Remembering Forward: The Just Transition Summit Recap

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This past weekend the Alaska Just Transition Community held the second statewide summit – Nughelnik: Remembering Forward – coming together on Dena’ina Land to reflect on the past two years, heal, look ahead, and center the knowledge and lessons held here for generations. The three days were an invigorating experience, showcasing inspiring work already being led in local Alaskan communities. It was a nonstop sharing of ideas, connection, optimism, and plans for how to build the world we want to see. The summit was juxtaposed with national tragedies, instances of violence that only highlighted the need for the event’s message and movement of a Just Transition to be held at a national and global level.

The Alaska Center team was grateful to join partners Native Movement, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition, Native Peoples Action, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alaska Public Interest Research Group, Alaska Poor People’s Campaign in supporting and co-hosting this year’s summit, joined by so many other incredible individuals and groups.

This summit illustrated the importance of direct action, community care, and the intersectional approach we must use to solve our communities’ collective problems.

Vivian Mork shared a powerful message on healing, a message that resonates through this week-that “destination healing” is a myth. It’s a process, an approach, a practice, and yet not something to be done alone: “Indigenous healing is not just being responsible for my own healing, but going back and healing with the community.”

We drew lessons from the stories and perspectives of speakers within the labor movement. Particularly those who spoke about their personal history of organizing and the labor movement’s long history here in creating and grounding the fight for workers’ rights.

Two panels facilitated by Interior Organizer Alyssa Quintyne on the Relationship of Reciprocity, and Black Leadership in Alaska, centered the perspectives of first-generation Americans and immigrant families; and what a Just Transition looks like within the Black community in Alaska.

Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) staff Shanelle Afcan and Marlowe Scully, guided a youth contingent through their Summit experience. AYEA alum Lauryn spoke on a panel reflection for day 2, garnering an incredibly enthusiastic response on her call for Alaskan youth–the leaders of tomorrow–to get involved today.

We must also remember that our approach matters as we work towards a more thriving, just, and sustainable Alaska for future generations.

“If all we do is fight against what we don’t want, we will learn to love the fight… We must actually organize ourselves in a different way; not to simply make demands of existing structures of power, not to simply decry what we don’t like, but to actually, together, in community, organize ourselves to directly meet our needs.”
Gopal Dayaneni, Alaska Just Transition Keynote, May 21

We’ll leave you with this intriguing question from Dayaneni’s keynote, “What if we’re winning, and we don’t know it?” As we shift back into our day-to-day routines, let’s carry that optimism with us and let it fortify our collective efforts to shape the Alaska and the world we envision.

Entering the Rapids

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]The 32nd Alaska State Legislature is careening toward its grand finale, which will likely be on or around May 18th, the constitutional 120-day limit to session. On or around May 18th, the House and Senate will reconcile their versions of the operating and capital budget, pass any remaining bills, and drop the gavel, ending the second regular session Sine-Die.
The high price of oil, healthy returns on Permanent Fund investments, and the federal infrastructure spending package have lawmakers swooning, many of them revved up to spend vast amounts on the Governor’s holy grail: The ultimate, humongous, gigantic, supersized, great, grand, king-daddy, monumental, amazing and astonishing full statutory Permanent Fund Dividend ($4,200 per Alaskan) in addition to a payment to offset high fuel prices ($1,300) for a total of $5,500. It is a lot of money, it is a great campaign gambit, it is universal basic income wrapped up in a different package, it follows the statute, and it will plunge the state into a deficit. Most notably, it will come at the direct expense of education and other state services. As the final days of the session churn forward, expect this direct cash payment to take up most of the air in the room.
That is not to say that other hugely important issues are chopped liver. Legislation continues to move through committees, and the pace will increase rapidly should the House and Senate fail to agree on the budget and appoint a conference committee to work through the differences. Once a conference committee is announced, the schedule goes from a 7-day notice requirement to a 24-hour notice requirement for committee hearings, so bills can move quickly.
HB 123 to establish a policy for State recognition of Alaska Tribes has finally moved from the Senate State Affairs Committee and was passed quickly by the full Senate. HB 120, legislation by the Governor to increase the sale of state land for commercial purposes (circumventing state land management plans), advanced from House Resources and awaits a hearing in House Finance. HB 98, another Governor’s bill to weaken public engagement in the timber harvest process, sits in the House Finance Committee, and its companion bill – SB 85 – is in Senate Finance. These bills could move quickly to passage if the votes are there. Alaska’s railbelt utilities whittled down legislation to create a Renewable Portfolio Standard to something they are calling a “Clean Energy Standard Bill.” It aims to get utilities off coal, natural gas, and diesel generation. HB 301, in its current form, allows Nuclear and fossil fuel waste heat recovery as means to achieve benchmark goals. This bill is in House Finance and likely will not pass this session, but you never know. The Senate wisely removed a budget increment authorizing the State of Alaska to take over development permitting in wetlands from the federal government.
In a stinging vote, the House voted 23-17 to strip language from SB 174 that would have protected natural hairstyles from employer discrimination. The intent of SB 174 is to prohibit a school governing body or an employer from prohibiting a student or an employee from wearing a hairstyle historically associated with race. Natural hairstyle is defined to include braids, locks, twists, and tight coils. The language prohibiting workplace discrimination was struck while the prohibition on school discrimination passed. This bill was sent to the Governor.
Many other bills remain in play. At this point, aligning votes for or against the budget is priority #1 of House and Senate Leadership and the Governor. If a bill suddenly lurches out of committee, you can bet that they struck a deal on a budget vote. The end of the session can be like the swiftening of a river as it enters a turbulent gorge. We all must remain vigilant. Obstacles approach fast.
We are ready, buoyant and alert,
The Alaska Center

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”5″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]More Bills This Session\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Just Transition is growing the future of sustainable practices

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Folks may have heard about Just Transition in the news, but what is it exactly? In short, Just Transition is a movement to shift from our current extractive and violent systems and economies, to more regenerative and restorative ones, across the board. Shifting away from sole dependence and subsidies on oil, gas and coal, to investing in community and commercial solar, wind, hydrothermal. From corporation crop and land ownership, to localized agricultural ownership and food allocation. Walkable cities, consistent and stable funding to education, affordable health care, and other public services. The good news, these transitions to other industries, work forces, energy and food sources are already here.

Farmer’s markets and locally-owned grocery stores like Southside Market, Calypso Farm and Roaming Root are thriving and providing a respite from food deserts in our communities. Community energy initiatives like Alaska Native Renewable Industries’ solar workforce training with Tanana Chiefs push this work forward. And our communities are redefining what works best for their members in crisis with programs like the Crisis Response Center. These are real, tangible and localized solutions led by our neighbors, building toward a healthier, restorative and sustainable Fairbanks.

However, we must guarantee that justice, equity and intersectionality are at the core of this transition. For any Just Transition to happen, it must center and amplify the very people our current system marginalizes: Black, Brown and Indigenous communities, queer people, disabled people, poor people, first-generation Americans and immigrant families. Otherwise, we foster the same obstacles we already face, and our solutions fall short.

We already see the consequences of not working with and for the communities when building toward this Just Transition. The Borough Assembly pushed the transition to Natural Gas, and we quickly saw that transition move. However, homeowners were not adequately consulted beforehand to see if that transition was even affordable and if the implementation would work with contractor season in the first place. Homeowners have to figure out if they need to switch out and potentially pay for new boilers or wood stoves, wait and pay an inspector to see if a line can even be installed, then wait to be connected. That takes time, research and money that homeowners already don’t have. GVEA was jazzed about the new electric car charging station installed right in Fairbanks. But when their member-owners are already struggling to pay their electric bill because of the price of energy sources, who’s got money for an electric car, let alone to charge it? For communities marginalized and experiencing discrimination through homeownership and a lack both of quality housing and affordable means for utilities and transportation, those solutions become salt in the wound from a system that isn’t working.

