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Alaska political leaders hope to see Trump undo restrictions on oil drilling
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The snow-covered coastal plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is seen, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, near Kaktovik, Alaska. - photo by AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised repeatedly during his campaign to expand oil drilling in the U.S., which is good news for political leaders in Alaska, where oil is the economic lifeblood and many felt the Biden administration has obstructed efforts to boost the state's diminished production. A debate over drilling on federal lands on Alaska's petroleum-rich North Slope will likely be revived in the coming months, particularly in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which environmentalists have long sought to protect as one of the country's last wild places. The question of drilling on the refuge's coastal plain, as Trump sought to do during his first term, also divides Alaska Native communities.