Biden indefinitely blocks oil drilling on millions of acres of federal land

Emily Jacobs

Conrad Hoyt

March 13, 12:12 AM March 13, 12:13 AM

The Biden administration announced Sunday evening that it will indefinitely block fossil fuel drilling on 16 million acres of federal land in and around Alaska.

News of the decision came through the Interior Department, which announced plans to bar drilling on nearly three million acres of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska and limit drilling on more than 13 million acres across the National Petroleum Reserve, located in North Slope Borough, Alaska. The NPR is a vast swath of federal land set aside by Congress for resource development.

CONOCO CEO WARNS BIDEN THAT DOOMING ALASKA OIL PROJECT WOULD HURT HIS OWN AGENDA

"With these actions, President Biden continues to deliver on the most aggressive climate agenda in American history," the Interior Department said in a statement. "He has made the United States a magnet for clean energy manufacturing and jobs. He secured record investments in climate resilience and environmental justice."

"And his economic agenda has put the United States back on track to reach its climate goals for 2030 and 2050, all while reducing America’s reliance on oil and protecting American families from the impact of Putin’s war on global energy markets," the statement continued.

The agency revealed that the administration plans to limit future oil production in the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and "special areas" of Peard Bay known for their rich wildlife populations. The department also announced plans to halt the development of certain fossil fuel pipeline infrastructure in northern Alaska.

The announcement comes as regulators decide whether or not to allow the $8 billion Willow project, a controversial oil drilling plan in the petroleum reserve.

The CEO of ConocoPhillips, the company pushing the plan, has warned President Joe Biden that blocking or shrinking its project in Alaska would hurt the president's own demand for more production from Big Oil.

Biden administration officials and many Democrats in Congress have criticized oil and gas companies over the last year for not producing more energy in response to high prices. They've also criticized federal lessees for not exploiting more of their active oil and gas leases and drilling permits.

Demonstrators have protested against the Willow project, citing environmental concerns. And as Biden weighs a 2024 reelection bid, he faces a massive decision: upset ConocoPhillips and risk scaring Big Oil as a whole, or ostracize environmental activists, many of whom are young voters who helped elect him to the presidency in 2020.

The White House defended Sunday's changes as being critical to ensuring that important habitats for whales, seals, polar bears, and other wildlife “will be protected in perpetuity from extractive development."

The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management is set to decide the fate of Willow as soon as this week.

Senate Republicans demand action after Energy Department backs COVID 'lab leak' theory

Emily Jacobs

February 27, 12:26 AM February 27, 12:28 AM

Senate Republicans demanded transparency and accountability in response to reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded COVID-19 most likely originated from a Chinese lab leak.

The reports, published by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times on Sunday, revealed that new classified intelligence had prompted the department to join the FBI in concluding that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a lab leak in Wuhan, China. The department, which was previously undecided on the issue, had made the determination with "low confidence," according to both reports.

CORONAVIRUS MOST LIKELY ORIGINATED FROM A LAB LEAK, US DEPARTMENT CONCLUDES

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) called for "extensive" public hearings into COVID's origins in Congress during an appearance Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, citing China's efforts to "shut people up" when first-world nations questioned how the pandemic began.

"I think we need to do extensive hearings. I hope our Democratic colleagues in the Congress can support that. I know the Republicans in the House are certainly supportive of that," Sullivan told anchor Chuck Todd. "Look, this is a country that has no problem coming out and lying to the world. We just saw that with this Chinese spy balloon. It's the nature of a Communist dictatorship to lie to their own people, to lie to the world. But I think that we need to make sure every country knows that and then look at what the consequences could be.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tweeted that he planned to reintroduce legislation requiring the U.S. government to declassify intelligence on the COVID-19 outbreak. The Missouri senator introduced a bill in 2021 requiring the Biden administration to release all intelligence on the Wuhan lab in question.

“The American people deserve the full truth about #covid origins. No more whitewash," he wrote on the social media platform Sunday. "I will again introduce legislation to make the US government’s intelligence reports on covid open to the people."

