During Trump’s Summit on Alaska Liquified Natural Gas, Alaskan Communities and International Allies Protest Massive Proposed Gas Project

Anchorage, AK – Today, President Trump’s Energy Dominance Council will hold a closed-door meeting with Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese leaders, where he hopes to bully them into investing in the proposed Alaska Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project under the threat of tariffs. 

Impractical and hugely expensive, Alaska LNG and similar projects have failed to get off the ground for 60 years. The project would consist of an 800-mile pipeline through Alaska’s wilderness that brings gas from the North Slope to the Anchorage region for in-state supply, and to a new liquefaction and export facility at Nikiski, where it would be shipped to Asian Pacific countries. 

Alaska LNG is one of the largest, dirtiest, and most expensive fossil fuel projects proposed in the U.S. It has been estimated to cost at least $44 billion to complete, a figure that doesn’t account for the impact of tariffs on the price of aluminum and steel. Additionally, a new Friends of the Earth report finds that “the Alaska LNG project faces even stiffer economic headwinds with a global glut of LNG supplies on the horizon.”

Shaky financing and high reputational risk have doomed other U.S. LNG projects, and the Alaska LNG project faces similar challenges. Previous attempts to get Asian countries to sign binding agreements to invest in Alaska LNG have failed, as have attempts to secure private financing for the project. 

The Alaska LNG project also faces strong local opposition. At 4 P.M. AKDT (UTC/GMT -8 hours), Indigenous leaders, Alaskan community members, and social justice and environmental organizations will rally at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center to speak out against this risky, costly, and environmentally destructive project. Protests will continue tomorrow, June 3, at noon AKDT. 

The actions today and tomorrow are a continuation of approximately a decade of resistance to the Alaska LNG project led by Tribal members and civil society groups, who staunchly oppose using public funds to support such an expensive project when cheaper, more sustainable options are available. They are also deeply concerned about the destruction the project would inflict on Alaska’s air, water, and climate. 

Under the emissions made possible by the Alaska LNG project, the climate, environment and ecosystems of the state could become vastly different, causing further habitat fragmentation for wildlife and huge lifestyle shifts for those living there today. Arctic land and ocean are warming at three and a half times the global average rate, and the state is already experiencing catastrophic climatic change.

Alaskan advocates are supported by a coalition of international environmental groups, mostly from the Asia Pacific region. Over 150 civil society groups sent an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba last week urging him to stand up to Trump’s bullying and refuse to finance the project. 

Quotes from Alaskan leaders and international allies: 

“Alaska LNG’s massive cost, plus the massive carbon emissions from extracting, transporting, liquefying, regasifying, and burning North Slope methane, mean that AKLNG can’t be profitable in a world that’s serious about cutting carbon emissions,” says Ben Boettger, Energy Policy Analyst for Cook Inletkeeper. “Investing in it is a bet on climate policy failure. The long-term binding commitments needed to realize the project would lock both Alaska and the gas-purchasing nations out of alternative investments in renewable energy and its great potential for savings and true energy security and independence.”

“This conference and the many extractive projects being proposed here are nothing more than false solutions to the climate crisis. Trying to advertise industries such as LNG as ‘sustainable’ is facetious and dangerous. The solution to the climate crisis isn’t another mine, pipeline, or drill pad. The solution is taking a hard look at our society’s relationship with consumption. We can’t extract our way out of climate change, and we can’t let these corporations attempt to profit off of it, either,” says Sonny Ahkivgak, Organizing Lead at Native Movement. 

“We’re out here protesting because we are not okay with the Trump administration pushing their harmful fossil fuel agenda on Alaskans. The AK LNG Pipeline project is bad economics, bad for the planet, and bad for Alaskans. We won’t stand by as the Trump administration bullies Alaska and international leaders to invest in a project that is not economically viable, is counter-productive to the necessary transition from fossil fuels, and is actively harmful to people and ecosystems. As Alaskans, we won’t be used by the Trump administration as a pawn in their trade wars. We will continue to stand against the LNG Pipeline — Alaska is not for sale,” says Sarah Furman, Co-Executive Director, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition

“Alaska LNG is absolutely unnecessary for Japan,” says Ayumi Fukakusa, Executive Director and Climate Change and Energy Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Japan. “Japan is increasingly facing the oversupply of LNG and already around 40% of LNG are being resold to other countries as domestic demand declines. Japan is the largest public financier of gas and LNG projects around the world, and without public financing from Japan, the project will not likely proceed. We definitely do not want Prime Minister Ishiba to sacrifice Japanese public money and the planet for this unnecessary, costly and risky project.”

“LNG export projects like Alaska LNG threaten to lock countries like Thailand into decades of reliance on dirty, expensive fossil fuels we no longer need. Despite having excess gas infrastructure, Thailand continues to expand LNG projects, leaving communities near import terminals in Map Ta Phut to suffer the consequences, from declining fish stocks to worsening pollution. Pushing more U.S. LNG into Asian markets only deepens energy insecurity, climate crisis and injustice while delaying the just and urgent transition to renewable energy,” says Manop Sanit, Rayong Clean Energy Coordinator in Thailand.

Note to the editor:

• Alaskan and International spokespeople are available for interviews during AKDT (UTC/GMT -8 hours), Indochina Time (UTC/GMT +7 hours), and Japan Standard Time (UTC/GMT +9 hours). 
• High resolution images will be available here after 4 P.M. AKDT (UTC/GMT -8 hours). Please credit the individual and organization named on the folder.