On the same day that the national price of regular gasoline hit an all-time high of $4.40 per gallon, the Biden administration dealt another blow to Alaska’s economy and energy production by canceling a lease sale covering over 1 million acres in Cook Inlet. CBS News reported Wednesday that the Department of Interior has decided “not to move forward” with the sale that could have led to 40 years of production, thousands of jobs, and billions of dollars of investment in Alaska.
The decision came under the authority of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose nomination was advanced to final confirmation thanks to a tie-breaking committee vote by Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Alaska Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka today issued the following statement:
“This is yet another blow to Alaska workers and our entire state economy, and it should be laid at Lisa Murkowski’s feet. When she cast the deciding vote to advance the nomination for Deb Haaland, Murkowski said out loud that she was afraid of the damage Haaland could cause, but then voted for her anyway. This is the 24th direct executive action against Alaska by the Biden administration, all enabled by Murkowski, who compulsively seeks to please her D.C. insider pals at the expense of people back home.
“When I am the next U.S. senator from Alaska, I will loudly and forcefully oppose radical nominees whose records and intentions are dangerous to our state’s sovereignty and economic health. We have to protect our workers' jobs from those who want to shut down our resource industry. This is yet another reason why Alaskans are saying, 'It’s Time for a Change.'”
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