Both of those solutions have the necessary intentions. We need clean, affordable energy to heat our homes. Natural gas lines aren’t the direct solution. We need more reliable and cleaner transportation. Electric cars aren’t either. Neither solves the actual root of the problem — dependence on oil, gas and coal, poor city planning and zoning, and prioritizing car ownership instead of quality public transit. When you expect engagement rather than directly consulting with the communities facing the brunt of those issues, your solutions will always fall short.

Communities marginalized have already been transitioning for decades; we’ve had to since these systems were not made for us in the first place. When you live in the throes of oppressive systems, you find creative ways to navigate. Our communities take care of each other. We feed each other, invest financially and spiritually, and work and create with each other. We are creating firms and businesses and collectives and projects an initiative together that addresses the issues and crises we are experiencing. Villages are in an energy crisis; Edwin Bifelt said, “alright, bet.” Communities needed better access to locally-grown foods, Calypso said, “alright, bet.” Black residents were tired of not having a place to buy quality products for our health. Epic Hair & Beauty said “Babe, I gotchu.” It takes that kind of energy to make these transitions just, which is exactly why we need to lead them. People suffering will have the very solutions to address it directly. We need the room, decision-making authority, the investment, and the collaboration to make this. Nothing for us can truly be done without us.
Alyssa Quintyne is a Fairbanks resident and a community organizer with The Alaska Center.

By Alyssa Quintyne
Originally posted by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
May 7, 2022

What we are fighting for

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]The leaked U.S. Supreme Court opinion on Roe v. Wade rightly kicked off a firestorm of outrage across the United States and Alaska. In Alaska, where the courts have consistently upheld the state’s constitutional right to privacy as a bulwark against laws seeking to overturn reproductive rights, the constitution is in the crosshairs of national and state-level conservatives. The question of whether the state should open up its constitution to a convention and likely significant revisions has been rejected by the voters every ten years it has come up since statehood. For a good reason: too much polarization and too much money are at play for anything to emerge from a constitutional convention exercise except for a partisan, lobbyist-influenced document that is home to the priorities of national groups like the Koch Brothers. A convention-written document would deprive Alaskans of fundamental rights (like the right to privacy) and dismantle tools of societal cohesion such as public education.
In the Alaska State Legislature, bills seeking to reimpose campaign contribution limits face long odds after the Alaska Public Offices Commission voted to strike down rules implementing a $1500 limit per individual. Currently, the money-spend potential is unlimited, which could lead to a campaign season like nothing we have ever seen.  
Bills to both increase and decrease access to voting are crashing against one another as the session nears its terminus in Mid May. Whether S.B. 39 and H.B. 66 are reconciled into a grand bargain package of voting law changes has yet to be seen. We know that voter fraud’s “Big Lie” persists and is at the heart of election restriction proposals. The belief that more Alaskans should have access to the voting franchise is at the heart of arguments to make it easier to register, to vote by mail, and to have your vote count if a simple mistake is made on a by-mail ballot.
The Alaska Center has fought to empower Alaskans for over fifty years. We believe that all Alaskans deserve clean air and water, healthy salmon, personal respect, dignity, safety, and their voices heard in the political process. We have worked this past year to increase access to the tools of a thriving democracy by supporting legislation at the state and federal levels to expand voting access. These are the tools that will help prevent outside corporate interests from taking over the levers of our constitutional system of laws. These are the tools that will protect Alaska’s women’s privacy and medical freedom. These tools will prevent our politics and campaigns from being overrun by millionaires and billionaires.
Join us this Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at the Alaska Native Heritage Center for a COVID-Safe outdoor spring auction where we will celebrate the fight to grow Democracy. This year’s event, Democracy for All, will highlight our work to protect and enhance our Democracy. We believe a true democracy is one in which everyone feels safe, respected, and able to participate in the decisions impacting our communities. 
In solidarity,
Louie Flora
Government Affairs Director
The Alaska Center
Tickets are still available at the door and the silent auction is live now.
This is a COVID-conscious event so please be prepared to present proof of vaccination for yourself and your children.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”5″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]More Bills This Session\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Solar power heats up in Alaska

