President Donald Trump’s Energy Dominance Council is aiming to unlock Alaska’s energy resources and secure new LNG partnerships with Asian allies.
President Donald Trump has made deal-making the centerpiece of his foreign affairs agenda since taking office a few months ago, and one aspect of that emphasis is placing energy front and center. Though it remains speculative, one initiative has been to launch an energy dominance council to promote “US energy dominance.” Another has been to focus on far-off Alaska for more extensive energy development, including additional drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
In both initiatives, Alaska’s energy resources once again represent a new focus for energy extraction. Developing these new opportunities was the primary focus when representatives of the Energy Dominance Council met with foreign leaders there last week.
Modeling Energy “Dominance”
By every measure, the Energy Dominance Council remains an enigma, months after its creation by the Trump Administration. That appears to be somewhat by design.
“It’s not clear exactly what [the council’s] functions are,” said Roger Pielke Jr., a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Some Trump supporters credit the Energy Dominance Council for the administration’s most high-profile energy moves, from fast-tracking environmental permits to expanding mining for critical minerals and offshore drilling.
When Trump announced the Energy Dominance Council’s founding, he said: “We’re going to be energy dominant like nobody else.” Trump’s cascade of executive orders does little to pinpoint the council’s specific role, and its day-to-day functioning has remained murky since it was established by executive order on February 14. Its original executive director has already left the position, and there are no details on who works at the council or how often it meets.
In that original executive order, the Energy Dominance Council was tasked to provide Trump with a “recommended National Energy Dominance Strategy” that’s built on cutting regulations and boosting private sector investment. According to the order, the council must recommend a plan to Trump to “raise awareness on a national level of matters related to energy dominance” and advise Trump on actions each agency can take to grow production—such as “rapidly facilitating approvals for energy infrastructure” and “approving the construction of natural gas pipelines” into or in New England, California, Alaska and other regions.
Although energy “dominance” is frequently mentioned by the administration, energy analysts said the daily operations of the advisory council are kept from public view. “The processes that normally function [in an administration] are different,” Pielke, Jr. said. He added that “It’s just kind of a black box.” Pielke Jr. also noted that this is a complex issue, and aligning policies across agencies and departments is one way to resolve the problem. But he questioned the effectiveness of such an approach, concerned that the Trump administration won’t have a lasting impact unless Congress is involved in policymaking. Carla Sands, vice chair of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, described the Energy Dominance Council as a centralized hub for all energy-related decisions, noting that both President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have made it clear that agency and departmental policies are being routed through the council.
Alaska as a Natural Focus for Energy Development
In terms of undeveloped energy resources, it only makes sense that any effort to assert American energy dominance begins with Alaska. And Trump’s gaze certainly has emphasized the northern frontier.
Trump often highlights opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling as a key achievement, citing a 2017 tax law that authorized lease sales for oil and gas by the end of last year. However, in the intervening years, one has been mired in litigation, and the other was squelched by the Biden Administration. In recent months, a judge ruled that the Biden administration overstepped, and the Interior Department, in line with Trump’s executive order, is working to reinstate the leases.
“Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” was Trump’s January 20 executive order that set four initiatives:
fully avail itself of Alaska’s vast lands and resources for the benefit of the Nation and the American citizens who call Alaska home; efficiently and effectively maximize the development and production of the natural resources located on both Federal and State lands within Alaska; expedite the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in Alaska; and prioritize the development of Alaska’s liquified natural gas (LNG) potential, including the sale and transportation of Alaskan LNG to other regions of the United States and allied nations within the Pacific region.
Meeting to Determine Alaska’s Energy Future
It appears that the meeting in Alaska is the next phase in using Alaska’s energy resources to pursue energy dominance, particularly by establishing new trade partnerships with Asian nations.
Almost two dozen foreign officials joined top US government leaders in meetings as President Donald Trump overtly encourages other nations, in particular, to buy the state’s natural gas. Foreign representatives visiting Alaska included representatives from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, India, and the United Arab Emirates.
In particular, Trump has promoted the $44 billion Alaska liquid natural gas (LNG) project, designed to export and move natural gas across the state to be exported abroad. While the project has been in the works for decades, it has struggled to move forward due to the massive cost, large scale, and logistical challenges of building an 800-mile pipeline. Trump seeks to overcome these challenges with the assistance of other interested nations.
It is clear that Trump officials aim to tap into Alaska’s vast energy resources, and this meeting is a first step. By doing so, they also wish to highlight their belief that such development was held at bay intentionally by policies under the previous administration.
About the Author: Brian C. Black
Brian C. Black is Distinguished Professor of History and Environmental Studies at Penn State Altoona and author, most recently, of Ike’s Road Trip: How Eisenhower’s 1919 Convoy Paved the Way for the Roads We Travel. (Godine, 2024). ENERGY TRANSITION 2025 is an ongoing series to place details of our current energy shift into historical context.
Image: Kyle T Perry/Shutterstock
