{"id":1357932,"date":"2022-03-04T05:35:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T10:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1357932"},"modified":"2022-03-04T07:55:11","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T12:55:11","slug":"for-the-sake-of-national-security-we-must-reopen-the-alaska-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/for-the-sake-of-national-security-we-must-reopen-the-alaska-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"For The Sake Of National Security, We Must Reopen The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffor-the-sake-of-national-security-we-must-reopen-the-alaska-national-wildlife-refuge%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1357932&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/49149626972_36bdd0fa36_k-e1646349883509.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>While Americans brace for an even tighter gas crunch, four decades of recoverable reserves remain locked under environmental regulation Democrats have sought to make permanent. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.usgs.gov\/fs\/fs-0028-01\/fs-0028-01.htm\">According<\/a> to the U.S. Geological Survey, between 4 to 12 billion barrels of oil are buried under the northern tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) waiting to be tapped 60 miles from critical infrastructure <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/08\/13\/biden-begs-middle-east-for-oil-while-halting-oil-production-in-alaska\/\">already in place<\/a> for mass production at Prudhoe Bay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe theory at ANWR is that these reservoirs are massive and that type of formation is something that is rare in on-shore operations,\u201d said President Donald Trump\u2019s former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who oversaw the first lease sales within the 1002 area opened for drilling by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. <\/p>\n<p>Industry innovation since the Geological Survey\u2019s 1998 analysis has likely enhanced the amount that can be recovered, extending the estimate from more than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday with technology, there\u2019s the possibility there\u2019s much more that can be technologically recovered in terms of volume and that I think is a very big reality if you look at what\u2019s happened in other areas,\u201d Bernhardt told The Federalist. <\/p>\n<p>Political boundaries drawn by Washington bureaucrats, however, have barred American workers from harvesting the area\u2019s rich resources in the name of climate change and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/06\/23\/how-the-left-is-exploiting-tribal-hypocrisy-on-oil-leases-in-the-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge\/\">environmental justice<\/a>. The same politicians have enthusiastically embraced Russian oil imports that are now financing the Kremlin\u2019s war machine lobbing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/russia-ukraine-war-photo-gallery-devastation-invasion\">bombs in Ukraine<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Department of Energy released its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/dnav\/pet\/hist\/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&#038;s=MTTIM_NUS-NRS_1&#038;f=M\">trade data <\/a>for December, showing the United States more than doubled its imports on Russian supply with 245 million barrels of crude oil and related petroleum products brought to the American consumer for an average of nearly 672,000 barrels per day. At the same time, President Joe Biden escalated the administration\u2019s war on domestic production. <\/p>\n<p>Biden illegally suspended drilling leases on federal lands, imposed sanctions on the Keystone XL Pipeline, and outright banned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/08\/30\/interior-alaska-refuge-survey-507652\">all exploration activity<\/a> within the boundaries of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Even as Moscow prepared its invasion of Ukraine, clearly foreshadowing further strain on energy markets, Biden\u2019s Justice Department reinstated the administration\u2019s suspension of oil and gas leases with a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/02\/22\/biden-administration-pumps-up-gas-prices-while-trying-to-scapegoat-it-on-everything-from-lockdowns-to-russia\/\">legal filing<\/a> in Louisiana. <\/p>\n<p>The United States is now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/todayinenergy\/detail.php?id=51338\">forecast<\/a> by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to be a net importer of oil after the nation broke its dependence on foreign supply as a net exporter for the first time in more than 70 years under President Trump in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerica\u2019s energy production creates a massive strength for the president\u2019s foreign policy vision,\u201d said Bernhardt, also a former official in the Bush administration, highlighting how he observed Trump\u2019s calculus was free of the kind of restraints George W. Bush faced while presiding over a nation dependent on overseas sources. \u201cPresident [Trump] had the benefit of utilizing liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, thinking through opportunities relevant to the Middle East with the knowledge that we had a stronger and more stable energy production system in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LNG exports <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/03\/03\/russia-invasion-ukraine-usa-lng-energy-security-biden-putin-eu-sanctions-trade-policy-mike-sommers\/\">allow<\/a> the United States to supplement supply from Russian sources and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/america-oil-and-gas-russia-lng-exports-natural-gas-producer-rising-price-ukraine-uae-saudi-arabia-europe-energy-crisis-11644872477\">eclipsed<\/a> Moscow\u2019s pipeline deliveries to Europe for the first time in January. But with American LNG export terminals already operating at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/outlooks\/steo\/archives\/nov21.pdf\">above capacity<\/a> to meet overseas demand, new facilities are required. Democrats, however, have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courant.com\/business\/hc-biz-natural-gas-price-rise-20220207-yd4esf7yz5bixddid6srtumqni-story.html\">refused <\/a>to capitulate.<\/p>\n<p>The enthusiastic forfeiture of American energy independence, or really energy dominance, has limited the Biden administration\u2019s diplomatic menu for countering Russian aggression. So far, the administration has refused to significantly target Russia\u2019s energy sector and even made a point to exempt industry-related transactions from current sanctions for fear of further harming the market. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/02\/politics\/russia-oil-exports-sanctions-ukraine-cnntv\/index.html\">said<\/a> Biden\u2019s Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Air Force One Wednesday. Sanctioning Russian oil she said, \u201cwould raise prices at the gas pump for Americans.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Such increased price spikes as Americans cope with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/dnav\/pet\/hist\/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&#038;s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg&#038;f=m\">seven-year highs<\/a> wouldn\u2019t be a concern had the administration not hindered U.S. capacity to make up the difference. <\/p>\n<p>Despite the absence of American sanctions, private entities have already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-03-02\/R83VQCT0AFBA01\">self-restricted<\/a> with refusal to purchase Russian crude, roping off the world\u2019s third-largest oil producer which provides more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/tools\/faqs\/faq.php?id=709&#038;t=6\">10 percent<\/a> of global supply. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to pay for closing down Russian imports, but we don\u2019t have to,\u201d Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, told The Federalist. \u201cWhen there\u2019s plenty of oil flowing, in other words when the United States was in the ball game, spare capacity was high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When global turmoil rocked the Middle East, Pyle added, \u201cthey didn\u2019t result in a blip in oil prices because we knew that we could make it up elsewhere, that\u2019s the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>President Vladimir Putin\u2019s regime is funded primarily by its lucrative oil and gas revenues as a majority of its exports. As the United States joined Europe to ramp up its dependence on Russian imports last year, the Kremlin generated $119 billion from its resources, a third of its entire budget, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/europe\/russias-oil-gas-revenue-windfall-2022-01-21\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporting<\/a>\u00a0by Reuters citing Russia\u2019s Finance Ministry. <\/p>\n<p>The regime also exploited its abundant oil and gas reserves to tie western supply to Moscow\u2019s resources allowing Putin to weaponize Russian energy. Russia <a href=\"https:\/\/bariweiss.substack.com\/p\/the-wests-green-delusions-empowered?s=r\">doubled<\/a> its production of nuclear-generated electricity to allow it to trade away its oil and gas to foreign nations, and funded climate activists in western nations to protest domestic shale operations. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"wvZtX87KQrDfFHOWNmd1lcVIJ5nT9BosRyex64YkGqia30CphgLMuEb2jUz\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In 2014, NATO&#8217;s secretary general revealed Russia was funding climate activists, saying, \u201cRussia\u2026 engaged actively with so-called nongovernmental organizations working against shale gas to maintain dependence on imported Russian gas&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Nobody listened.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JJtn2hLNjB\">https:\/\/t.co\/JJtn2hLNjB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShellenbergerMD\/status\/1499387277721550849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The United States has been no exception to Putin\u2019s preemptive energy strategy as it imports Russian oil while shutting down operations at home.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just the less than 10 percent portion of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge once opened for extraction in part of the country protected by lower 48 elites. The Biden administration also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instituteforenergyresearch.org\/fossil-fuels\/gas-and-oil\/bidens-anti-oil-policies-strike-alaska\/\">scrapped<\/a> more leases in Alaska\u2019s National Petroleum Reserve as the White House continued to knee-cap domestic production. <\/p>\n<p>The federal government\u2019s antagonism against Alaskan producers has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/08\/16\/alaska-governor-blasts-biden-for-devastating-americas-poor-with-bans-on-american-oil\/\">frustrated<\/a> the state\u2019s Republican governor, who blasted the White House\u2019s relentless regulation from 4,000 miles away after Biden pledged to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/02\/biden-pledges-to-double-down-on-failing-energy-policies-that-wreck-diplomacy-and-spike-prices\/\">double down<\/a> on his disastrous energy policy in Tuesday\u2019s State of the Union speech. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlaska has billions of barrels of oil and trillions of feet of natural gas, and we produce it cleaner than virtually any other place on the planet,\u201d Dunleavy said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/gov.alaska.gov\/newsroom\/2022\/03\/02\/governor-dunleavys-reaction-to-president-bidens-state-of-the-union-address\/\">press release<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s time to restore the suspended oil leases on ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). It\u2019s time to support, not hinder in federal court, the Willow project so that in a few years, some 160,000 barrels of oil a day can increase the throughput in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, adding to our national energy resources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet President Biden is unlikely to reverse course. On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said promoting domestic production in light of the crisis in Ukraine would take too long. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat this is all a reminder of in the president\u2019s view, is the need to reduce our reliance on oil,\u201d Psaki told reporters.  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"XLe03KpSxHobVvMsFTutq1IjN5WkO9cflZg2dPmzBD7ahG6QAniJUCYwr8\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jen Psaki says it would take too long to build Keystone XL and that America should instead invest in clean energy and reduce our reliance on oil. <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MOhAvRqajE\">pic.twitter.com\/MOhAvRqajE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/greg_price11\/status\/1499455684869558272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s true oil and gas operations don\u2019t come online at the flip of a switch and take time as a capital- and labor-intensive industry to produce. Pyle said an administration reversing course on its cascade of anti-industry regulation, however, would push operators to ramp up production. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Biden announced today he\u2019s reversing opposition and allowing the permit for Keystone, would oil come to the market tomorrow? No,\u201d Pyle told The Federalist. \u201cBut the market will respond because it gets the message the United States is open for business.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While Americans brace for an even tighter gas crunch, four decades of recoverable reserves remain locked under environmental regulation Democrats have sought to make permanent. According to the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1357932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1357932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1357932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1357932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1357932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}