President Donald Trump's expanded executive order to promote oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska is being cheered by state political leaders who see the development of new fossil fuels as critical to Alaska's economic future and criticized by environmental groups that proposals are considered worrying: the face of a warming climate.

The order, signed Monday on Trump's first day in office, is in line with a wish list presented by Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy shortly after Trump's election. It seeks, among other things, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil and gas considered indigenous to the Gwich'in, to lift the Biden administration's restrictions on drilling in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve. north slope and reverse restrictions on logging and road construction in the temperate rain forest that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon.

In many ways, the order seeks to return to policies that were in place during Trump's first term.

But Trump “just can't wave a magic wand and make these things happen,” said Cooper Freeman, director of the Alaska Center for Biological Diversity. Environmental laws and regulations must be followed to try to unravel existing policies, and legal challenges to Trump's plans are virtually certain, he said. :

“We are ready and looking forward to the fight of our lives to keep Alaska big, wild and bountiful,” Freeman said.

What's in store for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?

The order aims to reverse a decision by the Biden administration that canceled seven leases that were issued as part of the first oil and gas sale in the Refuge Coastal Plain. Major oil companies did not participate in the sale, which was held in early 2021 in the final days of Trump's first term. The lease was given to a state-owned corporation. Two smaller companies that also won leases in the sale had earlier relinquished them.

Trump's order calls on the interior secretary to “initiate additional leasing” and issue all permits and licenses needed for oil and gas exploration and development. Leaders of the Kaktovik Inupiaq community on the refuge support the drilling and hope their voices will be heard. will be heard in the Trump administration after being let down by former President Joe Biden.

This comes weeks after the second lease sale mandated by federal law in 2017, did not submit any bids. The law required two lease sales to be offered by the end of 2024. Earlier this month, the state sued the Interior Department and federal officials, arguing, among other things, that the terms of the latest sale were too restrictive.

What are Alaska's political leaders saying?

Alaska leaders hailed Trump's order, titled “Unleashing the Potential of Alaska's Extraordinary Resources.”

“It's morning again in Alaska,” announced Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan.

“President Trump gave a speech on his first day in office,” Dunleavy said on social media. “This is why elections are important.”

Alaska has a history of fighting what it perceives as the federal government affecting the state's ability to develop natural resources. State leaders during the Biden administration complained that efforts to further oil, gas and mineral development were being unfairly hindered, even though they also won big in 2023. With the approval of a major oil project in the Alaska National Oil Reserve, environmentalists are fighting the approval in court.

Dunleavy has repeatedly argued that developing Alaska's vast resources is critical to the future, and he sees underground carbon storage and carbon offset programs as a way to diversify revenue while continuing to develop oil, gas and coal and pursue timber projects.

The state is facing economic challenges. oil production, its long life, is a fraction of what it once was, in part because of aging fields, and for more than a decade, more people have left Alaska than moved here.

What is happening now?

Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the conservation group the Center for Western Priorities, called Trump's order “an everything, everywhere, all at once order” that seeks to undo measures that in some cases took the Biden administration years to implement.

“The length of time it's going to take for the Department of the Interior to do everything in that executive order is worth at least a term, maybe two. And even when it all comes back, you're going to need the science on your side. And we know that.” In the case of Alaska, the science is not on the side of unlimited drilling,” he said, pointing to climate concerns and a warming Arctic.

Communities have experienced the effects of climate change, including thinning sea ice, coastal erosion, and melting permafrost that undermines infrastructure.

Eric Graf, an attorney with the group Earthjustice, called the Arctic “the worst place for oil and gas production. Nowhere is better because we need to agree and move to a green economy and address the climate crisis.”