Democrats sounding the alarm of potential harms to Alaskan communities if their efforts were reversed and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was further opened to energy development got a very different response than they may have been expecting from a consortium of local Natives.
Using the Congressional Review Act, the Senate voted Thursday night to pass a resolution from Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, that formally reversed a Biden-era rule restricting more than 1 million acres to development in the refuge, where Native communities like Kaktovik reside.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., notably spoke out on the Senate floor against the effort, saying that Congress rightly established the refuge in 1980 but neglected to properly protect the "very fragile ecosystem" there from development, calling it "America’s Serengeti."
"So far, we've been able to protect the coastal plain and keep it intact as it has been for millions of years, and many Americans had hoped we had moved on," Cantwell said.
Using "the Congressional Review Act to drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge (could) very well backfire on our drilling advocates. If Congress votes to overturn the Biden record of decision today, it would create legal and regulatory chaos, not clarity."
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