The Biden Administration is facing heat after announcing on Friday that it plans to block oil and gas drilling across millions of acres in an Alaskan reserve.
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) outlined new restrictions on oil and gas reserves along 13 million acres on a petroleum reserve in Alaska, claiming the move will conserve land that is important to the “Alaska Native people” and the “fish and wildlife.”
“Following significant engagement with the public, Alaska Native Tribes, and Alaska Native Corporations, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized the Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) rule that will ensure maximum protection for significant resource values on the more than 13 million acres of Special Areas in the western Arctic, while supporting subsistence uses and needs for Alaska Native communities,” the agency said.
Just days before Earth Day, the restrictions would confine over 13 million acres of public land within the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) as part of the Biden Administration’s radical climate agenda.
According to the DOI, the regulations as proposed would create an outright prohibition on any new leasing across 10.6 million acres of the area, equivalent to about 40% of the entire NPR-A. They would additionally require the DOI subagency the Bureau of Land Management to review whether to expand protected areas or create new protected areas in the NPR-A at least every five years.
Under the administration’s actions curbing development in the NPR-A, future oil and gas leasing and industrial development would be strictly limited in the vast Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Peard Bay – “special areas” known for their rich wildlife populations on Alaska’s North Slope. DOI said closing the land off from resource development would help protect various wildlife species, including caribou. Via Fox News Digital.
Biden appointee Secretary Deb Haaland credited “science” in the department’s decision to remain committed to ensuring “that places too special to develop remain intact for the communities and species that rely on them.”
State Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) called the move an “illegal” attack on the state’s oil and gas industry.
“Today we are here to discuss how the Biden administration is fine with our adversaries producing energy and dominating the world’s critical mineral markets while shutting down those in America,” Sullivan said. “Living in the most dangerous times since World War II… [Washington has allowed] dictators in Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran” to “undermine our national security interests. The Biden administration is not normal, indeed this administration is deliberately undertaking policies to punish Americans and undermine our strengths while continuing to help our adversaries.”
