Governor Walker Issues Statement on Trump Administration’s Budget Proposal

May 23, 2017 JUNEAU – Governor Walker issued the following statement concerning the release of the Trump Administration’s full budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2018:

“My team and I are closely examining President Trump’s proposed budget for impacts, both positive and negative, on Alaska. We applaud members of the Trump Administration for their interest in responsible resource development on the North Slope. The National Petroleum Reserve, the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and ANWR all hold significant promise for Alaska. We look forward to more positive news in the days and weeks to come. However, we are concerned about what some of the deep cuts, if sustained, would mean for crucial services—like air travel for rural residents and infrastructure assistance to villages. We will continue to work with members of our Congressional delegation and the Trump administration to ensure Alaskans are protected.” –Governor Bill Walker

Trump budget slashes EPA funding, opens Alaska refuge to drilling

President Trump is proposing deep cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), federal energy research and public lands oversight in his 2018 budget, the White House announced Monday.

The administration’s budget document also includes a controversial plan to open up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil drilling, and it proposes drawing down the nation’s oil reserve — two strategies for raising new federal revenues.

Trump’s budget would cut the EPA’s funding by $2.6 billion, or 31.4 percent, the largest cut for any cabinet-level agency.

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In a preliminary budget outline released in March, the White House said those cuts would target the EPA’s regulatory efforts, climate change initiatives, research accounts, industrial clean-up measures, state grants and region-specific environmental work. Taken together, it would shutter 50 agency programs and eliminate 3,200 of the agency’s 15,000 jobs.
The proposal — if enacted — would fulfill a key campaign promise from Trump, who has complained about what he considers excessive federal regulation, and promised to hobble the nation’s environmental regulators.

The White House’s budget also aims to cut the Department of Energy’s (DOE) budget by $1.7 billion, or 5.4 percent. [Source]