Anchorage, Alaska - The Trump administration is moving to open up millions of acres in Alaska for drilling and mining, reversing an order under former President Joe Biden.

US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on Monday announced the administration would cancel federal protections issued by Biden last December banning oil and gas drilling in over half of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).

Burgum, along with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, have been visiting Alaska this week in support of ramped-up drilling as well as a new liquified natural gas (LNG) pipeline.

"We believe that we can pursue clean air, land, and water and unleash energy dominance. It's both possible. We don't have to choose between the two," Zeldin told a Monday news conference at Trans-Alaska Pipeline Pump Station 1.

Also in attendance were representatives from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines, whom the Trump administration hopes will invest in the $44-billion LNG project.

"Unleashing energy dominance is about unleashing Alaskan independence and freedom and prosperity," Zeldin claimed.

On his first day back in the White House, Donald Trump issued an executive order pledging to more fully exploit Alaska's rich resources as well as expedite the permitting and leasing of energy projects.

The administration then announced measures in March to expand oil and gas drilling in the NPR-A and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Trump's "drill, baby, drill" agenda – with Alaska at the center – comes despite overwhelming warnings from scientific experts about the devastating environmental impacts of continued fossil fuel extraction amid the global climate emergency.

Experts have found evidence the Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet.

Wright appeared to dismiss those concerns in his speech on Monday, saying to oil workers, "All of you standing here today, you are the greatest liberators in human history."

"If all of you put down your helmets, took off your boots, and your colleagues around the world did the same thing, we would have life that was again nasty, brutish, and short," he added.

The Trump administration's moves have sparked concerns among environmental and Indigenous rights advocates.

Alaskans have held "Alaska Is Not For Sale" rallies this week outside Governor Mike Dunleavy's so-called Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference opposing the expansion of fossil fuel production.

Sonny Ahkivgak, organizing lead at Native Movement, said in a press release, "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," Ahkivgak said. "We can’t extract our way out of climate change, and we can't let these corporations attempt to profit off of it, either."

Alaska Wilderness League Executive Director Kristen Miller also condemned the developments in a statement: "The Trump administration’s move to roll back protections in the most ecologically important areas of the Western Arctic threatens wildlife, local communities, and our climate – all to appease extractive industries."

"This is another outrageous attempt to sell off public lands to oil industry billionaires at the expense of one of the wildest places left in America," Miller continued. "These lands are home to caribou, migratory birds, and vital subsistence resources that Indigenous communities have relied on for generations."

"The public fought hard for these protections, and we won’t stay silent while they’re dismantled."

The next "Alaska Is Not For Sale" rally is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3, from 12:00-1:30 PM at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.