The Alaska State House has spoken.  Will the Biden administration turn a deaf ear? Clearly drowning out the objections of three members who identify with (and are financially supported by) the “just transition” movement, the House passed HJR-12, legislation we highlighted last week, 35-3. The resolution, sponsored by George Rauscher (R-Sutton), took clear aim at Biden’s day-one Executive Order that shut down development in the 1002 section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The resolution: Urges the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to honor the recent lease sales and proceed with permitting in the Arctic…

Two pieces of legislation deserve to be highlighted today, as each takes a strong stand for jobs and responsible development. Introduced on March 9th by Alaska’s Congressman Don Young, the America Needs Worthwhile Resources (ANWR) Act pushes back against recent executive orders by the Biden Administration that killed thousands of current jobs and threaten tens of thousands more.  The Act would prohibit the President from issuing future leasing moratoriums without Congressional approval. In the press release announcing the Act, Congressman Young noted: It is not surprising, though no less disappointing, that President Biden is continuing Obama-era attacks against Alaska. By…

News earlier this week that polling from the National Mining Association showed Americans heavily in favor of mining projects in America, not only to create jobs and secure our supply chains, but also to reduced reliance on foreign countries for minerals.  As reported in AKHeadlamp.com, some of the highlights of the study show: 87 percent of voters believe that, within the President’s “Buy American” initiative, it is important that the material supply chains many industries depend on – such as copper or lithium for electric vehicles – are also sourced from the U.S. 88 percent of voters believe it is important for…

By Rick Whitbeck, Alaska State Director US Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) is clearly an environmental zealot.  Her politics would continue to harm America’s energy workers.  Putting her in charge of the US Department of the Interior would be a boon to environmental extremism, at the expense of hundreds of thousands of families across the country. Having watched the two days of confirmation hearings in the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I saw Deb Haaland play the old political game of “never give a clear answer”.  I saw direct questions skated around, word games and catchphrases used throughout her…

On Monday, Alaska’s Governor Mike Dunleavy joined sixteen other state leaders in signing a letter to President Biden, urging that he withdraw his January 27th Executive Order banning new oil and gas development on federal lands and in offshore waters. Alaska’s already seeing the impacts of the new administration, and a ban on new leases has exceptional impacts on Alaska’s energy future. Governor Dunleavy, joining the governors of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming in the letter, understands the federal government’s actions could cripple Alaska’s economy, kill…

The Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA) took another step toward the eventual development of the Ambler Road when it authorized $35 million toward the project at its meeting earlier this week. The money, which will be matched by Ambler Metals LLC, a joint venture of companies hoping to develop the Upper Kobuk Minerals Project in the area, will go toward pre-construction costs associated with connecting the Dalton Highway with the project area.  The 200-mile proposed road will allow for safe transportation from the project to the Port of Alaska. The project will one day employ hundreds of workers…

At the end of a week that saw Alaska’s energy community turned on its collective head by one executive order after another, it was the Biden administration’s “International Climate Czar” who provided the last damaging blow. Speaking as part of Biden’s “Climate Day festivities”, where the eco-left gleefully watched as the new administration proclaimed nearly every one of their misguided policies as new regulation, Kerry was asked about the fossil fuel workers feeling attacked by the new policies.  His answer? “What President Biden wants to do is make sure those folks have better choices, that they have alternatives, that they…

The shocking end to the Pebble Mine’s NEPA process, the negative record of decision (RoD) announced last November by the Alaska Army Corps of Engineers, shocked many observers from both the pro-Pebble backers and the “Pebble Mine – Never!” crowd. They were shocked because the clean, science-based Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was overridden by the RoD, and also stunned because the Corps’ “thoroughly-reviewed” decision came only two workdays after Pebble submitted its required compensatory mitigation plan. Eco-zealots, including the NRDC, Save Bristol Bay and Trout Unlimited (yes, think about that the next time TU asks you to renew your…

Joe Biden followed through on a campaign pledge; just the opening salvo of an all-out attack on Alaska’s energy workers. Unveiled on his campaign website early in his run to the White House was this day-one promise, under his “Climate Plan” page: “Protecting America’s natural resources by permanently protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other areas impacted by President Trump’s attack on federal lands and waters…” And, unfortunately, he delivered the first step toward that plan by issuing an Executive Order within hours of his inauguration, halting all further efforts to put Alaskans to work by safely developing the…

Last Friday, Alaska’s Governor Michael J. Dunleavy announced that he planned to have Alaska formally appeal the US Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to deny the Pebble Project’s federal permit. “The flawed decision by the Alaska District creates a dangerous precedent that will undoubtedly harm Alaska’s future and, any potential project can fall victim to the same questionable standards,” the Governor said in a prepared statement. “We have to prevent a federal agency, in this instance, the Alaska District of the Army Corps of Engineers, from using the regulatory process to effectively prevent the state from fulfilling a constitutional mandate…