3 Trump officials look to tap into Alaska for oil and gas – Deseret News
Three top Trump administration officials were in Alaska’s North Slope on Monday morning, looking to open up more oil drilling and revamping a stalled natural gas project in the state.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Energy Secretary Chris Wright spent the day at the northernmost point of Alaska in Utqiagvik, an Arctic town looking to benefit economically from the administration’s goals for investments in the energy industry.
Burgum, speaking with Fox News from the region, said there’s land the size of Montana in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve that President Donald Trump has “set free” for energy development.
Democrats and Republicans have been fighting over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for decades, with Republican administrations opening it up for energy development followed by Democratic presidents shuttering projects in order to protect wildlife in the area.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year that sought to boost oil and gas drilling, mining and lodging in Alaska. While environmentalists have criticized the order over possible effects on the climate, local leaders support it because of the potential for economic gains in the area.
“These folks up here, they care about the land, they care about the wildlife, they care about their communities,” Burgum said. “They know that this development can be done safely and smartly here.”
Zeldin agreed. He told CNBC on Sunday that protecting the environment and economic prosperity is not “a binary choice.”
“The Trump administration chooses both. The people who live here, who clearly care very much about their own environment, this is where they live, they are choosing both,” Zeldin said. “This isn’t a binary choice for the people in North Slope. They choose, protecting their environment and growing their economy.”
The three Cabinet officials celebrated Trump’s attempts to make the U.S. energy independent and energy dominant. The completion of an 800-mile natural gas pipeline would do just that for the U.S, the officials said.
Some Asian countries are looking to invest in the project as they look to improve their standing with Trump ahead of trying to reach a trade deal with the administration, CNBC reported.
“We have an opportunity to sell energy to these Pacific allies. We can sell energy to our friends and allies so they don’t have to buy it from our adversaries and that’s a key part of President Trump’s energy dominance strategy,” Burgum said.
In a release Monday, the Interior Department announced, in accordance with Trump’s order, it would be rescinding the Biden-era 2024 rule restricting development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The rule prioritized “obstruction over production” when America needs to be energy independent and produce more, Burgum said.
While the state’s efforts to develop its natural gas resources is not new, the appearance of three Cabinet officials in Alaska shows significant support from the administration for the project.
According to Alaska LNG, the project seeks to use “clean, energy-efficient, and safe production methods” to deliver natural gas for commercialization and distribution within the state. The project estimates land in North Slope would deliver about 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas each day, with much of it going to international customers and to heat Alaskan homes.
The administration officials met Sunday with various groups as well as U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski in Anchorage before traveling to North Slope.
They also joined the National Energy Dominance Council and officials from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines at the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System for a press conference to highlight the country’s oil pumping system and next era of energy development in the state.
They will also appear at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s annual energy conference in Anchorage on Tuesday.
Wright celebrated the administration’s efforts during the press conference and in several posts online.
He said Trump has unleashed and taken off “the handcuffs” of Alaska’s energy capabilities. The state is the “poster child” of Trump’s vision to make American energy dominant because it has both the oil and natural gas resources, he said.
“President Trump wants to see the flows through taps, doubled. The oil is here. The discoveries are here. If we free Alaska and the people here, we’re going to more than double the oil flow through the pipeline and build the big, beautiful twin, the natural gas pipeline from the North Slope,” Wright said Monday.
“Today, oil is the largest source of energy on the planet, and the fastest growing source of energy on the planet is natural gas,” he continued. “You have the big two right here.”
