Sullivan slams Biden’s moves to restrict drilling, mining in Alaska as ‘national security suicide’

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) attacked the Biden administration’s decision to restrict drilling on millions of acres of government-owned land in Alaska, arguing it was an “illegal” move.

“It’s illegal. [President Biden] doesn’t have the authority to do that,” Sullivan said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “And I could look at all the laws that support me in this. It is, as I said, national security suicide.”

The Biden administration announced last week that it would block oil and gas drilling on 13 million acres in the Western Arctic that are part of an area known as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

The reservation, which encompasses 23 million acres, can be found on the North Slope of Alaska and was originally set aside in 1923 by President Harding as an emergency oil supply for the Navy.

The administration also issued a document signaling it will deny approval of an industrial road, known as the Ambler Access Project, that would have stretched more than 200 miles, including federally owned land.

The road would have cut through the northwest Alaskan wilderness toward copper and zinc deposits, disrupting Ambler Metals’ efforts to mine there. The administration highlighted the conclusion that the road would significantly restrict the activities of more than 30 Alaska Native communities.

Sullivan argued Sunday that the move is harmful to his voters, but should also be concerning on a national level.

“National resources, energy-critical minerals, are an American strength. This should concern all types of Americans,” he said.

While the measures were met with praise from many environmental and tribal advocates, Sullivan argued that some were not satisfied with the decision.

“When this president on Friday with [Interior Secretary Deb Haaland] announced that they did this because the Alaska Natives, the indigenous people of the North Slope of Alaska, asked for it, they wanted it, the leaders of the North Slope of Alaska were unanimous in opposition to it,” Sullivan said.

He claimed that the indigenous people of Alaska’s North Slope wanted to meet with Haaland, but he would not.

The Hill has reached out to the Department of the Interior and the White House for comment.

The Biden administration has a mixed record on energy and conservation issues in Alaska. Last year, it approved the Willow Project, giving ConocoPhillips the green light to drill in the state for about 30 years.