Alaska Attorney General: state will not bow down to numerous ESA lawsuits

Author: Brandon Middleton

In yesterday's Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan elaborates on Governor Sean Parnell's "comprehensive strategy to ensure that the ESA is not used as a tool to lock up Alaska's resources and shut down our economy." Sullivan asks Alaskans to not be naïve towards the motives of ESA litigation:

It is possible — indeed, it is our constitutional duty — to responsibly develop our resources and protect our wildlife. So in the coming months, as environmental groups attempt to list more species under the ESA and shut down resource development in the Outer Continental Shelf and Tongass National Forest, Alaskans should be highly skeptical of their claims that they are acting in the public interest. The public interest lies in advancing economic opportunity for Alaskans while preserving our wildlife and environment. We will go to court as often as it takes to promote this public interest and secure our prosperity and that of future generations.