The theory that COVID-19 came from an accidental lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was widely dismissed as disinformation in the early stages of the pandemic. It gained traction in May 2021 when the Wall Street Journal reported that three employees at the Wuhan lab were hospitalized in November 2019, just before the outbreak began. The FBI concluded with "moderate confidence" in a report released one month later that the pandemic was likely caused by an accidental lab leak, and the agency still holds this view.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) — who has suggested the lab leak possibility and called for investigations into the matter since early 2020, months before the virus had reached U.S. soil — was criticized by the New York Times and Washington Post in February 2020 for repeating what both outlets referred to as a "fringe theory."

“Re. China’s lab leak, being proven right doesn’t matter,” Cotton tweeted Sunday alongside a link to the Wall Street Journal article. “What matters is holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable so this doesn’t happen again.”

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) referenced Cotton's treatment in mainstream and social media while reacting to the Energy Department's shift in posture.

Cotton, Schmitt wrote on Twitter, "was called a 'conspiracy theorist.' Facebook put an outright ban on posts related to the lab-leak theory. Americans had their voices censored at the behest of the government. In the Senate, I'll lead the charge to make sure this censorship never happens again."

Murkowski takes the lead over conservative foe in Alaska Senate race

Ryan King

November 19, 10:18 AM November 19, 10:18 AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has taken a slim lead over her Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka, boding well for her prospects of overcoming a conservative insurgency.

The third-full-term senator holds a slight lead over over Tshibaka, 43.3% to 42.68%, with about 95% of the vote accounted for, displaying considerable gains after the tabulation of absentee and early ballots. With no candidate appearing likely to clinch a majority outright, the race appears likely to be determined by the counting of second-choice votes slated for Wednesday.

LISA MURKOWSKI CLOSES GAP IN SENATE RACE AGAINST TRUMP-ENDORSED KELLY TSHIBAKA

"And just like that ... Kelly's claim she only lost because of ranked-choice voting was gone," a GIF Murkowski tweeted read after she solidified a lead.

Under Alaska's recently retooled election system, the top four candidates advance to a general election and voters number their choices in the ranked-choice voting system. Some conservatives have blamed the system for former Gov. Sarah Palin's defeat to Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) for the state's congressional seat.

Murkowski had topped Tshibaka in the primary. She was the only one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial following the Capitol riot. Two others opted not to run again, and the rest were up for reelection.

Trump had raged against the centrist Republican and backed Tshibaka in the open primary. She was also censured by the Alaska Republican Party for that vote, who declared she should not vie for reelection — something she ignored.

It wasn't the first time Murkowski had weathered a conservative revolt. In 2010, she lost her Republican primary to a Tea Party challenger, but then staged a comeback write-in campaign in the general election in a stunning victory that marked the first time a sitting senator won reelection via write-in in over half a century.

She has long supported abortion rights and occasionally defected from her party on guns, infrastructure, healthcare, and more during her time in the upper chamber. Murkowski was famously the only Republican senator to vote against Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.

In order to win, both sides have to emerge with a majority rather than a plurality during the ranked-choice runoff. Murkowski is regarded as one of the most centrist members of the Senate GOP caucus.

Either way, a Republican is projected to win the Senate seat, given Murkowski's and Tshibaka's strong showing. Democrats have already clinched the Senate, obtaining 50 seats and having Vice President Kamala Harris's tiebreaker vote. Both parties are also waiting on the Georgia Senate runoff on Dec. 6 to see the final margins of the Senate.

Alaska Democrat hopes to have on Don Young’s legacy of bipartisanship

Kate Scanlon

August 22, 06:30 AM August 22, 06:30 AM

Alaska’s unique election for its lone U.S. House seat is nonetheless much too early to get in touch with, but original returns display Democratic prospect Mary Peltola leading the field. If she is elected, Democrats will have flipped a seat held by the late GOP Rep. Don Young for approximately 50 several years, most of Alaska’s record as a point out.

SENATE DEMOCRATS EYE SEPTEMBER VOTE TO CODIFY Identical-Sexual intercourse Relationship

But Peltola told the Washington Examiner she hopes to carry on Young’s legacy of bipartisanship.

“Don Young labored in a pretty bipartisan way,” she reported. “He had far more seniority than any other member of the House has ever experienced, and he welcomed just about every solitary congressman into their situation, personally. So, he had a pretty long record of bipartisanship, and I want to emulate that, and I want to emulate his hard operate on constituent concerns.”

