'Homeland would've been stolen': AK Natives sound off on Biden energy bans as Trump officials tour tundra
FIRST ON FOX: Alaska Natives and residents of the vast North Slope Borough communities along the Arctic Ocean got a rare chance this week to directly discuss their concerns with White House officials, typically 3,500 miles away in Washington.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin joined Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and local residents in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) as part of a multi-day visit to the oil and gas fields, workers and neighbors in the frigid but crucial region.
Charles Lamp, a Native resident of Kaktovik – the main remote community within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) a few hundred miles eastward – said until President Donald Trump and the officials assembled in Utqiagvik took office, North Slope residents and their energy development hopes felt besieged by that same far-flung federal government.
Lamp voiced similar concerns to those Fox News Digital had been told in the past by Alaska officials, in that environmental activists in the Lower 48 and federal officials who ideologically align with them have tried speaking for them in opposition to developing ANWR and other sites where none of those same activists live.
"There's one thing that I want to bring up – we were under attack in Kaktovik by environmental groups," Lamp said.
"On Day 1, President Trump told the Fish and Wildlife Department to deny their requests. And that was such an amazing thing for us to be able to see. And we were so proud of our president then because he made sure that our ancestral homelands weren't going to be stolen – and [instead] protected," Lamp said, as many in the North Slope actually support the development of their Native homelands versus cordoning them off through regulation – as they bring jobs and resources.
"So I really need to bring back this immense gratitude to President Trump for that action and being able to write something that, if the other guy (Joe Biden and Kamala Harris) would have won, there's no doubt in my mind that our homeland would have been stolen and there's nothing we could have done about it," he said.
"Trump had the heart and the wherewithal to be able to right this wrong."
He told Burgum to invite Trump to Kaktovik to see ANWR and its "Section 1002" – the oil and gas development sector – for himself.
Burgum said he believes Trump would be open to the opportunity – and that the president has already pleasantly surprised regional corporate stakeholders with his openness to questions that the oil companies felt loath to even consider asking a president.
"President Trump does care super deeply about this and at a deep level," Burgum said, adding the president shocked ConocoPhillips representatives in a recent meeting when he asked what they needed to improve their North Slope operations.
When the company noted improved roads would be helpful, Trump asked rhetorically why a road couldn't be built, according to Burgum.
"[They] were kind of like, 'Wow, I didn't know we could ask that.'"
Wright also addressed the Utqiagvik meeting, and added in separate comments that he visited the Prudhoe Bay Discovery Well – a 1960s operation that first opened Alaska to energy development and at one point represented one-quarter of U.S. oil output.
"Unfortunately, the last few decades have seen a long, slow decline of North Slope oil production – not because they're running out of oil. In fact, there's an amazing amount of untapped, unproduced oil up here. It's because of federal regulation, bureaucracy. It's made it so expensive and difficult to operate," Wright said.
He added that with the "Big, Beautiful, Twin Natural Gas Pipeline" ultimately constructed, Alaska could be the key to global energy security by drawing buyers in Korea and Japan away from China.
"It's great to be part of history again here in the great North Slope oil fields of Alaska," Wright said.
Dunleavy last week headlined a global sustainable energy conference in Anchorage, which also drew the attention of those same potential stakeholders from Asia.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
EPA employees put names to ‘declaration of dissent' over agency moves under Trump
A group of Environmental Protection Agency employees on Monday published a declaration of dissent from the agency's policies under the Trump administration, saying they 'undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.' More than 170 EPA employees put their names to the document, with about 100 more signing anonymously out of fear of retaliation, according to Jeremy Berg, a former editor-in-chief of Science magazine who is not an EPA employee but was among non-EPA scientists or academics to also sign. The latter figure includes 20 Nobel laureates. The letter represents rare public criticism from agency employees who could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environmental and health science. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health made a similar move earlier in June. 'Since the Agency's founding in 1970, EPA has accomplished (its) mission by leveraging science, funding, and expert staff in service to the American people. Today, we stand together in dissent against the current administration's focus on harmful deregulation, mischaracterization of previous EPA actions, and disregard for scientific expertise,' the letter read. The EPA responded with a statement that said policy decisions 'are a result of a process where Administrator (Lee) Zeldin is briefed on the latest research and science by EPA's career professionals, and the vast majority who are consummate professionals who take pride in the work this agency does day in and day out.' The statement also criticized the Biden administration for what it called 'attempts to shut down American energy and make our citizens more reliant on foreign fossil fuels,' with worse environmental outcomes around the world as well as economic pain. Employees want the EPA get back to its mission 'I'm really sad. This agency, that was a superhero for me in my youth, we're not living up to our ideals under this administration. And I really want us to,' said Amelia Hertzberg, an environmental protection specialist at the EPA who has been on administrative leave since February from the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, while the administration works to close down her department. Hertzberg's work focused on the most vulnerable groups impacted by pollution: pregnant and nursing people, young children and babies, the elderly, people with preexisting and chronic health conditions and people living in communities exposed to higher levels of pollution. That wasn't supposed to be controversial, but it's become so in this political climate, she said. 