By Ward Clark
Alaska’s Congressional delegation, along with the support of House and Senate Republicans, has scored a major win on the energy front. Representative Nick Begich (AK-At Large) introduced House Joint Resolution 131, stripping Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Rep. Begich’s resolution has passed the House of Representatives and the Senate and is headed to President Trump’s desk for signature.
Alaska’s entire Congressional delegation supported the move, including Rep. Begich and Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). And no, we’re not tired of winning yet.
Alaska’s congressional delegation on Thursday succeeded in stripping Biden-era protections from the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, moving to expand opportunities for drilling there.
The U.S. Senate voted to eliminate the 2024 leasing program for the refuge that put much of the refuge’s 1.6-million-acre coastal plain off-limits to potential drilling.
The measure, introduced by Alaska U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature, after the House passed it last month.
The vote opens the door for potential oil and gas activity across the coastal plain, as the Trump administration has sought.
The vote does a lot more than just open the door for potential oil and gas activity.
We have been noting, pretty much since the day President Trump resumed office, that while we support his agenda, it will take Congressional action to nail a lot of it down. This is just such a Congressional action. It’s a joint resolution, meaning it applies to internal rules and practices. As this is a joint resolution, it requires passage by both the House and Senate and the president’s signature. This resolution relies on the Congressional Review Act to strip away the Biden-era rules.
This is another step in unlocking America’s treasure chest. The areas in question in ANWR are estimated to hold 7.7 billion barrels of oil recoverable with current technology, and the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that there may be hundreds of millions of barrels in other areas to the west of the ANWR sites.
That’s a lot of black gold. That’s a lot of Alaskan jobs. And that’s a big, big boost to American energy security.
Alaska’s Native communities in the area have expressed support for the move.
