Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - January 23, 2025 - U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aiming to boost oil and gas drilling, mining, and logging in the state of Alaska.

The order, signed on Trump's first day in office, seeks to open an area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, undo limits imposed by the Biden administration on drilling activity in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the North Slope, and reverse restrictions on logging and road-building in a temperate rainforest.

The order seeks to revert to policies that were in place during Trump's first term.

However, environmental laws and rules must be followed in attempts to unravel existing policies, and legal challenges to Trump's plans are virtually certain.

The order seeks to reverse a Biden administration decision cancelling seven leases issued as part of the first-ever oil and gas lease sale in the refuge's coastal plain.

Alaska leaders, including the Gwich'in and Inupiaq communities, oppose drilling on the coastal plain, citing its importance to a caribou herd they rely upon.

Alaska has a history of fighting perceived overreach by the federal government that affects the state's ability to develop its natural resources.