Trump sees Alaska as a place to be plundered
On September 3, 1960, John F. Kennedy made a campaign stop in Anchorage, using talking points that had been written for him by the late Dick Goodwin, a speechwriter.
“This is the call of the New Frontier. It is not what I promise I will do; it is what I ask you to join me in doing,” the notes for Kennedy said.
Jackie Kennedy later presented that document and other campaign memorabilia to Goodwin, with a comment about why the Anchorage speech was so important.
“It shows his (JFK’s) first use of the phrase that later in his inaugural address became ‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,’” Jackie said in a note to Goodwin.
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin tells that story in her latest book, “An Unfinished Love Story.” She also provides her husband’s response—Jackie was thinking as a friend of his, not a historian.
Goodwin said that he wished he could take credit for JFK’s line, but it wasn’t his. During the 1960 Democratic National Convention, the thought about asking people what they could do for their country was already in the air, Goodwin said.
There was nothing in the air like that from Donald Trump Monday, who opened his new term with a sour stew of resentment, grievances, lies and self-centered fairy tales.
The executive order that overturns dozens of actions by the Biden administration dealing with Alaska provides a clear snapshot of how Trump views the 49th state—a warehouse of resources that deserves to be handed over to the rape, ruin and run boys.
That terms was a favorite of the late Gov. Jay Hammond and while it has long been out of favor, it deserves a comeback.
I don’t trust anyone who sees Alaska as a place to be plundered.
I don’t trust anyone who says that every Alaska resource needs to be extracted right now because some company, foreign or domestic, is pushing for profits. Whatever is in the ground will probably be worth more in the future.
And I don’t trust anyone who says, don’t worry. We do it better than anywhere else on the planet.
Trump’s order unleashed an entirely predictable response from Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich the Third, combatants in the imaginary war on Alaska.
“Alaska is unleashed!”—Dunleavy.
“Alaska is the blue chip in the United States’ energy portfolio”—Murkowski.
“It’s morning again in Alaska.”—-Sullivan.
“The pathway to American prosperity begins in Alaska” —Begich III
The Trump order is titled “UNLEASHING ALASKA’S EXTRAORDINARY RESOURCE POTENTIAL.” Here is that order.
It purports to do almost everything, except to change the name of Denali to McKinley. That is contained in “RESTORING NAMES THAT HONOR AMERICAN GREATNESS.” The only names to be changed to honor American greatness are Denali and the Gulf of Mexico. Here is that order.
Many of the elements in the resource potential order were expected, such as reversing course on oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and NPRA, as well as on roads in the Tongass National Forest and the proposed Ambler mining road.
As Earthjustice noted in a press release Monday night, however, just about every element of the Trump plan is more complicated than he claims.
“While the Trump administration’s plans were made clear in the orders, it’s important to note that the vast bulk of the actions cannot be made unilaterally by the president without cooperation from government agencies, Congress, or other authorities. And many of these actions will include a public process in which Alaskans, and all Americans, will be able to voice their opinions,” the environmental group said.
There will be two immediate impacts from Trump’s federal overreach.
First, a steady stream of new lawsuits and administrative challenges will be unleashed, some of which will take years and years. This will create new economic opportunities for lawyers in Alaska and Washington, D.C.
The existing lawsuits, of which there are many, will be more entangled. There are rules, precedents and laws that have yet to be overturned by Congress or the Supreme Court and beyond Trump’s reach. For the moment anyway.
Second, there will be a boom in fundraising by environmental groups who will find all the ammunition they need in Trump’s executive order, which aims to unleash oil and gas drilling, mining and the cutting of timber. It’s really a corporate land grab, the Alaska Wilderness League said Monday.
The order directs federal agencies to “rescind, revoke, revise, amend, defer, or grant exemptions from any and all regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions that are inconsistent” with maximizing the development of Alaska resources.
It says it is now the policy of the nation to “efficiently and effectively maximize the development and production of the natural resources located on both Federal and State lands within Alaska.”
There are competing and conflicting values about resource development, not only in Alaska, but in the rest of the United States. Not everyone thinks that allowing oil and gas and mining companies to benefit from unchecked development is good policy.
Preserving and conserving resources is an important value for hundreds of thousands of Alaskans and tens of millions of Americans who will be moved to action by Trump’s overreach.
It remains to be seen what the executive order will mean in the long run and how long the bureaucratic struggles will last, but a lot of this will be complicated and costly, no matter how many employees Trump fires.
In one sense the Trump executive order is a giant wishlist about some projects that will be immune to his huffing and puffing.
The natural gas pipeline is one for instance. The order directs that permits be issued for the pipeline. “Alaska LNG has all its federal permits; what it lacks is investors, partners, financing and customers,” as my friend Larry Persily says.
The order says nothing about investors, partners, financing and customers. No edict from Trump will make those appear.
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