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Democrats Aim To Choke Off Arctic Drilling With Provision Tucked Into Reconciliation Package
The Federalist ^ | September 18, 2021 | Tristan Justice

Posted on 09/19/2021 5:39:39 AM PDT by gattaca

Tucked into the massive legislation are restored protections to bar drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's 1002 Area. Tristan JusticeBy Tristan Justice SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 House Democrats are seeking to exploit the reconciliation process with a $3.5 trillion dollar package in pursuit of high priority progressive programs. That wish list includes a litany of items on the left-wing green agenda, with protections against Arctic oil exploration at the top.

Tucked into the massive legislation last week by the House Natural Resources Committee are restored protections to bar drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s (ANWR) 1002 Area, a nearly 1.6 million-acre patch along Alaska’s northern coast opened for oil and gas extraction in 2017.

“There isn’t a more clear example of congressional confusion than the current move by ‘wildlife-above-human-life’ extremists to ban oil and gas drilling in ANWR’s Coastal Plain,” said Rick Whitbeck, the Alaska state director for the energy nonprofit Power the Future. “They forget that Congress authorized and encouraged development in that exact area previously, and that banning future development puts the local indigenous people in peril of having to out-migrate from their village to find jobs to sustain their families.”

If passed, the package would likely seal the fate of drilling prospects in ANWR until Republicans reclaim both chambers of Congress and the White House to reverse course. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has continued to pull every lever to keep operations offline, from suspending oil and gas leases on federal lands to ordering new environmental reviews reassessing proposed projects.

The 1.6 million-acre stretch opened for exploration in 2017 amounts to less than 10 percent of the total refuge (which is roughly the size of South Carolina) off limits to development in northeast Alaska. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, somewhere between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil remain underneath the surface of the 1002 Area, which would make it one of the most productive oil fields in the country as gas prices reach seven-year highs.

The only tribe living within the proposed boundary for drilling, the Iñupiat, have lobbied Congress for decades to allow development projects to move forward. Radical environmentalists seeking to preserve the entire state — which constitutes nearly a fifth of the entire nation’s landmass — as an untouched museum they’d maybe like to visit one day, however, have successfully exploited the opposition of a rival tribe hundreds of miles south of the 1002 Area to cloak opposition under the moral righteousness of environmental justice.

“The Gwich’in Nation, living in Alaska and Canada and 9,000 strong, make their home on or near the migratory route of the Porcupine caribou herd, and have depended on this herd for their subsistence and culture for thousands of years,” wrote California Democrat Rep. Jared Huffman as he re-introduced legislation in February to permanently ban the Iñupiat from harvesting the resources in their own backyard.

A look into the Gwich’in tribe’s past, however, raises questions about its genuine opposition to drilling in the Arctic Refuge, which remains entirely outside the tribe’s territory.

In the early 1980s, the Gwich’in sought to lease every last inch of its Alaskan Venetie Reserve to oil companies seeking to drill what many thought would be lucrative underground reserves. After exploration turned up short of any prospects for profitable drilling, the Gwich’in became vehemently opposed to oil and gas development across the state and partnered with progressive interests in the campaign.

The caribou, meanwhile, remain unbothered by the oil and gas activity on the North Slope 60 miles southwest of the 1002 Area, with populations continuing to rise and decline with their natural cycle.

Matthew Rexford, the tribal administrator for the Iñupiat village of Kaktovik within the 1002 Area, labeled his own people “refugees on their own lands,” prohibited from accessing the lucrative resources under them even though they are located on a flat plain rarely even visited by Alaskans, let alone elites who can afford the high-dollar trip.

“We are frustrated that we are not being heard and the Iñupiat living in Kaktovik and elsewhere on the North Slope are an ‘inconvenient truth’ to an administration dead set on shutting down Arctic development,” Rexford told The Federalist.

In an August interview, Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy shared the tribe’s frustrations.

“If we were able to do what we wanted to do, we’d be one of the richest states by far,” Dunleavy told The Federalist.


TOPICS: Canada; News/Current Events; US: Alaska; US: California
KEYWORDS: alaska; anwr; arctic; california; canada; globalwarminghoax; greennewdeal; gwichinnation; inupiat; jaredhuffman; kaktovik; matthewrexford; mikedunleavy; opec; rickwhitbeck; tristanjustice

1 posted on 09/19/2021 5:39:40 AM PDT by gattaca
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To: gattaca

good....that should raise gasoline prices.