Peltola praised Youthful for his get the job done bringing “critical infrastructure to our new state that has a great deal of genuinely tough terrain.”

“It's quite tough to develop infrastructure and retain infrastructure in Alaska, and he was so fantastic at that, he actually transformed the airports in Alaska to be a lot much more safe than they had been,” Peltola explained. “His purpose on Resources and Transportation built all the big difference for our developing condition. So, I think it will indicate a whole lot to Democrats, if a Democrat is elected, but I just actually want to continue his legacy of combating for all Alaskans.”

The particular election to fill the seat for the remainder of Young’s expression subsequent his unexpected loss of life in March is a take a look at case for the Frontier State’s new voting method, which allows four candidates to advance from a main election, in which dozens of candidates competed in a so-named jungle main on 1 ballot, with the major four vote-getters advancing to a different round.

Early returns display Peltola main a discipline that also consists of Republicans these as ex-Gov. Sarah Palin and businessman Nick Begich III, who is from a popular family of Alaska Democrats. Impartial candidate Al Gross, who also innovative from the most important, stated soon thereafter that he would withdraw from each the specific and typical elections.

Peltola led Palin 38% to 32%, with 82% of the votes counted as of Friday evening. But no matter of who wins the unique election to complete Young’s time period, Peltola, Palin, and Begich will compete in November, as will a fourth, nevertheless-to-be-decided prospect.

So, who is Peltola, the entrance-runner to flip Alaska’s only Dwelling seat?

Peltola instructed the Washington Examiner she grew up encouraging her father’s salmon fishing small business from the time she was about 6 yrs old.

“He was pretty, quite low-cost and did not want to retain the services of a actual crew member,” she joked.

Peltola started her career as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Match right before functioning for the state legislature, mounting an unsuccessful bid at 22. Two years afterwards, just after she was married and anticipating a kid, she gained a seat in the statehouse, the place she remained for 10 many years.

All through her time in the legislature, Peltola explained, she was a member of and then a chair for the Bush Caucus, a bipartisan team of legislators from rural elements of the state, and she appreciated the throughout-the-aisle cooperation they shared.

“It was a diverse era, the 1900s,” she quipped. “There was so a great deal far more civility and cooperation at that time.”

She afterwards joined the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Fee to protect salmon operates in the condition. Peltola and her spouse Gene have 7 kids and two grandchildren.

Unless the top vote-getter in the U.S. Residence race has extra than 50% of the vote the moment all first ballots are counted — which does not show up to be the scenario in this race, according to the preliminary returns — the elections division will then rely voters' ranked choices. The last-location applicant is then removed, with his or her voters’ subsequent choices going towards their up coming choice's tally. The procedure goes on for as a lot of rounds as it can take until finally a person prospect reaches a threshold of 50% in addition 1 vote and is declared the winner.

Beneath condition regulation, Alaska’s Division of Elections ought to count every ballot prior to it begins tabulating ranked votes. The condition permits ballots mailed from overseas voters to be acknowledged until finally Aug. 31 as long as they are postmarked by Election Working day, so the candidates and the state must wait around until finally then to know who will fill Young’s seat for the remainder of his term.

Peltola appeared undeterred by the prospect of waiting around months for official final results and available praise for her Republican rivals, expressing she experienced a welcoming connection with equally, in particular Palin, whom she understood through her time in the legislature.

“Sarah was governor the two yrs that coincided with my last two a long time in the condition Property, and we occurred to be expecting at the exact time with our now 14-yr-olds,” Peltola claimed.

The state’s rated-alternative voting method has been criticized in some quarters as messy and bewildering for voters, but Peltola made available praise for it, saying it opens new avenues of discussion between voters and candidates across get together traces and can aid cut down partisanship.

“I'm really optimistic for the reason that these closed party primaries have led to a circumstance where Republicans are trying to out-Republican every other, and we stop up with candidates who are incredibly, very extreme, and often even fringe, who are then representing people who are largely quite middle of the road,” she explained.

Peltola said, “People are now conditioned to count on it to be unappealing,” and it doesn’t have to be that way.

