Wednesday, during an appearance on FNC’s “Your World,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to suspend oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Dunleavy called it illogical and irrational.
“No surprise,” he said of the decision. “But it doesn’t — it’s illogical. It’s irrational. It doesn’t make any sense. The whole idea that you’re going to stop climate change by shutting down leases in the Arctic in Alaska. It’s just going to push this opportunity overseas. And that’s what this — I’m being serious, Neil. That’s what this administration seems to be all about is canceling opportunity, canceling oil leases in the Arctic, canceling offshore oil leases.”
“It’s going to drive the cost up,” Dunleavy continued. “I mean, oil is, what, $70 a barrel now. And it’s going to push these opportunities overseas, and it’s going to push them into places that don’t have the environmental protections that the United States has and Alaska has. So, no matter how we look at it, when we actually sit down and we have these discussions, no matter how we look at it. It’s a lose-lose-lose across the board, not just for Alaska, not just for this country, for some of these environmentally sensitive areas across the globe that don’t have the protections. It makes zero sense.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor