Alaska Governor Urges Trump to Reverse Restrictions on Oil, Gas Drilling

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington on Dec. 3, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has called on President-elect Donald Trump to roll back restrictions on oil and gas drilling across the state in January 2025, stating that Alaska is ready to work with Trump to set the state and country “on a course to prosperity.”

Dunleavy, a Republican, issued the request in a November letter, just days after Trump won the presidential election.

The governor’s office made the letter public on Dec. 16.

Dunleavy congratulated Trump on his “historic victory” before praising him for “realizing Alaska’s potential like no other President in history” during his first term in office, which began in January 2017.

He urged Trump to issue an executive order on his first day in office to set in motion critical actions to “restore opportunity” to Alaska.

Those key actions include reversing a string of policies implemented under the Biden administration and directing federal agencies to reinstate actions and processes that were implemented during Trump’s previous administration.

They include granting commercial leasing, exploration, development, and the production of oil and gas on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and allowing responsible oil and gas leasing across 18.6 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

Additionally, the order would restore Trump’s position on lands in trust and native allotments; reinstate Alaska’s authority over wildlife, lands, and waters; and grant the transfer of statehood lands first promised under the 1959 Alaska Statehood Act.

It would also reinstate policies granting Alaska the right to manage its fish and game, restore the right of way to the Ambler Mining District—home to extensive deposits of critical minerals—and undo restrictions on logging and road-building in a temperate rainforest, among other things.

Alaska ‘Targeted’ by Federal Government, Dunleavy Says

Dunleavy also asked Trump to create a Cabinet-level task force through which the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies could work together on Trump’s Alaska-specific policy goals.

“Alaska’s untapped energy and mineral resources stand ready to contribute to America’s economic revival and national security,” Dunleavy said. “Your election will hail in a new era of optimism and opportunity, and Alaska stands ready and is eager to work with you to repair this damage wrought by the previous administration, and to set both Alaska and America on a course to prosperity.”

Alaska has a long history of fighting what it deems federal overreach, particularly concerning decisions that hinder the development of the state’s vast resources.

Since taking office, Biden has made large swaths of the state off-limits to oil, natural gas, and critical minerals developments, and has banned infrastructure construction as part of efforts to reduce carbon emissions and conserve land.

In his letter to Trump, Dunleavy stated that the federal government has “targeted” Alaska with 60 executive orders and agency actions in the past four years and that he believes these have undermined the state’s authority, cut off access to public lands, prevented future energy and mineral development, and destroyed economic opportunity.

“As Governor of the Great State of Alaska I look forward to working with you, Mr. President, on all of your initiatives to make both Alaska and America great again,” he wrote. “We Alaskans support your work to get this country back on the right track.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.