By BRETT HUBER | POWER THE FUTURE
Alaska is home to some of the most valuable energy and mineral resources in the world—resources vital not only to the state’s economy but to America’s energy independence and national security.
Yet for years, Washington bureaucrats treated Alaska like a nature preserve, ignoring the people who live here and the enormous value our land can responsibly provide. Now, under President Donald Trump’s leadership, and aided by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, that tide is turning.
No where is this more evident than what Alaska witnessed this week. For the first time anyone can remember, three cabinet secretaries made the journey here at the invitation of the governor to give Alaska the attention its long-deserved.
The Trump administration has reasserted Alaska’s right to responsibly develop its resources, replacing federal stonewalling with a bold, America-first energy agenda. In stark contrast, the Biden administration spent four years systematically locking up our lands, kneecapping energy producers, and undermining the very projects that could strengthen the U.S. economy and global standing.
Alaska’s abundance ignored by Biden, embraced by Trump
Let’s look at the numbers: Alaska holds an estimated 8.7 billion barrels of oil in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A), and Prudhoe Bay remains the largest producing oil field in North America with ANWR potentially rivaling those reserves. On the critical minerals front, Alaska has over 70 known rare earth element occurrences, plus significant deposits of cobalt, graphite, and lithium—minerals vital for clean tech and national defense.
These aren’t theoretical advantages. These are strategic assets—and under Biden, they were being buried under red tape.
In 2023, the Biden administration canceled seven legally issued oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The Biden Department of the Interior then went further—imposing new rules that effectively shut down over 13 million acres of the NPR-A, decimating potential production zones and stalling job creation in rural Alaska.
“Biden’s latest fiat to lock up half the reserve, without congressional approval, jeopardizes America’s energy security,” responded Gov. Dunleavy.
Meanwhile, Biden’s so-called climate agenda blocked the very minerals he claimed to need for his “green” energy transition. Projects like the Ambler Access Road and Graphite One, which could help supply domestic battery production, were stalled or undermined by his federal agencies leaving us all more dependent on Chinese supply chains.
Trump’s America-first approach brings relief and resolve
The return of President Trump has brought a dramatic course correction. Just this week, his administration announced the repeal of Biden’s restrictions on drilling in the NPR-A, restoring access to vast tracts of oil-rich federal land.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum correctly pointed out, “The NPR-A was set aside by Congress for energy production. We are simply restoring the legal balance intended by our laws.”
At this year’s Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference, Energy Secretary Chris Wright reinforced that message: “Alaska’s unique position allows it to lead in both fossil fuel production and renewable energy innovation. Washington should get out of the way.”
Gov. Dunleavy, who hosted the conference in Anchorage, made it clear: Responsible resource development is not only possible, it is essential. Alaska can be a global leader in energy, but only if the federal government treats the state as a partner, not a problem.
Real consequences, real Lives
This isn’t just policy, it’s people’s lives. Alaska’s economy depends on responsible development. Federal restrictions mean fewer jobs, lower revenue, and more outmigration. They also erode national energy security at a time when geopolitical instability makes energy independence more critical than ever.
Under Biden, Alaska was pushed to the sidelines. Under Trump, Alaska is back in the game.
Alaska’s future must be built on opportunity, not obstruction. The Trump administration is empowering Alaska to unlock its vast resources and reclaim its role in powering America. In contrast, the Biden administration left a legacy of missed opportunity, misguided priorities, and economic harm.
It’s time to stop treating Alaska like a political bargaining chip and start treating it like the energy powerhouse it is. With the right leadership, like that of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and President Donald Trump, Alaska can drive America’s energy resurgence and secure its place at the center of the nation’s future.
Brett Huber represents Power the Future in Alaska, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs.
Another Loser position by Democrats and the progressive Left.
It’s over – the whole “climate alarmism” movement is dead.
#1 – apocalyptic scenarios are what authoritarians use to subjugate the masses
#2 – now the Big Tech realizes they need MASSIVE increases in cheap available energy – natural gas, coal, and nuclear – the whole “doomsday cult” will dissipate with the rest of their absolute cuckoo positions …
Man-made climate warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on all of mankind. This was an effort decades in the making, involving Marxists, several generations of academic instruction at all levels of education, the Democrat Party, naferious legal rulings and politicians who had no skills other than to advance the hoax through legislation. And for all of the effort to train people to believe that man has altered the climate, the next generation has to clean-up the financial mess left behind by the perpetrators. Not to mention……reversing millions of brainwashed minds.
Brett’s comments are, axiomatically, logical.
Nations & national policies can/do hold nation-States together; however, de-centralised rule DOES work. Leave it to States to prosecute their futures & trade opportunities. Every US State should be responsible for planning their respective futures —- which includes saving & planning for a future of their State.
It remains interesting reading about American authors who resist adding say the proposed, deposit identified, 20-year Environmental Impact statement researched “Pebble Mine” to exigent adoption & inclusion to America’s imminent economic & mineral requirements.
We, living internationally, rarely have seen the passionate debates surrounding such a rich opportunity as Pebble is for the USA. It is common knowledge for scientists who have a vested interest in furthering US prosperity & frankly anywhere, that we humans certainly must adopt technologies & policies to wed extraction with preservation or conservation. Mining economics require that big deposits require large-scale planning. Otherwise in today’s world, mining becomes unviable, un-investable. Tens-of thousands of debates surrounding mining & other adjacent resource extractions such as Salmon are certainly factors to be researched & considered, but speculative wording such as “might”, “could”, “possibly” (common wording of environmentalist vocabulary) doesn’t hold up to critical thinking, logic, maths or science. Humans must sally forth. Thirty years of debating anything entirely violates the over-arching values with wealth creation: “look-befor-you-leap” or “he who hesitated is lost”. Today, in a world of waxing dictatorships, it is critical to remember that every nation has competitors. When China discovers any viable minerals (as seen only in the last couple of months with a prodigious copper discovery), it takes only months to begin building mines. Losers talk. Winners act. Pebble, along-with Resolution in Arizona and another in Minnesota —- all three are critical projects that need immediate production, lest the USA continue increasing its conflict with China. I encourage all persons who write about Alaska’s future, to include Pebble; all the preparation for enacting the project is completed. We can all be assured that “stake-holders these days on American soil include corporate environmental lawyers & consultants who serve to keep a future for American mining… at least better so than almost the rest of our planet.
And for those who argue that Pebble is foreign-owned, in the world of investing today, almost zero mines are solely owned by the inhabitants of Nation-States. Not even mines within the Russian federation.
Well done Mr. President, well done.