03 June 2025 - Trump Administration Opens Millions of Acres in Alaska to Drilling, Reversing Biden Protections
Trump officials open up millions of acres in Alaska to drilling and mining
Richard Luscombe (The Guardian, 03/06/2025)
Millions of acres of Alaska wilderness will lose federal protections and be exposed to drilling and mining in the Trump administration’s latest move to prioritize energy production over the shielding of the US’s open spaces. Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, said on Monday that the government would reverse an order issued by Joe Biden in December that banned drilling in the remote 23m-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), the New York Times reported. The former president’s executive order was part of a package of protections for large areas of Alaska, some elements of which the state was challenging in court when he left office in January.
Top Trump officials visit prolific Alaska oil field amid push to expand drilling
Becky Bohrer and Mark Thiessen (AP News, 03/06/2025)
President Donald Trump wants to double the amount of oil coursing through Alaska’s vast pipeline system and build a massive natural gas project as its “big, beautiful twin,” a top administration official said Monday while touring a prolific oil field near the Arctic Ocean.The remarks by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright came as he and two other Trump Cabinet members — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin — visited Prudhoe Bay as part of a multiday trip aimed at highlighting Trump’s push to expand oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in the state that drew criticism from environmentalists.
Trump administration is convinced massive Alaska energy project will find investors despite steep cost
Spencer Kimball (CNBC News, 03/06/2025)
The Trump administration is confident that a massive liquified natural gas project in Alaska will find investors despite its enormous cost. President Donald Trump has pushed Alaska LNG as a national priority since taking office. Alaska has already spent years trying to build an 800-mile pipeline from the North Slope above the Arctic Circle south to the Cook Inlet, where the gas would be cooled and shipped to U.S. allies in Asia.
As Trump officials visit Alaska, feds announce plans to remove some restrictions on Arctic drilling
James Brooks (Alaska Beacon, 03/06/2025)
The Trump administration plans to lift environmental protections on roughly half of the National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska’s North Slope, reopening the area to possible oil and gas drilling. The new move would reverse actions taken during the Biden administration to restrict development in the 23 million-acre reserve. The plans, announced Sunday in Utqiagvik and formally on Monday by the U.S. Department of the Interior, open a public comment period, with final action to come later. The plans were announced as three of the Trump administration’s top officials visit Alaska.
Official seal of Alaska. Wikipedia, Public domain.
