Free Republic

CNN — In a sweeping win for climate and environmental advocates, the Biden administration on Friday finalized a rule to ban fossil fuel drilling on nearly half of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, alongside other major conservation actions. The Interior Department will block oil drilling on over 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, including about 40% of the land of the NPR-A – a remote area that is home to protected animal species including polar bears and caribou. The reserve is more than 23 million acres of public land and an underground emergency oil supply for the US...

The Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives announced 12 Tribal consultations to occur virtually across the United States in the coming months. WASHINGTON – The Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives announced 12 Tribal consultations to occur virtually across the United States in the coming months.  American Indians and Alaska Natives experience disproportionately high rates of violence. President Trump has called the crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans “sobering and heartbreaking.” The Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, also known as Operation...

The American Indian and Alaska Native people have endured generations of injustice. They experience domestic violence, homicide, sexual assault, and abuse far more frequently than other groups. These horrific acts, committed predominantly against women and girls, are egregious and unconscionable. During Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Awareness Day, we reaffirm our commitment to ending the disturbing violence against these Americans and to honoring those whose lives have been shattered and lost. Resiliency, collaboration, and resourcefulness are all necessary to eradicate the heartbreaking incidents of missing persons and fatal violence experienced by American Indian and Alaska Native communities...

Dec. 17: This story has been updated [1]. SAXMAN, Alaska -- When the oil boom came to Alaska, Congress promised new economic opportunities for native peoples like the Cape Fox Tlingit. The Tlingit had wrested a subsistence life from the harsh coasts of southeast Alaska for thousands of years, only to see their villages destroyed, their resources exploited and their population wiped out by disease when white settlers came in the 19th century. In 1971, Congress passed a law intended to right the historic wrongs and compensate natives for construction of a new oil pipeline through their ancient lands. The...

<p>WASHINGTON — A senior Defense official placed under investigation by the FBI (news - web sites) on allegations that he tried to steer Iraqi reconstruction contracts toward friends has been removed from office, Pentagon (news - web sites) officials confirmed Friday.</p>