Washington: The Trump administration has announced new measures to expand oil and gas drilling in Alaska, aiming to unlock vast energy reserves in the region. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Thursday revealed plans to open additional acreage for leasing, while also lifting restrictions on key infrastructure projects, in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order to remove barriers to energy development in the state.
Burgum stated that the Interior Department intends to reopen 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for leasing and development, alongside the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This move is expected to pave the way for increased investment in the state’s energy sector.
Additionally, the administration will revoke restrictions on land along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Corridor and Dalton Highway north of the Yukon River, transferring the land to the State of Alaska. This decision facilitates the development of major projects such as the proposed Ambler Road and the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Pipeline.
“It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the Nation, including Alaskans,” Burgum stated.
The question of drilling in Alaska’s protected Arctic regions has long been a contentious issue. State lawmakers and tribal corporations have pushed for increased development to stimulate economic growth, while Democratic-led administrations have worked to protect the local ecosystem and wildlife.
A lease auction held on January 8, mandated by Congress and overseen by the Biden administration’s Interior Department, failed to attract any bids from energy companies. Furthermore, the Biden administration previously rejected the Ambler Road Project, a 211-mile corridor designed to connect to a rare earth mining district.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and the state’s congressional delegation have consistently opposed Biden’s resource development policies and welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to reverse them. Some indigenous groups in Alaska have also advocated for their right to develop resources within ANWR and the National Petroleum Reserve.
“We applaud today’s decision by DOI and Secretary Burgum,” said Charles Lampe, President of the Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation. “As the only community within ANWR’s 19-million-acre boundaries, we have fought for years for our right to self-determination and local economic development in our Indigenous homelands.”
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Despite the administration’s push, the oil industry has shown reluctance to invest heavily in Alaska due to the high-risk nature of Arctic drilling and the potential for political shifts that could impose new restrictions in the future.
Meanwhile, environmental groups have strongly opposed the expansion, arguing that increased drilling in the Arctic could pose serious threats to wildlife and accelerate climate change.
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“Expanding oil drilling across public lands in the Arctic is risky, harmful to the health and well-being of people who reside nearby, devastating to wildlife, and bad for the climate,” said Carole Holley, Managing Attorney at Earthjustice’s Alaska Regional Office.
With the Trump administration’s push to open up more of Alaska’s energy resources, the long-standing debate over balancing economic growth and environmental protection is set to intensify.
