Alaska’s more than 730,000 residents have suffered from more environmental meddling from Washington bureaucrats than those in any other state in the country.
Last week, the Biden administration celebrated “Earth Day” early by announcing it will unilaterally rope off millions of acres across Alaska from development and other local uses. On Friday, the Department of the Interior (DOI) issued twin rulings to impose “maximum protections” banning oil exploration in 13 million acres in the western Arctic and deny permits for a 211-mile road the state wanted to build to a colossal copper deposit worth an estimated $7.5 billion.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland cited “indigenous knowledge” behind the administration’s decision to ban oil and gas production in an area larger than twice the size of Massachusetts, despite record-high energy prices across the United States.
“There is no question, using the best available science and incorporating Indigenous Knowledge practiced over millennia, that these decisions will help biological, cultural, historic and subsistence resources, safeguarding the way of life for the Indigenous people who have called this special place home since time immemorial,” Haaland said.
Indigenous knowledge is a highly subjective metric, and it’s now the target of a scientific integrity complaint from the non-profit government watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust. Rival tribes in Alaska, for example, have competing interests regarding resource development and their feuds are exploited by far-left interests.
Blocking road access to the Ambler Mining District in the northwest Arctic is akin to the White House
