The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to reverse the federal government’s decision to cancel oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and restrict oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, but Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, in an unexpected move, declined to vote for or against the reversal.
The House bill isn’t expected to pass the Senate or the White House, but the vote offered an opportunity for lawmakers to state their position on Arctic drilling ahead of this fall’s elections.
When the Biden administration canceled ANWR leases in 2023, the decision incensed Alaska’s elected officials and the state’s development bank, which held several of those leases.
The bank, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, is suing over the issue and has been joined by the state and the government of the North Slope Borough.
Peltola and the rest of Alaska’s congressional delegation said at the time that they were disappointed by the cancellation, and afterward, Peltola joined House Republicans in drafting a legislative response, which turned into Wednesday’s bill.
When the Department of the Interior announced that it would restrict drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, that topic was added to the bill, too.
Peltola was the only Democratic lawmaker among the bill’s 16 cosponsors, but when she spoke on Wednesday on the House floor, she said she would only vote “present,” not for or against the bill.
The problem, she said, was that the bill included a provision that would erase the designation of the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area, a section of ocean where Alaska Native tribes have been granted greater authority on management decisions.
In 2016, when President Barack Obama created the area, he was criticized by Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, as well as then-Rep. Don Young.
Peltola has repeatedly said she supports “pro-fish” policies, and erasing the area appeared to contradict that position.
“By nullifying this area, we are breaking our promise to tribes and directly harming fishing communities. Alaskans face many challenges and threats to our unique ways of life,” she said. “We’re on the brink of being forced to import natural gas from a foreign country and our fishermen are in the midst of an economic free fall coupled with depleted fish stocks. Unfortunately, the way this bill was written pits energy development against fisheries, and for that reason I will be voting present today.”
Peltola unsuccessfully attempted to amend the bill on the floor to remove the provision and said she has introduced a “clean” version of the bill that doesn’t include it.
Still, House Republicans said they were puzzled by Peltola’s actions and questioned why she didn’t raise the issue earlier, when it might have been addressed in committee.
A Peltola aide said the item was buried in an executive order nullifying ANWR leases within the bill, and that her amendment to remove it was only possible at specific junctures after she learned about it.
Before the final vote, Peltola’s office sent a message to fellow lawmakers, saying that the Bering Sea provision was a “significant unintended consequence,” and she urged them to vote against the bill.
Peltola is one of only a handful of House Democrats representing districts that voted for Donald Trump in 2020, and the National Republican Congressional Committee has made unseating her a priority.
In a statement after her vote on the drilling bill, NRCC spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a prepared statement, “Biden’s liberal war on Alaska is Peltola’s biggest political liability and Alaskans won’t forget today.”
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
