What a difference a day makes.
Democrats have, for years, treated Alaska like a gigantic national park. In the Senate hearings for Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) found an acorn when she noted that the Department of the Interior has, in recent years, acted like “Alaska’s landlord.”
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With the stroke of a pen, on Monday evening, amid a flurry of executive orders signed, President Donald Trump (I never will get tired of writing that) changed all that with an EO titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.”
Section 1. Background. The State of Alaska holds an abundant and largely untapped supply of natural resources including, among others, energy, mineral, timber, and seafood. Unlocking this bounty of natural wealth will raise the prosperity of our citizens while helping to enhance our Nation’s economic and national security for generations to come. By developing these resources to the fullest extent possible, we can help deliver price relief for Americans, create high-quality jobs for our citizens, ameliorate our trade imbalances, augment the Nation’s exercise of global energy dominance, and guard against foreign powers weaponizing energy supplies in theaters of geopolitical conflict.
That bit of background may be the best part. Someone did their homework in drafting this order; Alaska has far more resources than gas and oil. Our mineral wealth alone is considerable – tin, copper, gold, silver, lead, and strategic rare-earth metals; the Great Land has them all.
Of course, the environmental lobby, of which few members seem to live, you know, out in the environment, will immediately start the cries of outrage. But here’s the thing: Alaska is big. Really big. The amount of land required to take advantage of Alaska’s great mineral and energy wealth will scarcely be noticeable in the Great Land’s vastness, and there will be plenty of wide-open, unspoiled vistas for visitors to admire – and for the environmentalists to look at on penny postcards. As for those of us who live out in the environment, we’re probably more invested than anyone in keeping Alaska clean and beautiful, but we also value Alaskan jobs and Alaskan economic development.
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We can have both.
Unleashing this opportunity, however, requires an immediate end to the assault on Alaska’s sovereignty and its ability to responsibly develop these resources for the benefit of the Nation. It is, therefore, imperative to immediately reverse the punitive restrictions implemented by the previous administration that specifically target resource development on both State and Federal lands in Alaska.
Note that the EO places the authority for this development where it belongs – in Alaska.
Joe Biden – or, as is becoming increasingly obvious, whoever was pulling Joe Biden’s strings – clamped down on Alaska, locking away Alaskan resources like a jealous, miserly old lady hiding her jewelry in the attic. Donald Trump and his Interior nominees understand that those resources aren’t doing anyone any good in the ground, and presumably, they understand that it’s not to our advantage to buy things like rare-earth metals from other places – like China – when we have them here. Yes, most of these are global commodities and therefore fungible, but ramping up our supply will not only ensure our access but will bring down global prices.
Where energy is concerned, that’s doubly important right now. While inflation is primarily a monetary policy issue, energy nevertheless has a big impact on prices; the cost of energy is reflected in the cost of everything else, and energy, like everything, is subject to the laws of supply and demand.
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President Trump intends to up the supply.
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This is going to be good for Alaska, and good for the United States. And, at least this time, as we explore Alaska’s mineral wealth, the jobs created won’t require one to make the dangerous Gold Rush-era trek over Chilkoot Pass.
The EO makes a simple, strong statement of policy:
It is the policy of the United States to:
(a) fully avail itself of Alaska’s vast lands and resources for the benefit of the Nation and the American citizens who call Alaska home;
(b) efficiently and effectively maximize the development and production of the natural resources located on both Federal and State lands within Alaska;
(c) expedite the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in Alaska; and
(d) prioritize the development of Alaska’s liquified natural gas (LNG) potential, including the sale and transportation of Alaskan LNG to other regions of the United States and allied nations within the Pacific region.
Sounds good to this Alaskan.
You can read President Trump’s complete Alaska executive order here.
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