Project 2025 Breakdown
What is Project 2025?
Project 2025 is a 900-page blueprint crafted by the ultra-conservative thinktank Heritage Foundation (please…don’t make us backlink them), aimed at paving the way for a far-right presidential administration. This extensive document outlines a sweeping array of policy proposals that threaten to impact nearly every aspect of American life – but especially climate and the environment.
At its core, this blueprint seeks to hand over extensive power to far-right politicians, judges, and corporations, jeopardizing the rights and freedoms of everyday Americans. And it especially has Alaska in its crosshairs.
Approving Ambler Road
Project 2025 is pushing to approve the Ambler Road project, a proposed 211-mile industrial corridor that would carve through the pristine wilderness of Alaska’s Brooks Range – a road the Biden administration has already rejected and numerous frontline communities have opposed. This road is not just a transportation route; it threatens to obliterate over 1,400 acres of vital wetlands and cross nearly 3,000 streams, disrupting delicate ecosystems. The purpose of this road is to provide access to future open-pit copper mines, which would further endanger the fisheries of the Kobuk and Koyukuk rivers and jeopardizing more traditional subsistence resources that local communities depend on for their livelihoods.
This proposed corridor represents a significant threat to North America’s largest protected and roadless region, with profound implications for food security and clean water for Alaska Native Tribes. It would slice through the Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, disturbing critical sheefish and salmon spawning habitats, and bisect the migration routes of one of the planet’s last great caribou herds. The environmental and cultural stakes are incredibly high, and this project could irreversibly alter the landscape and way of life for countless Alaskans.
Undoing Western Arctic Protections
Project 2025 claims it will expand development in the Western Arctic by increasing the number of Willow drilling pads from three to five, while also reverting to a less protective 2020 environmental impact statement for the entire Western Arctic.
The Western Arctic represents the largest expanse of public land in the United States, roughly the size of Ohio. This region shares its northern coastline with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and is a breathtaking biological treasure, supporting millions of acres of globally significant habitat. It is home to an extraordinary diversity of wildlife, including two herds of caribou, polar bears, walrus, endangered beluga whales, arctic foxes, and countless migratory birds.
Currently, the Biden administration is engaged in a once-in-a-decade effort to establish durable protections for the Western Arctic, as mandated by law. This vital process aims to protect the region’s incredible resources by designating Special Areas that will preserve its ecological integrity. However, the ambitious plans outlined by Project 2025 threaten to undermine these protective measures, risking irreversible damage to this irreplaceable landscape and the wildlife that depend on it.
Opening The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge To Drilling
In 2017, the Trump administration aggressively pushed through a provision in the 2017 Tax Act that opened the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, putting this pristine landscape at risk of irreversible destruction. This misguided policy has been a recurring theme in Trump’s recent campaign rhetoric, where he has repeatedly confused the Refuge with an air base in Afghanistan and inaccurately claimed it holds more oil development potential than all of Saudi Arabia. Such statements reveal a troubling lack of understanding of both the ecological significance of the Refuge and the real-world implications of his policies.
Of the three companies that initially acquired oil and gas leases in the coastal plain, two quickly rescinded their leases and sought refunds from the Bureau of Land Management, indicating a lack of confidence in the viability of such developments. The remaining leases, held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), were deemed illegal due to serious deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued during the Trump administration. As a result, these leases were rightfully revoked by President Biden in September 2023.
Despite this monumental failure to successfully open the Arctic Refuge to drilling, Project 2025 is now threatening to reinstate that flawed EIS and reissue the illegal leases. This move would not only ignore the serious environmental concerns at stake but also attempt to resurrect a discredited approach to resource management that could have devastating consequences for one of our nation’s most treasured ecosystems.
Old Growth Logging in the Tongass National Forest
The Tongass National Forest, an expansive 17-million-acre temperate rainforest located in the southeast corner of Alaska, is a vital ecological region that attracts visitors from around the globe. This lush landscape is not only a haven for wildlife, including grizzly bears, bald eagles, and wolves, but it also holds deep cultural significance as the ancestral homeland of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. As the largest forest carbon sink in the United States, the Tongass plays a crucial role in our nation’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set a global standard for environmental stewardship.
In 2020, the Trump administration took a troubling step backward when the U.S. Forest Service released its final environmental impact statement aimed at dismantling roadless protections for the Tongass. This move opened the door to potential industrial clear-cutting of old-growth forests, posing severe threats to the delicate ecosystems and cultural heritage of the region.
Fortunately, under President Biden in 2023, the U.S. Forest Service reinstated the Roadless Rule protections across the Tongass National Forest, protecting over 9 million acres from industrial logging and destructive road construction. This critical restoration of federal protections represents a significant commitment to conserving one of America’s most important natural resources.
However, Project 2025 is poised to reverse these crucial protections, reflecting an ongoing trend of prioritizing short-term industrial interests over long-term environmental sustainability.
What Happens Next?
Project 2025 poses major threats to our public lands, especially in Alaska. But there’s one easy way to prevent this project from moving forward: Double-check your voter registration and get out the vote on November 5th!