The Arctic Circle Assembly 2024 Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (R): Trump's View on Climate is Very Different From the Biden/Harris Administration

"With another Trump administration, the views on climate is very, very different than what you saw in the Biden/Harris administration”, said the Republican senator for Alaska, Lisa Murkowski (67), when asked what changes can be expected in the US Arctic policy, depending on who wins the US presidential election on November 5.

The US senator and Alaska native were invited to address the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland - according to tradition - in October, when she was asked by the assembly's leader, Olafur Grimsson, whether the United States will continue the gradual improvement in its focus on the Arctic, as "seen through the Obama and Biden administrations."

Murkowski answered that US Arctic policy should not depend on who sits in the White House.

Should not matter

"I have tried to work with colleagues in Congress to ensure that our policies related to the Arctic are not dependent on who occupies the White House. But that they are embedded in what we do and how we approach this extraordinary region.”

She believes that how any sitting president feels about Alaska should not matter.

"It shouldn't matter whether a president likes Alaska or not, but that the president recognizes the importance of this region, not only to the United States, but also what it means to our global leadership."

"It is not entirely dependent on the occupant of the White House. We have a role in Congress as a separate but equal branch. We just need to assert our own authority, and we need to make that clearer instead of rubber-stamping what comes out of the executive branch”, stated Murkowski from the Arctic Circle Assembly stage.

That puts the burden on Congress, but the Alaska senator said it's an important burden that may need to be put in place.

Neither Trump nor Harris

In a new interview with the Anchorage Daily News, Murkowski says she is not voting for either Trump or Harris.

These are new notes from when High North News met the senator in Alaska in April when she refused to answer the question of whether she supported Trump or not.

However, the statement does not come as a surprise as Murkowski has long criticized Trump. She has said she did not vote for him in 2016 or 2020.

On November 5, the senator's vote will go to someone else whom she will not disclose.

The very first US Arctic ambassador, Mike Sfraga from Alaska, echoes the senators' comments about the institutionalization of the Arctic in US foreign policy.

"I think the U.S. Congress has realized that the Arctic is very important to the U.S. The U.S. now has an enduring vision for the Arctic that starts with the National Strategy for the Arctic Region, a 10-year strategy that will help the U.S. to align with its own interests but with an emphasis on allies and partners in regional and food security, cooperation and governance around the Arctic," said the ambassador as he joined Murkowski on Harpa Concert Hall's main stage.

But the job is not over, emphasizes the ambassador.

"I think we have come a long way. But as the senator noted, we're not there yet. So when we think about changes in the administration, what has been built, our organizations, institutions and efforts, I think it will stand the test of time no matter what administration is running the White House and our government," said Sfraga, adding:

"You might have different areas of emphasis, but I believe this 10-year portfolio, at least for now, will endure."