At an function that includes all three candidates, Peltola reported she spoke with voters bearing Palin or Begich signals, asking them to take into account rating her as their 2nd choice.

“If I see anyone with a Sarah sign or a Nick sign, I can definitely comprehend why which is their 1st alternative. And I'm so hopeful that they would take into account me as their next option. And I feel they had been just amazed to see anyone say, ‘Hey, I get it, which is a fantastic man or woman, but I am not so poor possibly.”

As the rated choices are tabulated, it is those people next selections that could make all the distinction.

Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Prepare dinner Political Report explained this week Peltola “has a reputable shot to win” under the new rated-decision procedure.

Top 3 takeaways: Here’s what you missed from past night's primaries

Cami Mondeaux

August 17, 08:17 AM August 17, 08:17 AM

Voters in two states cast their ballots in major races on Tuesday, assisting to shape a number of crucial elections that could sway handle of Congress in November.

Most races in Wyoming and Alaska were identified as shortly right after the polls shut in just about every of the states, leaving couple unanswered concerns about who would advance to the November ballot. Former President Donald Trump loomed big in many of the races, ousting one particular of his most large-profile challengers from Congress and boosting many others to a most important victory.

Comprehensive Protection OF THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Below are the major success from final night’s major elections:

Liz Cheney ousted from Congress

1 of the most consequential, but least surprising, results of the night was the ouster of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), offering Trump his most substantial-profile principal earn nonetheless in opposition to Household Republicans who voted to impeach him in 2021.

Cheney, a person of two Republicans on the Residence choose committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and one of 10 who voted to impeach Trump, was a person of the former president’s most higher-profile targets in the 2022 midterm election cycle. The Wyoming Republican centered substantially of her campaign on denouncing Trump’s efforts to overturn the benefits of the 2020 election, urging Democrats and independents in the point out to re-sign-up to vote for her in the GOP principal.

However, she finished considerably behind Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, a onetime ally and informal adviser to Cheney. Cheney is the fourth Property Republican to drop her reelection bid just after voting to impeach Trump, with only Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and David Valadao (R-CA) surviving their primary problems. The other 4 selected not to look for reelection.

Palin among the people to advance to Alaska Dwelling race

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is one of 3 candidates projected to progress to the standard election for the state’s only House seat, setting the phase for her tried political comeback after additional than a ten years out of business office.

Palin, who was backed by Trump and put in substantially of her marketing campaign leaning on his endorsement, will experience Republican Nick Begich and Democrat Mary Peltola in the basic election in November, with a fourth applicant not however established. The four candidates will compete by using rated-alternative voting, the initial time the condition has employed these kinds of a method.

The former governor and 1-time vice presidential candidate also appeared on the ballot for a particular election ending out former Republican Rep. Don Young’s term soon after he died in March. All those final results are not expected to be closing right until at minimum the finish of the month, in accordance to the .

Murkowski survives key obstacle against Trump-backed opponent

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) survived her primary obstacle versus Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka, mainly thanks to the state’s use of ranked-preference voting that allowed the incumbent to advance to the common election.

Murkowski grew to become one of Trump’s most high-profile targets in the Senate right after the Alaska Republican voted to convict the former president throughout his 2nd impeachment trial. She was the only senator who voted to impeach Trump to experience a key problem during this election cycle.

Lisa Murkowski innovations in Alaska Senate key

Ryan King

August 17, 02:55 AM August 17, 02:55 AM

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski highly developed in a crowded open up major for her Senate seat in a contest that pitted the centrist Republican versus a Trump-backed challenger.

Vexed by Murkowski's vote to convict him through his second impeachment demo, former President Donald Trump threw his excess weight driving Kelly Tshibaka. With 50% of precincts reporting, Murkowski topped Tshibaka in the open up main by about 1,500 votes. The major 4 finishers will progress to the standard election due to current adjustments to Alaska's voting rules, enabling the incumbent senator to progress to the common.

MURKOWSKI ALLY HITS ALASKA GOP SENATE RIVAL FOR Commercial FISHING VIOLATIONS

Tshibaka, who was beforehand the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration, totally embraced the MAGA mantle throughout the main race and sought to posture herself as an outsider looking to usher in an period of modify by ending the 50-12 months Murkowski political dynasty.

