Alaska’s Future: Slashing the Noise for Smart Resource Development

How do we move Alaska forward with resource development amidst the incessant no.

Alaska’s resources power our prosperity. Oil, gas, minerals, timber, and fisheries keep our budget full and our families working. Yet extremists on both sides are choking our future. Environmental radicals would bankrupt Alaska before allowing a pipeline, a mine, or a road. Far-right skeptics cry “globalist trap,” or “unconstitutional tax” at every practical move and demand we stop good projects over conspiracy fears. Neither side has a plan to keep Alaska strong or fund the government and infrastructure we all depend on.

As legislators, our job is to cut through the noise, to develop our wealth responsibly, protect our land, and remind Washington (and the UN) to stay in its lane.

From the Klondike Gold Rush to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska’s resources have built our schools, roads, and power plants, kept us free of an income tax, and made the United States an Arctic Nation. Projects like the Ambler Road, West Susitna Access, and the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension are lifelines to jobs, affordable energy, and independence. Opening the High Arctic strengthens both our economy and national security without selling out our Alaskan identity. America is an Arctic nation because of Alaska. It’s time we move past “no” and get to a responsible yes.

But development must be done right. Tough state regulations should protect the environment while ensuring Alaskans, not Outside interests, reap the rewards. Responsible foreign investment under U.S. oversight brings capital and technology we need to stay competitive. That is not selling out; that is smart economics.

Our rivers, forests, and wildlife are not political pawns; they are part of who we are. Alaskans protect what we use. That is why I support overturning restrictive National Park Service rules under ANILCA and pushing for state primacy under the Clean Water Act’s Section 404. Alaska should manage its own lands and waters, not Washington, D.C. Alaskan-led safeguards, such as groundwater protection and seismic checks, can keep our environment clean while we move forward responsibly.

Special interest groups, often funded from Outside, use scare tactics and emotion over science, branding projects like Susitna-Watana, West Susitna Access, or Pebble Mine as disasters in waiting. They ignore how infrastructure improves access, funds monitoring, and supports clean energy. We can protect salmon and caribou and build roads. Honest data, not confirmation bias and drama, should drive Alaska’s decisions. Shutting down Susitna-Watana without a replacement left us with $.23/hour electricity and a looming natural gas shortage. So what is the plan to keep Alaskans warm in the winter? Do extremists on either side just want us all to freeze in the dark?

Alaska’s development debate has been hijacked by those extremes. The left pushes “net zero” mandates that kill projects and raise costs. Destroying our economy because of so called “climate change” will not help. Authors such as Roger Pielke Jr. and Alex Epstein remind us that fossil fuels remain the backbone of reliable power, especially in an energy-hungry northern state like ours.

Meanwhile, the far-right fringe insists every project or bill is a globalist scheme. I share their skepticism of Washington’s power and the UN’s influence, but a “no to everything” attitude without a plan B only delays progress and risks losing financing for key projects such as the Alaska LNG pipeline. House Bill 50 keeps Alaska in control of carbon sequestration, attracting investment, creating jobs, and keeping the feds out. Alaska’s carbon strategy is not about taxes or control; it is about voluntary markets, economic opportunity, and state sovereignty.

Alaska needs leadership rooted in facts, not fear. It needs people willing to listen to both sides of the debate. Support bills such as HB 50 and bills that demand 404 primacy to strengthen state control, expand affordable energy, and fund schools, roads, and essential services. Don’t oppose 404 primacy because you think it might help permit a mine. Don’t just oppose 45Q or federal incentives; if you think they are a problem, then fine - work to reform them; but keep Alaska’s economy open for business. Don’t just say no to projects becuase they might use tax incentives.

You cannot complain about federal strings without a plan to replace the funds they bring. You cannot oppose every project and still expect roads, schools, and affordable power. There is not enough fat in the budget to cut our way to prosperity. We need resource development, and we need all oars in the water pulling together to get there.

It is time to move past “no, because” and start saying “yes, but.” Let us build policies that power our homes, grow our towns, and keep Alaska free from both Washington’s mandates and internet conspiracies.

Drop the outrage, follow the evidence, and forge a future where our resources fuel prosperity, our lands stay protected, and Alaska stands strong, independent, responsible, and free.

The alternative is to freeze in the dark.