The Biden-Harris Administration has done the unthinkable, seizing authority over nearly all of Alaska’s Arctic, but Rep. Mary Peltola has remained a no-show in Washington, not defending Alaska’s economy or sovereignty.
In a critical House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment hearing on Sept. 11, Peltola was notably absent, while testimony was given by a state official concerning the Biden-Harris Administration’s declaration of nearly all of Alaska’s Arctic to be wetlands protected under the Clean Water Act. Peltola is a member of the House Transportation Committee.
Biden’s action contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 rulings on wetlands, known as Sackett v. EPA. Peltola not only was absent, but provided no written testimony to the committee on the Biden-Harris actions that will wreak havoc on Alaska’s economy.
The Biden-Harris Administration claims that nearly all of Alaska’s Arctic Coastal Plain is a wetland protected under the Clean Water Act, in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 wetlands ruling, an Alaska state official told a House subcommittee on Wednesday.
It’s an example of the Biden administration’s regulatory overreach, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Emma Pokon told the House subcommittee hearing, and the overreach extends to permafrost on the North Slope.
“We have roughly 900,000 miles of navigable rivers and streams; 22,000 square miles of lakes; 27,000 miles of coastline; and, at about 130 million acres, more wetlands than every other state in the union combined. And all of that is before considering glaciers and groundwater. Anyone looking to build a home, a road, or a mine in the state will likely
impact a water of some sort,” Commissioner Pokon said in her testimony.
Federal agencies continue to grope for complete authority over all waters, Pokon said. More than a year after Sackett was decided and the agencies published a revised rule, EPA and the Corps have not developed any standard that can be understood and implemented by the regulated community and state partners. The federal government appears intent on “leveraging uncertainty and the risk of civil and criminal liability to effectively maintain sweeping authority in their own hands,” Pokon said.
Peltola announced earlier this week that she is taking the entire week off to mark the one-year anniversary of her husband’s fatal plane crash. It is a cultural tradition, she said. She also took all of July off to cut and smoke salmon, also saying it was in honor of a cultural tradition. She has spent no meaningful time in Washington D.C. this summer but may be back at work in mid-September, barring any other cultural events that she must mark.
Her participation could have been crucial, given that Alaska’s waterways are essential not only for its environment but for fishing, energy, and infrastructure development.
Critics of the administration’s approach, including Republican subcommittee members, argued that the current regulatory environment hampers economic development. They cited delays in project approvals, especially for key industries like energy and construction, and referenced projects across the nation being stalled due to bureaucratic delays. One example discussed was Novo Nordisk’s $4 billion expansion project in North Carolina, which has been hampered by permitting delays under WOTUS rules.
The absence of Rep. Peltola was seen as a missed opportunity for Alaska to voice its concerns directly to the panel. Alaska, with its vast wetlands and waterways, faces unique environmental and economic challenges that require careful balancing of federal oversight and state-level autonomy.
Watch the hearing here:
Witness list and written testimony can be seen at these links:
Ms. Emma Pokon, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation | Witness Testimony
Ms. Nicole Rowan, Director, Water Quality Control Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment | Witness Testimony
Ms. Courtney Briggs, Chairman, Waters Advocacy Coalition, on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation | Witness Testimony
Mr. Vincent E. Messerly, P.E., President, Stream and Wetlands Foundation, on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders | Witness Testimony
Wait a minute, Peltola has radio ads running non stop on how she fights for Alaskans. She fights for fishing, mining, and supposedly was instrumental in the Willow project. Is it possible she’s not being truthful with us?
Well said she is a 1st class flake!
The standard leftist gaslighting.
Truthful, eh? You must be a newbie to politics or totally gullible: elections are all about the art of dissemblance. No doubt, there are those who are had over and over again; but, hey, where would the country be without the enfranchised fools?
Is she ‘truthful’ with us? Likely not, after all, she is a Democrat. She has proven that she is challenged with showing up for work. At least NB3 communicates and engages with us, ultimately demonstrating true intent.
She should return to tradition: skin boat, willow bow, birch arrows, animal skin clothing, no glasses and no modern medicine from the evil developed people. That should please her extremist supporters. It is a choice to live in the modern or stone age. My ancestors came from primitive conditions not that many generations ago, in fact now just about 200 years from the opening of their land to modernization (in childhood my father knew my great-great grandfather). We can and should recall the past, but we also choose to live in the present and look forward to a better future.
This is not just a Sierra Club petting zoo. And I do recall Sierra Club jet flying into Mcgrath during hearings on Donlin mine, and in her designer environmentalist $1000 shoes she stood to tell how good jobs would ruin the ‘quaint’ (her exact word) lifestyle of the Kusko people.
Mary should do us Alaskan taxpayers a favor and return her salary for the days she is not
doing her job representing the State of Alaska.
