Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Native Alaskan tribal communities

Vambram said:

Haaland finally meets with Native Alaskans who say Biden’s oil and gas policies harm their economy

"If you strangle our economic opportunity, and then our tax base, then you are essentially strangling a community's survival,” said Kate Wolgemuth, program and government affairs manager for the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat.

justthenews.com

Who is correct in this topic? Do you agree with Sec. Haaland and the Biden Administration or with the native Arctic Inupiat tribal leaders?

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It's a tough problem. If the people in the North Slope depend on oil and gas and we are reducing our dependency on them then whoever makes a living out of them need to be considered. Redeployment is what's required. Which is what our state government in NSW is doing in regard to mine closures in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney: Repurposing Hunter Valley mines would trigger $3.7bn boost

But that's not too difficult when you have the infrastructure in place to be able to do that. In Alaska, when there aren't even roads between communities, it's going to be a tough gig. I hope they find some solutions.

Vambram said:

Haaland finally meets with Native Alaskans who say Biden’s oil and gas policies harm their economy

"If you strangle our economic opportunity, and then our tax base, then you are essentially strangling a community's survival,” said Kate Wolgemuth, program and government affairs manager for the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat.

justthenews.com

Who is correct in this topic? Do you agree with Sec. Haaland and the Biden Administration or with the native Arctic Inupiat tribal leaders?

Click to expand...

I'd say, let the tribal leaders decide, but only after environmental discussions. It is not up to politicians to mess with Native Americans. We all know what happened back in the 1800s-1900s, what happened to the indigenous tribes, which I do not want to put here, as that history was a little dark and disturbing.

Yes, we should protect the Earth (Genesis 2:15, Isaiah 24:4-6, Jeremiah 2:7), and a lot of tribes elsewhere support being eco-friendly (Standing Rock Protests of 2016-17)*, but at the same time, we must respect the Inupiat tribe's economy. So, maybe a compromise could be reached, where drilling can happen, but just at a reduced rate (say 50% of planned drilling sites). Another solution would be to try and find alternatives for the Inupiat economy which involve little to no production of fossil fuels, but can still provide a flow of money to the tribe.

Man, this is a tough one, and it may take a lot of negotiations to solve. I am in no position to answer this one.

*Standing Rock Protest from 2016: