brown grass field near mountain under blue sky during daytime

Protests as Trump officials push Alaska oil and gas expansion

Trump administration officials toured oil infrastructure and pitched fossil fuel projects in Alaska this week, drawing protests from environmentalists and some Alaska Natives who say the efforts ignore the state’s ecological and cultural stakes.

Becky Bohrer and Mark Thiessen report for The Associated Press.

In short:

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin visited Alaska to promote expanded fossil fuel development, including a long-stalled $44 billion liquefied natural gas project.
Environmental advocates and some Indigenous leaders protested the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference, saying it failed to address meaningful climate solutions and threatened sacred lands like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Federal officials also announced plans to roll back Biden-era protections on parts of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, arguing that development and wildlife can coexist.

Key quote:

“There is no energy source that does not take significant materials, land and impact on the environment to produce. Zero.”

— Chris Wright, U.S. Energy Secretary

Why this matters:

Alaska’s Arctic frontier is becoming a flashpoint in the broader battle over U.S. energy policy and climate change. With the Trump administration pushing to ramp up oil and gas drilling, long-protected landscapes — including Indigenous territories and fragile tundra ecosystems — are at risk. The North Slope holds vast stores of petroleum, but it’s also a haven for wildlife and home to communities who rely on the land and water for subsistence. Expanding fossil fuel infrastructure here could accelerate warming in a state already experiencing some of the planet’s fastest climate shifts. Melting permafrost, retreating sea ice, and rising temperatures are already daily realities in Alaska. Critics say promoting massive projects like the Alaska liquefied natural gas pipeline not only risks local ecosystems but also delays the global pivot toward cleaner, less damaging energy sources.

apnews.com

Protests as Trump officials push Alaska oil and gas expansion

EU’s $750 billion pledge for U.S. energy imports faces steep hurdles

Alberta taxpayers cover millions in unpaid land rents from oil and gas firms

Australia expands renewable energy push with major increase to capacity investment scheme

Trump’s FEMA cuts leave local emergency managers underfunded and overworked

Wyoming weighs nuclear waste storage rule change amid public pushback over microreactor plant

China and Europe vow joint climate action as US exits Paris accord

Brazil’s Amazon city prepares for climate summit as world leaders face realities of deforestation and poverty

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Pennsylvania health advocates say Trump’s first 100 days in office have caused “100 harms” to local communities

“They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.”

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.