All the blame goes to the Alaskans that voted Mary into office and she is laughing all the way to the bank.
Blame Murkowski and Ranked Choice Cheating!
Blame Murkowski and Ranked Choice Cheating! Repeal RCV so losers don’t become winners!
Of course she wasn’t there; she had her orders and those orders also provided her political cover.
Any Alaskan who votes for Mary Peltola or Kamala Harris desperately wants more of the same.
Another point of information regarding Alaska land and resources:
Public and Private Lands Percentages
Below are the percentages of public and private lands in each state in the United States. Figures for total areas of states reflect land acreage only and are from the US Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1991 (11th ed.) Washington, DC, 1991, p.201.
US States Land Ownership by Percentage:
Rank State % that is Public Land % that is Private Land
1 AK 95.8% 4.2%
2 NV 87.8% 12.2%
3 UT 75.2% 24.8%
4 ID 70.4% 29.6%
5 OR 60.4% 39.6%
etc
summitpost org/public-and-private-land-percentages-by-us-states/186111
Thanks for sharing.
How much more evidence do Alaskans need? Mary Peltola is not working for us … never has and never will. She is totally unqualified and absolutely inept. Alaskans deserve and must have better than her in the US Congress.
NICK BEGICH will show up for work, represent us consistently and respectfully, give more than “lip service” to service-disabled veterans like me, and be able to maintain a professional staff in DC and Alaska. [We learned that Mary took one year to rent office space in Anchorage and after that had trouble keeping a staff that would work for her any reasonable length of time … she’s very high maintenance and the effort is not worth the results.
VOTE FOR NICK BEGICH!
The cost of mitigation when mitigating wetlands impacts, charged by the feds, is a key reason why Fairbanks or Anchorage can’t afford a gas pipeline from the North Slope.
In lieu fees for wetlands have gone from $30,000/acre to in some cases over $150,000/acre according to the Alaska DEC.
Even at $30,000/acre, it is a huge lost cost. Mitigation for the 500 mile Fairbanks leg, could add $500 million to the $5.9 billion AGDC estimated cost (2021, Richards).
‘https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://dec.alaska.gov/media/p2anboir/20230418-section-404-program-faq.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj6ppHd9cCIAxW_LzQIHevtMusQFnoECCoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2k7Ksl7k83bWM_Z6nruI3S
Solution is GTLs batched with crude down the existing infrastructure in TAPS. Cheers –
I want a job like that. All that cash and actual work not required.
I don’t know why the left wants to pack SCOTUS since they ignore it.
Time to end Peltola’s political career! Everyone must ask what has Petola done to earn your vote?Since the truthful answer is NOTHING! She should be fired by Alaskans. The same goes for Marxist Comrade Harris. Restore the Republic! Restore all Constitutional Rights. Reduce government interference in our daily lives.
Totally agree, I hope Alaskans wake up!
FJB. I say we ignore this administration the same way Biden ignores the Supreme Court.
She’s really looking out for the Alaska worker. Voting for more destruction of our economy will just prove your hatred for the people trying to eke out a living here.
You should all be so ashamed of yourselves! Mary is busy protecting our fish and taking care of her gun collection! You can’t expect her to do everything!
Makes one wonder who those guns really belong to.
Time to kick the feds out of Alaska.
Absolutely. They’ve been violating the statehood compact from the begining.
Strange, I had thought the Supreme Court ruling on “Chevron” was to turn this level of officialism back. Perhaps Senator Sullivan will respond with yet another “Strong Letter” to the ‘Baddies’ and really give them the what for!
As least that would be action. Murky and the Indian will advocate and chirp, as minions of the Deep State one can not expect much more.
I think this is one of those “big wins for Alaska” that she is talking about in her advertisements. I suspect that she might have a slightly different idea about what that means than some of us.
What do the people expect when they elect someone who doesn’t really care about us? They elect someone with a smile and a pleasant personality and think that person will do their bidding. Not in the DC swamp. The party elites determine what will get done. That’s the way it has been run at least for the last 50 years or more. I hope that NB3 can get elected and remain a strong advocate for Alaska.
Did the EPA intend to defeat the Alaska Attorney General’s Opinion on Tidelands and the the Alaska Statehood Act and neutralize all intervening pursuant decisions with impacts to the Patriot Act now possibly needing review? Good to know.
Hmmm……….I wonder why?
Ooooh…..I know. Her Fraudulency doesn’t want to be on record voting against against the regime or Alaskans that can be used against her.
Peltola is lazy, a clown, and a grifter, which is why Democrats love her and why during the last election cycle Palin was pictured palling around with her.
Birds of a feather and all that….
Birds of a feather? You mean like ‘Drill Baby Drill?
Fish, family, freedom (and now future). I do not see fuel as one of her campaign “fs”
If she won’t be there to do what she was elected for then we need to get rid of her & get someone else that will be there for us
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