The Biden administration is taking millions of acres off the table for development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The decision to lock up NPRA was made by the principal deputy assistant secretary, Laura Daniel-Davis, in the Interior’s Land and Minerals Management section. Daniel-Davis was chief of staff to Interior Secretaries Sally Jewell and Ken Salazar in the Obama administration, and during the Trump administration she went to work for the National Wildlife Federation, returning to federal service once Democrats were back in control of the Department of Interior.
Her action reverses a land use plan put in place during the Donald Trump administration. In addition, it adds massive new levels of regulation on the oil and gas industry in Alaska to protect threatened and endangered species on Alaska’s North Slope.
The NPRA is a 23,599,999-acre petroleum-rich area that surrounds the city of Utqiagvik (Barrow), and other Inupiat villages that are on its perimeter.
The plan to shut down Alaska’s resource economy came immediately after Interior Sec. Deb Haaland had left Alaska; she had spent three days in the state touring King Cove and meeting with Alaska Natives who support the Biden-Haaland agenda to keep oil in the ground.
U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan criticized the decision.
“This shortsighted decision closes millions of acres to responsible energy development, deliberately upending a careful balance in the management of the reserve and more broadly across Alaska lands,” Alaska’s delegation said in a statement. “The Biden administration’s move abandons the 2020 version of the IAP, which was developed in partnership with the North Slope Borough and in consultation with North Slope Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations. It comes mere weeks after President Biden pledged to ‘work like the devil to bring gas prices down.'”
“This was the wrong decision when it was announced in January, and it is only worse today. We need more domestic resource development, and areas explicitly designated for that purpose should be at the top of the list, not on the chopping block. It is simply shocking that the Biden administration can look at the world, and decide that Alaska is where ‘keep it in the ground’ should apply,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski said. “This decision also flies in the face of many of the Alaska Natives who live on the North Slope, who participated in the 2020 plan update and who supported its finalization. The administration is choosing to ignore them, while giving outside environmental groups everything they want.””
“The Bureau of Land Management has 25 million acres of land nationwide available for oil development, 23 million of which are in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan. “I have long urged the President to cut the gimmicks and tap this true ‘strategic petroleum reserve,’ which is teeming with reserves ready to alleviate some of our nation’s dire energy needs. But yesterday, President Biden doubled down on his failed policies, removing half of this federally-established oil and gas reserve from consideration and—even more reckless—specifically removing areas with the greatest potential for actual production. This decision will prolong the pain for hard-working Americans and tighten Vladimir Putin’s grip over our allies. Needless to say, President Biden is not doing everything in his power to control prices at the pump or relieve average Americans’ pain. We now know, record inflation, unprecedented gas prices, and a despot wielding vast sums of the world’s petroleum supply will not deter Joe Biden in his relentless war on American energy production.”
BLM manages the NPR-A under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act and other federal laws. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the 23-million-acre region on the western North Slope – roughly the size of the state of Indiana – contains 8.7 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil.
Thanks Murkowski !
“U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan criticized the decision”
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Shut up. Both of you. Just shut up. You voted to confirm Haaland……
Indeed.
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Both are a disgrace to this state — but beloved by all Swamp creatures in DC.
You don’t know what your writing about. They perforated NPRA and Biden hasn’t banned any of the oil producing areas. Your a prolific writer except for you have no info.
The Willow project is absolutely in the forbidden zone. Who is the “they” you say perforated NPRA?
President Trump said about candidate Biden: “He’s not a very nice person”. President Trump was very accurate. Democrats love vindictiveness evidently. Hurt and harm is their main plank evidently. Keep voting for a permanent underclass Alaska when you vote for democrats.
That’s what our two Senate reps did to their own state by voting to confirm Haaland. Thanks SOOOO much, Senators Sullivan and the one that shall remain unnamed. How can they criticize her actions when they knew in advance what her intentions were? They can’t pass this one off on anyone else.
