By TODD LINDLEY
Election Day 2024 will forever mark a turning point to the American people, who voted decisively to choose new leadership and a new vision for our county. Alaska did the same, and were it not for the grossly disproportionate levels of campaign funding and union support for Democrats, Alaska’s Legislative races would have more closely reflected the national outcome.
Since election day, President Donald Trump has wasted no time defining his strategy for governing and making cabinet-level appointments to implement his promises. Alaskans should choose its leaders with similar purpose and vision, in order to optimize our present opportunities. Alternatively, our Legislature can choose its leadership for all the wrong reasons: to continue their raid on the Permanent Fund; to fund benefits and grow the public sector out of proportion to our needs; to foil innovation in education and in value-add manufacturing.
President Trump, on the other hand, is appointing cabinet leaders who are in-step with the American people and who will deliver results: Tulsi Gabbard, who, as Director of National Intelligence, will not tolerate further infringements on our free speech or privacy; Gov. Doug Burgum, who, as Interior Secretary, will restore a free-market approach to our nation’s energy independence; Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright, who as Secretary of Energy will deploy technological game changers in affordable and reliable energy; and Robert F Kennedy Jr., who, as Health and Human Services Secretary, will root out corruption and reform our approach to human health and wellness. Policy-based, decisive action will be the hallmark of a Trump 2.0 presidency as he seeks to fundamentally change the way our government conducts business.
Alaska is begging for leadership like this. We need a “Trump-like” shakeup to restore Alaska’s frontier spirit and sense that “nothing is impossible”. Nick Begich carries such promise.
With its vast store of natural resources but 70% of its lands owned by the Federal Government, Alaskans have suffered since Statehood under Democrat Presidents—through de-prioritization of state and Native land entitlements; cancellation of oil & gas leases; policies that prohibit traditional access over navigable waterways and Federal lands; adverse environmental regulations and rulings that pre-emptively kill in-state permitting of mines. The latest example of this has been the Biden administration’s net-zero, anti-carbon policies, and its massive subsidies of “green” energy through the Inflation Reduction Act designed to disrupt free markets and private-sector investment.
We have been told these policies are good for America, but nothing could be further from the truth. Biden’s energy policy was based on aggressive climate and decarbonization goals driven by U.N. and E.U. mandates which favor foreign interests. To offset the negative impacts of higher energy prices and to shift wealth to green political supporters, Biden offered massive government subsidies that auctioned off forests to the highest bidder as “carbon mitigation”, and that financed wind and solar farms that discouraged production of cheap and plentiful oil and gas. Now is the perfect time to pursue Alaska’s self-interest and repeal the Green New Deal in it’s entirety. Now is the time to unshackle ourselves from global climate accords and domestic tax credits with strings that undermine Alaska’s autonomy, upset our free markets and ultimately hurt the consumer.
It is time for bold action by Alaskans.
Natural resource development is the defining issue for Alaska at both a state and federal level. We can lead the U.S. in becoming energy independent and self-reliant with production of natural resources.
Native regional corporation should lead this charge by touting their long history of stewardship over their own lands. Understandably, rural Alaska is worried about the fragility of these lands and subsistence-based traditions, but Native leaders should question the globalist agenda and environmental justice activists behind climate change policy. Once they understand that it’s less about saving the world than transferring wealth and land control to global elites, they should resolve to help repeal every aspect of the Green New Deal.
Legislatively, much of Alaska’s energy policy over last two sessions has been focused on harvesting as many federal tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act and implementing decarbonization. The convergence of these two driving forces has led directly to two grand deceptions: First, that Cook Inlet gas reserves are inadequate to supply southcentral Alaska for many years to come; and second, that our local utility boards are truly making economic decisions in the best interest of southcentral consumers. In both cases, the opposite is true. Cook Inlet is awash in gas; we simply need to find a win-win scenario with producers. And southcentral utilities are embracing decarbonization at every level and forfeiting their independence by entering into load sharing agreements for renewable energy sources that are known to be uneconomic and unreliable during periods of the year when we need energy the most.
All Alaskans should support a full repeal of the Green New Deal and related legislation. Starting at the state level, these policies should be the first to repeal: SB48 Carbon Offsets; HB50 Carbon Sequestration; HB307 Integrated Transmission; and HB273 AHFC Green Bank. At the federal level in the spring budget reconciliation bill–the one annual opportunity to avoid a filibuster–there is every reason for our Republican congressional delegation to get behind Trump and give this disastrous policy the boot.
The Green New Deal is a fraud on American consumers; its policies increase energy costs and do little to improve the environment.
Alaska’s state and federal delegations can take advantage of this opportunity and realize the prosperity that Alaska’s founders envisioned for our great state. If our “coalition” Legislature frustrates progress, as they are prone to do, then I suspect a motivated population will make primaries great again, hold politicians accountable to the people, and put courageous leaders in place at every level.
Todd Lindley is vice chairman of the board of Alaska Gold Communications, parent company of Must Read Alaska.