I worked high gas prices into a conversation with a liberal neighbor yesterday. Was shocked he didn’t want to participate in the robust conversation that developed with others nearby.


2 posted on 09/19/2021 5:41:31 AM PDT by Josa
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To: gattaca

That’s higher prices for oil which goes into the pockets of Russia, Iraq, etc. And conserves the unused oil for later use by China.


3 posted on 09/19/2021 5:45:18 AM PDT by P.O.E.
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To: gattaca

That’s not budgetary nor financial.

Hopefully, the Senate Parliamentarian rules against it.


4 posted on 09/19/2021 6:08:20 AM PDT by Alas Babylon! ("You, the American people, are my only special interest." --President Donald J. Trump)
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To: gattaca

I’ve said all along “it ain’t about the money”. The money is the shiny object to distract from the Easter eggs hidden in the bill. The bill is all the things the left needs for a communist take over of what once was the U.S.A. Do you hear any Republicans speaking out about these things? I’ll answer that for you, no you don’t. Think about that. That tells you all you need to know about the Republican party


5 posted on 09/19/2021 6:09:53 AM PDT by VTenigma (The Democrat party is the party of the mathematically challenged )
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To: gattaca

Oooops...not allowed to quote actual statistics


6 posted on 09/19/2021 6:17:58 AM PDT by SMARTY (Republics decline into democracies & democracies degenerate into despotisms. Aristotle)
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To: gattaca

When GHWB was president they used to complain ANWR was stupid because it would be 10 years before we got oil. That was 30 years ago.


7 posted on 09/19/2021 6:32:09 AM PDT by 3RIVRS
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To: gattaca

How I LOATHE the left.


8 posted on 09/19/2021 6:34:56 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to says it.)
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To: Puppage

You and me both. We knew before the election that if somehow Joe Biden made it into office and they got control of the House and Senate, that Joe Biden was going to be the inanimate vessel they poured all their Leftist wants, needs, and goals into.

They are succeeding.


9 posted on 09/19/2021 6:40:34 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: P.O.E.

Everything is tied to petroleum. Supply and demand economics will not change.


10 posted on 09/19/2021 6:43:59 AM PDT by DownInFlames (G)
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To: gattaca

Democrats must have controlling interest in candle and horse drawn buggy corporations.


11 posted on 09/19/2021 6:52:23 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: Rurudyne

No , Democrats want everyone to own an Electric Car that sits in your driveway because there’s not way to charge it


12 posted on 09/19/2021 6:55:05 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: butlerweave

It ends up being much the same.


13 posted on 09/19/2021 7:03:29 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: gattaca
Iñupiat living in Kaktovik

Kaltovik Alaska - POP 262. Wow, big 'people' (tribe) eh?

Local industry...'working' at a tax-funded job... They have "polar bear guides' for tourists in the season/

14 posted on 09/19/2021 7:41:20 AM PDT by ASOC (This space for rent)
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To: gattaca

Democrats have a long list of ways to keep the public broke and in need of their help.

I’m from the government and here to help you.
Ronald Reagan


15 posted on 09/19/2021 8:11:13 AM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
[snip] The only tribe living within the proposed boundary for drilling, the Inupiat, have lobbied Congress for decades to allow development projects to move forward. Radical environmentalists... have successfully exploited the opposition of a rival tribe hundreds of miles south of the 1002 Area... California Democrat Rep. Jared Huffman as he re-introduced legislation in February to permanently ban the Inupiat from harvesting the resources in their own backyard... In the early 1980s, the Gwich'in sought to lease every last inch of its Alaskan Venetie Reserve to oil companies seeking to drill what many thought would be lucrative underground reserves. After exploration turned up short of any prospects for profitable drilling, the Gwich'in became vehemently opposed to oil and gas development across the state and partnered with progressive interests in the campaign... Matthew Rexford, the tribal administrator for the Inpiat village of Kaktovik within the 1002 Area, labeled his own people "refugees on their own lands," prohibited from accessing the lucrative resources under them even though they are located on a flat plain rarely even visited by Alaskans, let alone elites who can afford the high-dollar trip. [/snip]

16 posted on 09/19/2021 12:18:18 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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