Alaska Officials Hail 'Night and Day' Shift Under Trump Energy Policies

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan said Tuesday that federal energy policy has shifted dramatically under the Trump administration, enabling major resource projects across the state after years of restrictions.

Speaking at the Alaska Energy Conference in Anchorage, the officials said the Trump administration issued a day-one executive order specifically for Alaska and has maintained direct engagement on key projects including a proposed natural gas pipeline, the King Cove Road, and the Ambler Road. Sullivan said the Biden administration imposed what he called 70 executive orders trying to restrict Alaska development. Dunleavy separately referenced what he said was a sheet of paper Sullivan used to carry listing upwards of 80 federal sanctions against the state.

Sullivan said the Biden restrictions are gone. He called them an attempt to crush the state.

Dunleavy said the Biden administration imposed restrictions on lease sales, forest access, and infrastructure projects despite Alaska's statehood compact requiring resource development to fund state operations. He said more than 60 percent of Alaska's 222 million acres is federal land, making federal cooperation essential.

The governor said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called him on New Year's Day to discuss Alaska projects and has made multiple trips to the state since taking office. Dunleavy said President Trump personally monitors progress on the gas pipeline and road projects.

Dunleavy called Trump the best president for Alaska in history.

Sullivan announced that the Pitcairn oil field began producing oil and is now generating 80,000 barrels per day. He said the Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska has been built from a gravel pad to what he called a medium-sized Alaska city in one year.

The senator said the federal government completed the largest lease sale in the history of the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska. He said Congress secured 10 years of mandatory lease sales through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, legislation he said he led in the Senate. Sullivan said he also led passage of a December law that removed a Biden-era regulation restricting development in the reserve and prohibited federal agencies from reimposing similar rules.

Sullivan said he led the effort to pass the bill in the Senate. He said the law ripped the Biden regulation out by the roots and said no federal agency can re-regulate in that area.

Sullivan said the White House created a Western Alaska energy task force to address diesel supply and pricing challenges in rural communities. He said Secretary Burgum announced the task force at a community event in Fairbanks after Sullivan requested White House coordination on rural energy issues.