The governor of Alaska is accusing the president of violating the law after Biden’s administration pulled the plug on Trump-era oil leases.
“If he’s willing to break this law, surely there’s going to be others. And once again, Alaska right now feels like a victim under this administration. And the country is going to feel like a victim here if they haven’t already,” Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said on “Kudlow” Thursday.
Alaska’s state agency is expected to challenge the decision in court, after Biden canceled several oil and gas leases issued in early 2021 to an Alaskan state economic development agency on Wednesday.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) rescinded the seven 10-year leases — spanning 365,775 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) — held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) and supported by a wide range of stakeholders, including lawmakers and Native Alaskans. The leases were issued by the Trump administration in one of its final actions.
BIDEN KILLED OIL AND GAS DRILLING IN ALASKA: LARRY KUDLOW
“This makes absolutely no sense from any perspective unless your goal is to drive up the cost of oil and gas so much that it makes certain renewables cheaper,” Dunleavy told host Larry Kudlow.
The DOI also issued a proposal to block off 13 million acres of land across the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR), an area in North Slope Borough, Alaska, set aside by Congress for resource development, and an additional 2.8 million of acres in the Beaufort Sea off the northern coast of Alaska, from oil and gas leasing.
“This is just two of 55 actions that the federal government under this administration is perpetrating against Alaska right now,” Dunleavy said, while adding that Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran are “laughing” at Biden’s energy policy.
“They’re laughing together at the United States of America,” the governor said. “I can’t find anywhere in, really the history of nation-states or empires, where they worked at hobbling themselves to such a degree that’s happening currently with this administration. So 2024 can’t come soon enough for most of us.”
Dunleavy further criticized the president as taxes on oil and gas activities in Alaska reportedly provide key funding for communities statewide and for government services, schools, housing, health care and emergency services.
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“There’s this bizarre cycle going on in which we lose out with revenue, jobs, a lower cost for energy. And our foreign adversaries gain constantly,” he said. “It’s hurting the state. It’s hurting this country. It’s really hurting the single mom with three kids who’s trying to make it in this world of hyperinflation.”
The Department of Interior had “no comment” to Fox News Digital’s request for a response to Dunleavy’s commentary.
Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.