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Households and businesses in Alaska are increasingly producing their own solar power and selling the excess electricity to utilities.
The four major Railbelt utilities from Homer to Fairbanks reported in February that almost 2,000 solar installations are tied into their systems, primarily for small, residential projects.
The numbers have grown rapidly in recent years. That includes in Anchorage, where growth is outpacing several Lower 48 cities, a new study shows.
Solar panel installers, meanwhile, report strong demand for their services. They say homeowners are increasingly signing up after hearing positive reviews from neighbors with their own rooftop arrays.
“In general, solar has been very popular for residential customers who want to reduce their energy bills,” said Chris Pike, with Alaska Center for Energy and Power within the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Pike installed 12 panels on his roof in Anchorage’s College Village neighborhood a few years ago, something he doesn’t recommend unless people have construction experience like he does.
He cut his annual power bills by more than half, even with trees blocking sunlight.
“It’s what I hoped for and expected,” Pike said. “Depending on your use, you don’t need giant systems to impact your bill.”

Chris Pike, photographed at his home in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

A research engineer at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, Pike tracks the number of homes and businesses that produce their own power and sell the excess energy to utilities, under a system called net-metering. The vast majority of those projects are solar panel installations atop homes, cranking out electricity during long summer days.
In the Chugach Electric Association service area that includes Anchorage, close to 600 residential customers had solar installations last year, along with 60 commercial customers, the utility reported in February. Eighty-five new residential projects were added to the system last year alone.
Chugach Electric, the largest electric utility in Alaska, has 92,000 members. So the solar installations are a small part of the utility’s power picture, said Julie Hasquet, a spokeswoman with the utility.
But the utility has taken steps to support more of those solar installations. In February, Chugach Electric requested and received approval from state regulators to expand its ability to allow more solar and other renewable projects through net-metering.
“Increased use of renewable energy is a goal for Chugach and for many Alaskans,” Hasquet said in an emailed statement.
Though the number of Anchorage installations remains small, they have increased rapidly compared to many other U.S. cities, said Dyani Chapman with Alaska Environment Research and Policy Center, a group that advocates for renewable energy and other issues.
Anchorage recently rose to 55th place nationally for installed solar capacity, after ranking at the bottom of 65 major cities in 2015, Chapman said, according to a study from the organization and Frontier Group, a California-based think tank focused on climate and other issues.
“There’s room to grow, but we’re growing faster than a lot of cities, as well,” she said.

‘Business has grown exponentially’

Solar panels sit on Chris Pike’s roof in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Falling prices for panels over the last several years is helping stoke interest, even with a slight uptick last year as the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation affected many products, said Ben May, owner of Alaska Solar, an installation company.
But other factors have also offset costs, he said. Programs like Solarize Anchorage, a project involving the Alaska Center and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power where Pike works, have facilitated group installations by multiple households. That allows for better prices.
“We buy them by the container-load now, 900 panels at a time, in the 40-foot containers,” May said.
When May started Alaska Solar six years ago, he’d order a few pallets of solar panels at a time. But the business has grown to 12 employees from one, and he’s doing about 120 installations annually, he said.
“Business has grown exponentially,” he said.
Customers are opting for larger installations than they did a couple of years ago, he said. They’re less skeptical of the technology as solar arrays become more visible around town.
The panels generate lots of energy in summer, making up for the dark winters, he said. Output is strong even in spring, thanks to sun-reflecting snow and electronics that work better in cold, he said.
Also, Alaska’s relatively high power prices have encouraged many people to adopt solar power, he said.
“We may not get perfect sunshine like Arizona, but the electricity we make is worth a lot more,” he said.
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon in downtown Anchorage, two Alaska Solar employees working on a scaffolding platform ratcheted down the final panel on a tall garage roof.
The homeowner there will produce about 50% of his own power annually, May said.
Pike said upfront costs for the rooftop installations can be significant for many homeowners, often exceeding $10,000. But the projects typically pay for themselves in about 10 years, he said. The panels can last 30 years or longer.

Alaska Solar employees Zack Wright, left, and Kevin Blackwell install a solar panel at a residence in South Addition on April 20 in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Outside the Anchorage area, the major Railbelt utilities report more than 1,300 customers with solar installations. More than 300 of those are within the Matanuska Electric Association service area that includes Palmer and Wasilla, said Julie Estey, a spokeswoman for that utility.
The utility supports more solar installations and knows many of its members value renewable energy for its environmental benefits. The utility has seen “tremendous” annual growth in that area, she said. The pace could continue for perhaps a decade before it becomes a potential issue.
“We can only accept so much variable power on the system before it begins to cost more,” she said. “But we definitely view (the installations) as part of our energy future, and managing it and understanding it better is something we’re working on.”

High electric prices drive demand
Mark Haller, a solar panel installer in Soldotna, launched Midnight Sun Solar in Anchorage a few years ago. But demand was so high on the Kenai Peninsula that he moved his operation and family there.
Homer Electric Association, serving much of the Kenai Peninsula, has relatively high electric prices, Haller said. That’s driving more people to solar power, he said.
“It’s been really fruitful,” he said. “We’re doing about 80 installations a year.”
Most of his customers are homeowners.
“There’s a lot of folks down here that are resiliency minded, too, and they want to do things on their own as much as they can,” he said.
Federal tax credits cut 26% off the cost, which is another motivator, he and May said. The benefits fall to 22% next year, ending in 2024.
Hans Vogel said he’s getting solar panels installed at his two manufacturing businesses in Palmer. He already has a solar installation at his home in Eagle River.
Vogel’s businesses, Triverus and Trijet, are high-tech operations with fairly high demand for energy, he said. With tax incentives, he expects the installations will pay for themselves in five years, maybe less, he said.
The panels will also add value to the buildings if he ever has to sell them, he said. And low energy prices will make the companies more sustainable, he said.
“It’s just a total business case for us,” he said. “We’re committed to being here and consuming energy at this business for a while. So why not take advantage of this power from that big shiny thing in the sky?”
By Alex DeMarban
Originally posted by Anchorage Daily News
April 29, 2022\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Earth Day and the Electric Cooperative

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Tomorrow is Earth Day, a day to reflect on and celebrate our home and our future. Now more than ever, we need to support policies designed to protect our planet and the systems that enable life, including the climate system.

The headlines are full of dire warnings about climate change, and it can feel like an insurmountable problem and that we are well behind the eight ball. Yet, as we face steep challenges, we must also realize that there is hope:

The children and teens of today are perhaps the most engaged and galvanized generation the world has ever seen on the need for climate justice.

The conservation movement is beginning to recognize the value of Indigenous knowledge and work to decolonize their practices while amplifying Indigenous leadership.

The Biden Administration is the most climate-oriented administration we have ever elected, and with enough pressure, we could see him make some dramatic and effective climate commitments.

More and more, the economic argument for renewable energy is now almost irrefutable.

The movement that started Earth Day resounds in all of those who are taking action to protect our climate and our planet: The Alaska Youth for Environmental Action leading climate strikes, the youth plaintiffs in the Sagoonik v. State of Alaska youth climate action lawsuit, advocates for climate policy action at the state and federal level, even those who serve on our electric utility boards and those who advocate with our utility boards to increase the share of renewable energy that utilities produce or purchase. There is hope, and there is action, and both are going to help us as we confront the challenges of climate change head-on.

