Washington, D.C. (KINY) – U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R-Alaska), and Representative Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), hailed a federal judge’s ruling today dismissing a legal challenge filed by Lower 48 environmental groups against ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project within the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPR-A). In September, Sen. Sullivan led an amicus brief with his Alaska congressional delegation colleagues to the court in support of Willow. The federal judge referenced arguments presented in the amicus in her decision today.
In her ruling, the judge stresses that “the NPR-A was set aside by Congress to be a petroleum reserve to help meet the Nation’s need for oil and gas,” and “[leaving] considerable quantities of economically recoverable oil in the ground is quite simply inconsistent with the Congressional policy objective of resource extraction in the NPR-A.”
“The judge’s ruling today is another victory for the critically-important Willow Project, and excellent news for Alaska’s economy, good-paying jobs for our families, and the future prosperity of our state,” said Sen. Sullivan. “When we secured the reapproval of Willow in March, Alaskans demonstrated that, when we come together, we can overcome powerful Outside groups and eco-colonialists who want to shut down our economy, kill our jobs, and cancel the voices of Alaska Native people. But we knew then as we know now—this fight is not over. These Outside groups will continue their battle to shut down Alaska’s future and undermine America’s energy security. We will continue to fight them with everything we have.”
“This ruling is a victory for Alaskans’ right to responsibly produce our energy resources in the National Petroleum Reserve and to contribute to American energy security,” said Sen. Murkowski. “The claims against Willow were not just dismissed, but dismissed with prejudice. This should mark the end of litigation against this important project, because as Alaskans know and Judge Gleason affirmed today, Willow clearly meets the high standard for development in our state.”
“This decision is a major win for Alaska and all of us who worked so hard to bring Willow across the finish line,” said Representative Peltola. “Thanks to a historic coalition of Alaska Natives, laborers, our business community, the state legislature, and everyday Alaskans, our voices were loud and persistent enough to carry through the noise of Lower 48 activists. Alaskans have worked for years on this–weighing in on comment period after comment period and attending public meeting after public meeting. Now, we are seeing that hard work pay off as the courts recognize what we have said all along: this well-planned, locally-supported project will create thousands of jobs, reinvigorate our Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, and boost our economy for years to come. I am so proud of the way Alaskans, our Congressional delegation, the Governor, and our state lawmakers came together to make Willow happen and I hope to continue this momentum to bring home more projects that will benefit our state.”