'Americans should be able to drink their water and breathe their air without being poisoned. And if they aren't, then our government is failing,' she said. Berg, who also directed the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at NIH from 2003-2011, said the dissent isn't motivated by partisan criticism. He said the employees hope it will help the EPA get back to the mission for which it was established — which 'only matters if you breathe air and drink water.' The letter outlines what the EPA employees see as five main concerns: undermining public trust; ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters; reversing EPA's progress in America's most vulnerable communities; dismantling the Office of Research and Development; and promoting a culture of fear, forcing staff to choose between their livelihood and well-being. EPA has cut funding and rolled back federal regulations Under Zeldin, EPA has cut funding for environmental improvements in minority communities, vowed to roll back federal regulations that lower air pollution in national parks and tribal reservations, wants to undo a ban on a type of asbestos and proposed repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Zeldin began reorganizing the EPA's research and development office as part of his push to slash their budget and gut their study of climate change and environmental justice. And he's seeking to roll back pollution rules that an Associated Press examination found were estimated to save 30,000 lives and $275 billion every year. 'People are going to die,' said Carol Greider, a Nobel laureate and professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who also signed the letter. She described last week's East Coast heat wave as evidence of the ways people are feeling the effects of climate change. 'And if we don't have scientists at the EPA to understand how what we do that goes into the air affects our health, more people are going to die,' she added. Berg said the declarations of dissent from both the NIH and EPA employees are noteworthy because they represent scientists speaking out as their careers are on the line. Even non-agency employees have to consider whether the government will withdraw research funding. Greider, asked about fears of repercussions or retaliation, said she's 'living the repercussions of everything.' She regularly meets with graduate students who are worried about pursuing scientific careers as labs lose funding. It's a long-term problem if we aren't supporting the next generation of scientists, she said: 'That's decades worth of loss.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Republicans and Democrats buck party lines in marathon votes for Trump megabill
Senators have been crossing party lines on votes ranging from areas such as Medicaid, food assistance and hospital funding as they consider a litany of potential amendments to President Trump's megabill amid an hours-long, marathon voting session. Democrats, who have lined up in opposition to the bill, have offered a series of amendments and proposed changes throughout the voting session. While none have yet been adopted, some of the Democratic efforts have still managed to peel off GOP support. The votes come as Democrats are seeking to hold Republicans' feet to the fire with potentially politically tough votes as they ramp up attacks against the bill, which is estimated to put trillions of dollars in tax cuts toward national deficits in the coming years, along with significant changes to reduce federal dollars for programs such as Medicaid and food assistance. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a key moderate who has not yet announced how she plans to vote on the plan, has broken with her party on several votes for Democratic-backed measures. That includes efforts seeking to 'eliminate any provisions that would lead to any nursing home closures' and those that 'change state provider taxes,' as well as another to block provisions that would 'result in increased likelihood of rural hospitals being forced to close.' She also joined Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in voting with Democrats against a GOP effort to block consideration of an amendment offered by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). The amendment sought to strip a provision in the bill that would block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. Murkowski, another moderate whose support GOP leadership has made efforts to secure in recent days, broke with her party on other votes as well. She also voted to back an effort by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) aimed at removing provisions that strip 'individuals in the United States of the federal benefits to which they are entitled,' partly with the 'creation of new administrative burdens and paperwork requirements.' She and fellow Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) voted to back an effort from Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) to strike provisions related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as the food stamps program, as Republicans have proposed notable changes to the program to reduce federal spending in the bill. The two GOP senators have also raised concerns over the scope of the bill's SNAP proposal and how requirements for states with higher payment error rates to pay a share of benefit costs for the first time would impact Alaska. However, Democrats weren't the only ones to peel off across-the-aisle support during votes. One amendment offered by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) targeted states that use their own money to offer health care to migrants without legal status. States that continue to cover migrants without legal status would get their Medicaid cut from 90 to 80 percent. Four Democrats joined Republicans in backing the effort: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (Ga.). Nathaniel Weixel contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Collins, Murkowski vote with Democrats on striking Planned Parenthood provision from GOP megabill
Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) on Monday sided with Democrats who were trying to strike a provision from the GOP's megabill that would bar Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving Medicaid funding for services provided to low-income women across the country. The two were the only Republicans to vote for a motion to waive a budget point of order against an amendment to remove the provision. It was sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Murray hoped to offer an amendment to strip the Planned Parenthood-related provision from the bill, but she first needed to overcome a procedural objection to the bill. Republicans blocked her motion in a 51-49 vote. She needed 60 votes to overcome the objection. 'It will take another step toward enacting Republicans' plan for a backdoor nationwide abortion ban. How does it do this? By defunding Planned Parenthood,' Murray said. 'This is a long-sought goal of anti-choice extremists — no surprise, it is overwhelmingly unpopular with the American people,' she added. Live updates: Thune looks to nail down holdouts on Trump megabill Senate Republicans added the provision, Section 7115, back into the bill after the Senate parliamentarian initially ruled it violated the Senate's Byrd Rule, which determines what legislation is eligible to pass with a simple-majority vote under budget reconciliation. Republicans changed the timing of the 'defunding' from 10 years to one year to meet the parliamentarian's requirements. Nathan Weixel contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
