Princess Lisa Murkowski never fails to disappoint. Alaska's senior senator's latest move is her advocacy for the "clean energy" provisions in the horrendously wasteful Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, which is really nothing more than AOC's Green New Deal, given a new coat of paint. The Act didn't reduce inflation, but it did fund a bunch of green energy boondoggles, and as we have seen, the Biden administration (it may have been the autopen; we may never know for sure) kept pouring money into those boondoggles even after Donald Trump bounded to a resounding win in the 2024 election.
Now, Princess Lisa is cautioning us against doing away with those boondoggles. My question to that is, "What's in it for Alaska?" Must Read Alaska's Suzanne Downing is asking the same thing.
As Republicans move forward with a sweeping budget reconciliation bill aimed at funding President Donald Trump’s legislative priorities, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is emerging as a vocal opponent, urging caution on efforts to dismantle former President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.
According to Politico, Murkowski is advocating for a more measured approach to rolling back the IRA’s “clean energy” subsidies, which are now a primary target in the GOP’s proposed budget cuts. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022 without any Republican support. Murkowski voted no to the bill back then and Vice President Kamala Harris broke the 50-50 tie to pass the spending bill, which is estimated to cost more than $1 trillion by 2032 and up to $4.7 trillion by 2050. While Republicans are seeking significant savings to fund their agenda, Murkowski is warning that an overly aggressive repeal could have long-term consequences, particularly for energy projects in Alaska.
“Taking a big hammer to these credits isn’t the way,” Murkowski reportedly said to Politico, pushing for what she described as a “cautious and conscientious approach.”
I'm going to astound a lot of readers by agreeing with Senator Murkowski for once: Taking a big hammer to these credits isn't the way.
Taking an absolutely enormous hammer is the way. A hammer the size of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier seems about right.
Why? Because of what's on the chopping block (yes, I'm mixing metaphors; just bear with me.)
Murkowski’s defense of the Inflation Reduction Act landed just as House Republicans are preparing to vote on a reconciliation package that would eliminate billions in subsidies for electric vehicles, household energy efficiency improvements, and clean hydrogen and nuclear energy development.
None of that benefits Alaska. What will benefit Alaska is a robust policy of development of the Great Land's oil and gas resources, as well as our mineral wealth. As I've been saying and writing for years, Alaska is the nation's treasure chest, and for decades, Washington has treated Alaska like a gigantic national park. Climate scolds go up in outrage every time any administration mentions the possibility of even one new energy project; environmental groups, most of whose members have never actually visited the environment, protest with pictures of beautiful mountains and pristine clear-water streams running through verdant forest, instead of the coastal tundra that makes up much of the oil and gas production areas of the North Slope.
We should also note that, when set against the vastness of Alaska, the areas proposed for development are, in comparison, tiny; there is still plenty of beautiful, serene, untouched Alaska, which, again, the climate scolds will never visit.
The Trump administration has been friendlier to Alaska's energy development than any in recent years. That's where Princess Lisa should be focusing her attention; not on green energy horse squeeze that has no positive impact on Alaskans.
See Also: The Fight Against the Inflation Reduction Act Must Be Led by the States
Biden Admin Continued Pouring Money Down Green Energy Ratholes Even After Trump Won
A "more measured approach" isn't what's needed here. What's needed, as far as the horrible Inflation Reduction Act is concerned, is a Javier Milei-style chainsaw. Ask any Alaskan; most of us (outside of Anchorage, anyway) know perfectly well how a chainsaw works.
But we must admit one thing. While Princess Lisa Murkowski never fails to disappoint, we are forced to acknowledge that she never fails to get re-elected, as well. This goes back to well before the ranked-choice voting days; in 2010, she actually lost the Republican primary to Joe Miller - she then ran in the general election as a write-in candidate, and won. We may well criticize Lisa Murkowski for her sometimes inexplicable policy positions, but we should never underestimate her instincts as a political survivor.
