Alaska hopes to recoup losses from canceled oil and gas leases

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – The State of Alaska has filed suit hoping to recoup losses in revenues stemming from federal cancellation of oil and gas leases on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

In a press release Tuesday, the Alaska Attorney General’s office announced the suit, which was filed in the United States Court of Federal Claims. The release mentions nine cancellations on ANWR’s Coastal Plain.

Calling it an effort to hold the U.S. government accountable for the economic impacts of its environmental policies, Attorney General Treg Taylor alleges the federal government is undermining Alaska’s ability to be economically independent.

“The Biden administration’s decisions since day one have been aimed at making the State of Alaska off limits to any resource development to the detriment of Alaska and Alaskans seeking to provide for their families,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. “As the rest of the nation celebrates the Fourth of July, the federal government has systematically undermined the State’s ability to maintain its economic independence. This was not what was promised Alaskans at statehood, and why the State must continue to fight.”

“We know these resources can be developed safely and responsibly, and with the support and involvement of the local communities that live within the 1002 Area,” said John Boyle, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. “The only obstacle is the radical environmentalist agenda of the Biden Administration.”

The release claims Alaska was promised the ability to use resource development to build its economy.

It also says the government’s action cancelling the Coastal Plain leases, which had been approved in 2017 under the Trump Administration, constitutes a breach of contract.

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