That is why tomorrow, on Earth Day, The Alaska Center is hosting a Climate, Care, and Community event to highlight the importance of getting involved with your local electric utility entitled “You are your utility.”

Do you pay an electric bill to Matanuska Electric Association, Golden Valley Electric Association, Chugach Electric Association, or Homer Electric Association? If so, that makes you a member-owner of your electric utility! Want to know more about your rights as a member-owner and ways to get involved with local energy democracy? Join us TOMORROW, April 22, at noon to hear from member-owners across the railbelt who stepped up to create change in their utilities!

JOIN THE ZOOM SESSION

More people getting involved with their electric utility leads to a greater diversity of thought and increased transparency and accountability for our electricity providers. We will be relying on these cooperatives increasingly to unlock carbon emission reductions in the transportation and industrial sectors of our economy, so ultimately, our electric cooperatives will have a significant role in decreasing carbon emissions.

It may not be the sexiest way to celebrate Earth Day. Still, we believe that even actions like increased participation in utilities can lead to significant changes in our ongoing fight to protect our beautiful planet.

See you tomorrow,
The Alaska Center

An Agency Boondoggle

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Tucked into the operating budget passed by the State House is an appropriation that would authorize the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to take over the federal wetlands permitting program under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

There would be a significant cost to the state of assuming the program, and this is not a one-year program; this is a forever program. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has requested a nearly five-million-dollar appropriation to staff 28 employees. It is not clear how DEC came up with this estimate. As of many years ago, the Corps’ regulatory program in Alaska had 49 full-time positions and an annual budget of $7.9 million.

We know that the assumption of the permitting program will likely also require additional staff from other resources agencies, the Department of Law, and additional third-party contractors. In Florida (one of only three states nationwide that has assumed responsibility for wetland permitting functions), they underestimated the staff they would need to run the program and recently requested an additional 17 positions to administer its program. States administering the Section 404 permit program receive no federal funds specifically dedicated to supporting the operation of the permit program.

The legislature investigated taking over primacy in 2013 and subsequently abandoned the effort when the state ran into lean fiscal times. As DEC testified to the House Resources Committee in 2013, a primary purpose of the bill authorizing 404 assumptions was to determine the full costs of primacy. DEC testified this year that it has no additional information about the program’s costs. DEC also made clear in 2013 that “the unknowns about this effort are significant. Until the state performs the detailed evaluation of assumption of the program as provided for in SB 27, it is impossible to forecast the cost or size of a State program.” There is no indication that the state has actually done any further due diligence since 2013, making this current budget rather reckless.

We know this much: Tribes would lose the right to consultation that occurs with federal permits, and state policies regarding consultation do not ensure the same rights. Notably, DEC and other state agencies have declined requests for consultation with Alaska tribes. Tribes will have a harder time making their voices heard. Plus, the state’s assumption of the program would eliminate the protections of the National Historic Preservation Act. Mitigation measures to protect cultural and historic resources will be more challenging.

Should the State of Alaska assume the 404 permitting program, it is unclear how consultation with FWS and NMFS would work for threatened or endangered species. In Florida, which adopted the 404 permitting process most recently, no ESA consultations occur at the permit level. Permits may therefore bring more significant harm to endangered and threatened species. No environmental impact statement would be required for a state-issued 404 permit. The public would lose the opportunity to participate in the NEPA process.
Budget items can be sneaky and difficult to track. The Senate is still working on its version of the operating budget, and the House and Senate will ultimately reconcile their versions in a conference committee. Now is an excellent time to weigh in with your Senator. Let them know that this budget item will create unnecessary bureaucracy at the expense of our state government. Wetland permitting in Alaska is already being done by the federal government at no cost to the state government. Tell them to remove the $5 million budgeted to start a program that is not necessary.

