By BRETT HUBER | POWER THE FUTURE

In Alaska’s remote Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, opportunity is rare, but hope has a name: Donlin Gold.

The proposed mine represents one of the largest untapped gold deposits in the world and a lifeline for an impoverished region that has endured generations of economic stagnation. With hundreds of well-paying jobs, new infrastructure, and a path to long-term self-reliance for Alaska Native communities, Donlin is not just a mine — it’s a chance at dignity and economic freedom.

Yet it is being strangled — not by environmental failure or regulatory gaps, but by environmental extremism and the ideological overreach of the federal judiciary.

The latest rulings out of U.S. District Court, particularly those handed down by Judge Sharon Gleason, are not exercises in legal prudence — they are acts of judicial activism. Over the past decade, Judge Gleason has developed a disturbing pattern: consistent deference to federal agencies when it suits environmental interests, and zero deference when it doesn’t. In cases involving state sovereignty, such as oil and gas development or road construction on state lands, she often falls back on the rationale that federal agencies deserve broad discretion. But when agencies issue permits backed by science, tribal consultation, and years of review, such as the Army Corps’ permit for Donlin, suddenly Judge Gleason abandons deference in favor of environmental groups like Earthjustice.

This is not consistency. This is ideology cloaked in legalese.

In the most recent ruling, Gleason ordered a Clean Water Act permit granted to Donlin by the Army Corps of Engineers to be reassessed, claiming the Corps failed to perform a sufficiently “quantitative” analysis of scope of impact, even after more than a decade of environmental review. This wasn’t a ruling based on a lack of process.

It was, once again, based on second-guessing the conclusions of expert agencies who followed the law to the letter. Even worse, it serves as a green light to environmental litigants who want to stall the project into oblivion, and a flashing red stop sign to the people of the Y-K Delta.

This is death by a thousand cuts. Not one fatal ruling, but a steady bleed of lawsuits, remands, and re-reviews designed to exhaust, delay, and ultimately kill a lawful project through attrition. These tactics are enabled, and at times emboldened, by judges like Gleason who pick and choose when federal authority matters and when it should be disregarded.

Environmental groups like Earthjustice know exactly what they’re doing. They’ve turned the courtroom into a policy arena where they can achieve what they can’t through legislation or public consensus. And in judges like Gleason, they’ve found willing allies– jurists who routinely lean into the most expansive, least grounded interpretations of environmental law to halt development at any cost.

Let’s be clear: Donlin Gold is not trying to cut corners. The project has undergone one of the most rigorous permitting processes in the country. It has worked in good faith with over 40 tribal entities, incorporated extensive environmental safeguards, and agreed to monitoring and mitigation plans that set a new standard for responsible development. Donlin has done everything right, and it’s still being punished.

This is not just about one project. The precedent being set here is dangerous. If a legally compliant project can be perpetually stalled by shifting judicial standards and ideological litigation, then no infrastructure project in America is safe. Not a mine, not a pipeline, not even a road.

Who pays the price for this obstructionism? Certainly not Earthjustice lawyers in Washington, DC. It’s the people of Western Alaska, where jobs are scarce, costs are crushing and hope too often takes the form of a plane ticket out. Donlin represents the possibility of staying. Of building. Of thriving.

Judge Gleason may believe she’s protecting the environment. But what she’s really doing is denying opportunity to those who need it most. Her courtroom may be in Anchorage, but the consequences of her rulings are felt 500 miles west, where families wait for something better and watch it slip away with every new legal blow.

It’s time to ask: who speaks for them?

The courts should ensure fairness—not serve as tools for ideological delay. The people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta deserve a path forward, not another dead end manufactured by legal gamesmanship. Let Donlin Gold proceed. Let Alaska build its future.

Brett Huber represents Power the Future in Alaska.