it was in the past. The reason is because the oil fields are old and there are few new openings. And over the past decade, more people have left Alaska than moved in.

Therefore, when Mr. Trump was elected, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy presented a list of recommendations with the same content as the recently signed decree. “President Trump fulfilled his commitment on his first day in office! This is why elections are so important,” Mr. Dunleavy said.

Alaska has a long history of fighting what it sees as excessive federal government intervention that affects the state’s ability to develop its natural resources. During the Biden administration, local leaders complained that efforts to develop more oil, gas and minerals were unfairly hindered, even as they also scored a major victory with the Willow oil project in the Petroleum Reserve. National Gas – Alaska by 2023.

Therefore, with President Trump’s new executive order, state politicians immediately welcomed it because they considered the development of additional fossil fuel exploitation very important to the economic future. “It’s morning again in Alaska,” declared Senator Dan Sullivan.

Leaders of the Iñupiaq community in Kaktovik – located in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – also support drilling and hope their voices are heard under the Trump administration, after feeling felt disappointed by former President Joe Biden.

In contrast, some communities and environmentalists criticized Trump’s intentions. Gwich’in community leaders oppose drilling in the coastal plain because it is vital to the caribou herds on which their livelihoods depend.

Environmental groups also oppose the intention to increase the exploitation of Alaska’s resources because of concerns about increasingly serious climate change. Cooper Freeman, director of the Center for Biological Diversity at the Alaska branch, said Mr. Trump “can’t just wave a magic wand and make things happen.”

This expert emphasized that environmental laws and regulations need to be followed as the Trump administration attempts to reverse existing policies. Therefore, legal barriers will appear. “We are ready and looking forward to the biggest fight to keep Alaska great, wild and rich,” Freeman said.

Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the conservation organization Center for Western Priorities, said the ambition to reverse Biden-era policies with Alaska took years to enact. According to him, to implement this decree, the Ministry of Home Affairs needs at least one term, possibly two.

“Even if you do, you’re going to need science on your side. And we know that, in the case of Alaska, science is not on the side of unlimited exploration drilling,” he said, referring to concerns about climate and warming in the Arctic.

Local communities are already feeling the effects of climate change, including thinning sea ice, coastal erosion and melting permafrost, weakening infrastructure, according to AP.

Erik Grafe, a lawyer with the environmental legal nonprofit Earthjustice, calls the Arctic the worst place to expand oil and gas exploitation. “Nowhere is that good because we need to downsize and transition to a green economy and solve the climate crisis,” he warned.