Brad, Exactly Right! We got played!
Danny Boy did do some hand wringing over his decision to back the Half Norwegian Haaland due to the Petersburg voting block, no wait, that’s not right, it was because of his Wife’s family? Is that right? It gets confusing when you start playing personal identity politics it seems.
Anyway, I have myself to blame mostly since I supported Danny Boy in the last campaign with my funds and my vote… oh well, get ready for a lot more bad news coming from this Government.
M-Ski … “Daddy’s Little Princess” … Yeah, she did that!
The true price you pay when voting the democrat ticket.
Look around and find a democrat to personally thank!
Not only are Biden and Haaland stupid, they are also the enemy of America. Ronald Reagan and James Watt gave our country the opportunity to be completely energy independent while helping make Alaska a prosperous state through self-guidance Trump capitalized on that opportunity by lifting the ANWR stranglehold. Biden and Haaland have moved the clock back about 45 years to where our resources are locked-up again and America will become dependent on foreign sources. Biden and Haaland have to be the two biggest idiots to hold the locks and keys to the land chastity belt, nothwithstanding the complete fool….Jimmy Carter. Don’t the Democrats ever produce any politicians with brains?
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Answer: ……..NO, unless they borrow a brainless Republican faker like Lisa Murkowski. And the Murkowski dynasty of nearly 45 years should be coming to an end.
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Biden and Hahaland: the very definition of domestic terrorists.
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ANYTHING to undermine and literally destroy this nation are at the top of their political agenda.
Good Job Dan and Lisa. Nothing gets the ball rolling like a strongly worded letter……..
Don’t forget Don Young’s part in the Three Amigos Fiasco
Perhaps Dan and Lisa shouldn’t have voted to confirm the most anti-oil interior secretary in history, a decision which is resulting in exactly the predicted outcome.
Princess and Swampy Dan. The gifts that keep on giving.
Kinda like political herpes.
When are the American people going to do what needs to be done and seek Impeachment of Biden!! They tried to impeach Trump for less!
He is a disaster for Alaska… And as far as Murkowski goes, she needs to shut up. She allowed that psycho Haaland by endorsing her. Now we are in serious trouble… Impeachment now!
Well isn’t that just lovely. Every body still hating the bad orange man with mean tweets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Time to throw Murkowski out in November GET RID OF HER
Yet, all of the “conservatives” are lining up to vote for RINO Begich and 20 year SwampCreature Tabitha.
I’m sure we will get different results, though, right?
Do a deep dive on Sullivan’s public statement and voting record – it’s a little shocking, to say the least…
Anyone, who did not see this coming was willfully blind. Biden should have run as the “third term” of Obama, which is what all his policies boil down to. He has no ideas (be it because he is cognitively impaired or wants to relive his glory years as VP) and thinks that what Barrack was doing was hunky dory, since people loved BO. Haaland is shades of Jewel and Lisa and Dan ARE willfully blind, while we Alaskans are becoming just a footnote here.
Well I am happy four of our national monuments will now be protected, Alaska is resilient, we will be okay!
The state should just develop it and tell the feds we are taking some of our state back. Call the lost little leaders bluff.
Wow! First the Cove Road, and now the top third of the state locked up because some So-called environmentalists in DC tell Biden and Haaland what to do in Alaska. Dunleavy was right, when he said there was little hope that anything would be done by Haaland and the Feds to alleviate peoples’ problems in Alaska. It would have been a lot different if we had the technology to go with their desires, but we don’t. You cannot put the horse before the cart. If they were serious about the alternative energy, they would institute a crash program to develop the needed battery technology needed to charge and store the energy. But of course, that is not what fakers do. Instead, Americans must suffer the total lack of leadership and care that these democrats bring to the table. Alaskans will never get what they need from people who shove money at them but keep them from developing their resources and standing on their own two feet. It’s the :old give a man a meal or teach him to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime.” Alaskans know how, just get out of their way so they can get it done!
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