Ranking Members Huffman and Heinrich Demand Answers on Trump Administration’s Fast-Track of Pro-Oil Rule for Alaska’s Western Arctic
Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Members Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum demanding answers about the Department of the Interior’s effort to fast-track an oil industry-backed rule that would weaken environmental protections and expedite oil and gas permitting across the Western Arctic. The lawmakers raised conflict-of-interest concerns after Interior moved to implement the industry-written proposal just days after receiving the petition.
The lawmakers are seeking documents and communications related to the Department's proposed rule, Production Site Development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, after the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) submitted a petition requesting the rule on May 12, 2026. Just three days later, the Department initiated the rulemaking process.
“This proposal, which would rubber-stamp future drilling operations in the Western Arctic, guts key environmental protections and opportunities for tribal consultation in a blatant giveaway of public lands to the oil and gas industry. This would open the door for hundreds of permits to not sufficiently balance wildlife and habitat, subsistence uses, or cultural resources across 23 million acres of public lands,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers continue, “The short timeline combined with AOGA’s involvement in this proposal raises serious concerns about not only the Department’s lack of environmental review and public input process, but its clear partiality to the oil industry’s interest in managing the largest tract of public land in the country.”
The letter also raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving current and former AOGA officials serving in senior positions at the Department. AOGA's current CEO, Steve Wackowski, served as the Department's Senior Advisor for Alaska Affairs during the first Trump administration, and the Department's current Senior Advisor for Alaska Affairs, Kara Moriarty, led AOGA as its President and CEO for more than a decade before joining the administration.
Ranking Members Huffman and Heinrich demanded documents and information related to the development of the proposed rule, including communications between Interior and AOGA, ethics safeguards governing current and former AOGA officials, calendars of senior officials, and records showing when the Department first began developing the proposal.
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