Alaska is also rich in resources, not least of which are crude oil and natural gas, those two commodities that are so vital to our economy. Much of that gas and oil flows through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. This Alaska pipeline is a vital piece of American infrastructure. Running 800 miles across the Great Land, much of it through the wilderness, TAPS brings 450,000 barrels a day of crude oil to American consumers; that's about 3.5 percent of American production.

The Biden-Harris administration is considering further restricting oil development in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A), the nation’s largest swath of public land. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be soliciting public comment on whether to expand or designate new “special areas” in the 23-million-acre reserve. //

This June, these environmental groups filed a legal petition to the U.S. Department of Interior to phase-out and decommission TAPS: the Center for Biological Diversity; Pacific Environment; Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic; Alaska Community Action on Toxics; Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition; and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (also see here).

“[TAPS] is approaching the end of its useful life due to mounting climate change-driven damages to both the aging pipeline infrastructure and the entire Arctic ecosystem,” the six petitioners state, also citing “the imperative for the United States to rapidly transition away from fossil fuel-based energy.” //

This, in turn, conflicts with federal law by preventing the fulfillment of the Alaska’s statehood entitlement; economic development, including responsible resource development, to assure Alaska’s future prosperity; and the long-term settlement of land ownership across the state. //

anon-eoij
20 hours ago
Correction: the daily volume is 450,000 bpd, not 45,000. Best job in my life was as an engineer on TAPS from 1980-1995. A wonderful adventure for a young man.