ENERGY

Alaska Sues Federal Government: The state of Alaska has filed lawsuits against the federal government seeking an end to the export ban on Alaska North Slope crude oil and $2.5 billion in damages for lost state revenue. Gov. Walter Hickel said the export ban has cost Alaska dearly. “The export ban is wrong, and it has cost Alaska’s treasury billions of dollars,” Hickel said in a statement. The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage and in the United States Court of Claims in Washington, the statement from Hickel’s office said. The suit seeks injunctive relief from the export ban, which “violated rights belonging to Alaska as a sovereign state,” the statement said.