This November, voters in Alaska face a stark, clear choice about the future of their energy prices. A look at the voting records of Senator Dan Sullivan and Mary Peltola reveals two completely different visions for America’s energy security.
During her time in Congress, Mary Peltola earned a dismal 37% score on the American Energy Scorecard. This contrasts sharply with Senator Sullivan’s impressive 93% lifetime record of defending affordable, reliable energy.
The numbers speak for themselves: as a Congresswoman, Mary Peltola had 21 distinct opportunities to vote in favor of lower energy prices for Alaskan families. Two-thirds of the time, however, she deliberately voted to make energy more expensive, more scarce, and less reliable.
Her voting record is a highlight reel of anti-consumer, anti-energy, anti-Alaska policies including:
- Voting against reforms that would end weaponization of the Clean Water Act
- Voting against ESG reform
- Voted against efforts to stop the Biden administration from banning gas-powered stoves
- Voted against efforts to stop blue states from forcing energy development bans in neighboring states
- Voted against allowing additional energy exploration in Alaska’s federally managed lands and waters
- Voted against efforts to repeal the disastrous “green energy” subsidies in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act
When we look closer at the cornerstone issues of her tenure, the damage to Alaskan families and the broader American economy becomes undeniable.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Rules
One of the clearest tests of a lawmaker’s commitment to basic financial fairness is where they stand on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) mandates. The American Energy Alliance strongly urged members of Congress to vote YES on H.J. Res. 30, a Congressional Review Act resolution disapproving of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule relating to “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.”
Whatever one believes about the various policy issues bundled under the ESG umbrella, these topics are fundamentally not financial—they are political opinions. The personal political preferences of managers at financial firms should have no bearing on how they handle customer 401(k) investments..
Financial institutions that manage retirement plans are stewards of other people’s money. They cannot and should not be permitted to use retirees’ nest eggs to push their own political agendas. The Department of Labor’s rule opens the door to this exact outrage, allowing plan fiduciaries to inject personal political beliefs into the investment decision process. This directly violates basic fiduciary duty. When it comes to managing retirement funds, the rules should be simple and clear—and the DOL’s rule was anything but. Mary Peltola voted against the measure.
Alaska Energy Development
Clear, specific statutory law directed that the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) and a portion of the Alaska Coastal Plain be available for oil and gas leasing and development. Yet the Biden administration’s Interior Department simply ignored clear congressional intent by purporting to cancel leases and suspend future leasing in these critical areas.
The Interior Department’s actions under Biden were illegal and directly contravened existing federal statute. When the House considered legislation to reiterate existing law and rein in this unlawful executive overreach, Mary Peltola faced a defining moment. Instead of standing up for Alaskans and defending her state against the tyrannical overreach of federal bureaucrats, Peltola cowardly voted “Present.” When her constituents needed a strong, decisive voice to defend Alaska’s energy economy, she refused to take a stand.
Domestic Energy Production
Throughout her time in Congress, Mary Peltola had multiple opportunities to reform America’s burdensome regulatory environment and make it easier to produce energy, not just in Alaska, but across the entire country. Instead, she favored restriction.
By consistently voting to make domestic energy more difficult to extract and produce, Mary Peltola played a direct, undeniable role in making basic necessities like gasoline, diesel fuel, natural gas, heating oil, and electricity drastically more expensive for American families. Restricting domestic supply hurts consumers, weakens national security, and forces Americans to pay more every single month.
Conclusion: Vote Based on the Energy Track Record
Energy abundance is the bedrock of a strong economy and a stable standard of living. When politicians allow federal agencies to impose political agendas on retirement funds, restrict domestic resources, and bow to executive overreach, working families bear the financial burden.
As voters evaluate leaders and their records, rhetoric matters far less than actual votes cast in Washington. Mary Peltola’s undeniable record demonstrates a failure to stand firm for domestic energy independence and fiduciary responsibility when it mattered most. By contrast, Senator Dan Sullivan consistently fights for Alaskans and affordable energy. When voters go to the ballot box, they must look directly at each candidate’s proven track record on energy and hold lawmakers accountable for their votes.