Can Trump Revive Alaska's Energy Economy?

Former President Joe Biden did seemingly everything he could to kill energy development in Alaska. Current President Donald Trump appears dedicated to using the power of the federal government to restore the nation’s 49^th state to one of the most prolific oil producers in the union.

The opposite approaches taken towards Alaska by the two men to have occupied the Oval Office since 2016 helps illustrate why it has become increasingly difficult to finance major energy projects in the US over the past decade. The policy tug-of-war between Democrat and Republican administrations has damaged the ability of corporate management teams and major financial institutions to have confidence in the consistent application of US laws and regulations.

Biden’s Alaska approach

In an editorial published in late January, The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that “progressives want Alaska to be a natural museum untouched by humans”. It is an accurate assessment made obvious by the initiatives Biden took to prohibit development of oil, gas and mined minerals in the state over the past four years.

After Biden banned development on 3m acres on Alaska’s North Slope on 17 January, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan wrote via a post on Facebook that his office had catalogued no fewer than 70 actions the administration had taken designed to damage the state’s energy sector and economy.

“Biden is waging his war on Alaska until the last possible moment,” Sullivan wrote. “His Interior Department just announced additional sweeping restrictions on 3m acres in the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPRA–A)—the Biden administration’s 70th executive order or action specifically targeting our state. This action, based on new powers that the outgoing Biden administration gave itself related to the NPR–A—powers that I believe are illegal and which are being challenged in court—is the last gasp of a failed administration trying to crush Alaska and silence the voices of the Inupiat people who actually live on the North Slope… President Biden, [Interior] Secretary [Deb] Haaland and Acting Deputy Secretary [Laura] Daniel-Davis should be ashamed of themselves. I cannot wait for all of them to be relieved of duty on 20 January.”