"This is not a normal position when you have a awful senator like Murkowski. ... We're likely to do a little something about that," Trump reported at a rally in aid of Tshibaka past thirty day period. "You happen to be likely to fire your RINO senator — she's even worse than a RINO, Lisa Murkowski. She is the worst. I fee her No. 1 lousy, and we have a pair of negative ones, but she's by much the worst."

Along with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Murkowski was one particular of two higher-profile impeachment-backing Republicans on the main ballot on Tuesday. Murkowski was the only person in the Senate who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment to deal with a main obstacle for the duration of this midterm election cycle. Three of the 7 who voted to convict have been up for reelection this 12 months, but two of them, Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Richard Burr (R-NC), declined to pursue reelection.

The Alaska Republican Celebration censured Murkowski for her vote to convict Trump and declared that she really should not go after reelection in 2022 as a Republican. Disregarding the state celebration, she did so in any case and loved the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Impeachment is not the only difficulty that has rankled the conservative foundation. Murkowski has extended been a supporter of abortion rights and has taken a much more liberal stance on guns, infrastructure, healthcare, and a lot more all through her present term in business. She was the only Republican senator to vote in opposition to confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court docket in 2018.

In spite of struggling with the wrath of the MAGA globe, Murkowski enjoyed a sizable financial war chest to counter Tshibaka. She also drew a couple of notable endorsements, like from centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who has faced related ire from his personal bash, and fellow Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK).

Murkowski is no stranger to challenging most important battles, getting lost the GOP Senate nod in 2010 to a Tea Celebration challenger just before staging a comeback write-in bid in the common election. Her upset victory in 2010 during a purple-wave 12 months marked the very first time a sitting senator won an election as a generate-in prospect in half a century.

Supplied the even break up in the Senate, the race in Alaska has the possibility to change the partisan dynamic in the higher chamber. Murkowski has traditionally served as a vital swing vote in the Senate.

Dynamics of Palin-led Alaska open up Property race shift soon after Al Gross withdrawal

Kate Scanlon

June 21, 09:38 PM June 21, 09:38 PM

The race for Alaska’s only Property seat shifted this week immediately after independent applicant Al Gross stated he would withdraw from both equally the exclusive and standard elections.

MCCONNELL Suggests HE SUPPORTS BIPARTISAN GUNS Laws

After a recent all-get together most important to fill the Past Frontier's lone House seat adhering to the sudden loss of life of Don Youthful, the state’s longtime GOP agent, before this calendar year, Gross, who arrived in 3rd area, was envisioned to advance to the particular election for the seat alongside with former Gov. Sarah Palin and businessman Nick Begich III, in initially and second, as effectively as Democrat Mary Peltola, who arrived in fourth.

But Gross mentioned this week he would close his campaign.

“There are two fantastic Alaska Native females in this race who would both provide our state effectively, and I really encourage my supporters to keep engaged and take into account providing their initial-put vote to whichever of them very best matches their personal values,” he mentioned in a statement. “Thank you for your support.”

Gross’s assertion referenced Peltola and Republican Tara Sweeney, who was assistant secretary of Indian Affairs in the Inside Section in the course of the Trump administration. Sweeney came in fifth location in the principal election.

But it does not appear that Sweeney’s fifth-spot finish will enable her to qualify for the ballot just after Gross’s withdrawal. Gail Fenumiai, director of the Division of Elections, wrote in a letter to a lawyer for Begich that “because this withdrawal transpired fewer than 64 days right before the election, Alaska legislation does not allow the fifth-area applicant to progress.”

But elections officers will get rid of Gross from the ballot, Fenumiai wrote.

“Any occasion that disagrees with these conclusions really should file accommodate right away,” she wrote.

The state’s latest most important was the 1st election done underneath a new procedure the point out adopted in 2020 that ended social gathering primaries, putting all candidates of any party on the exact ballot, known as a jungle most important, and sending the top rated 4 candidates to a runoff election.

The candidates on the ballot will contend in the August special election, in which the new rated-choice voting method will be applied, with voters rating candidates in their get of desire. That election's winner will keep the seat for the remainder of Young’s expression ending in January but will need to have to operate for reelection in November for a new term.