The Alaska Center

A Problem of PFAS

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Like much of the nation, and the world, Alaska faces the problem of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, commonly known as PFAS.
PFAS are used to make products stain, grease, and water-resistant; including food packaging, carpet, upholstery, outdoor apparel, and cookware, for stick resistance. They are used in firefighting foam, industrial processes, and specialty products like ski wax. PFAS can easily transfer from their origin, resulting in contamination of our food, air, and water.
Water supplies adjacent to military bases and airports are often contaminated with PFAS from firefighting foams for Class B petroleum and chemical fires. In Alaska, the dispersive use of AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) containing PFAS on military bases and airports has contaminated the drinking water of many Alaskans. At least 10 communities throughout Alaska have levels of PFAS in their drinking water that are deemed unsafe by the EPA. The use of PFAS also harms the health of firefighters, studies show that firefighters have a higher burden of cancers and other diseases associated with toxic exposures. There are safe alternatives that are effective, without the harmful impacts to the health of firefighters and communities.
State and Federal governments are increasingly asked to come up with a plan to deal with this hidden pollutant. Exposure to PFAS has been associated with adverse health outcomes: including cancers (such as kidney and testicular cancers), liver damage, increased risk of thyroid disease, harm to the immune system, decreased antibody response to vaccines, increased risk of asthma, decreased fertility, decreased birth weight, pregnancy-induced hypertension/pre-eclampsia, and increased cholesterol. Congress recently allocated $10 billion to start working on the problem nationwide and you can be sure this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as tax dollars are concerned. (In a just and reasonable world, those manufacturing companies that made money selling products containing PFAS would pay to clean it up.)
Bills dealing with PFAS in Alaska are working their way through the Legislature this year. Senator Jesse Kiehl’s SB 121 will be heard in the Senate Finance committee on Tuesday, April 12 at 9:00 a.m. According to the sponsor statement, Senate Bill 121 sets health-protective limits on the amount of PFAS in drinking water. The bill guarantees Alaskans in areas with known PFAS contamination will get clean drinking water and their blood levels checked. To prevent future pollution, SB 121 bans PFAS foams when the Federal Aviation Administration stops forcing airports to use them (unless some other federal law preempts).
PFAS, now incredibly prevalent, are called “forever chemicals” because they persist for thousands of years, and do not break down in the human body. Dealing with them will be a long process, but not a forever process. It will require curtailing and eliminating PFAS production and the sale of products in which they are used. It will require science and government working in tandem, community action, and educated consumers. We can do it. SB 121 is a great start.
 Plan to testify in support of SB 121 on Tuesday.
The Alaska Center\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”5″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills to Watch This Week\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”9″ ][cs_element_button _id=”10″ ][cs_content_seo]More Bills This Session\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Fair Maps and Power Grabs

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New legislative district boundaries are drawn every ten years based on the most recent census data. In 2021 the Alaska Redistricting Board adopted a final redistricting plan for Alaska, which delineates the districts legislators will represent. The politics of redistricting are rife with power grabs, and the maps are almost always litigated.

The balance of power in the Legislature is closely divided between Republicans and the Tri-Partisan coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. The Redistricting Board is composed of a majority of Republicans, and the outcome was a map that was challenged in court on numerous fronts. The central point was that the state Senate district pairing part of east Anchorage and Eagle River constituted an “unconstitutional political gerrymander.” The court agreed and gave the Redistricting Board until April 15 to revise its maps.

Each Senate District contains two House districts. In the case of the Eagle River/East Anchorage gerrymander, the Redistricting Board adopted a Senate District that, instead of combining the two staunchly conservative Eagle River House districts, merged one of the conservative Eagle River districts with a more moderate Muldoon district. Notably, that district in question has a much greater BIPOC population than Eagle River. Should the courts have left the Senate district in place, the effect would have been a district that watered down the voting impact of Muldoon residents. There was intense disagreement from Melanie Bahnke and Nicole Borromeo, the only two redistricting board members not appointed by staunch Republicans–and the only two Alaska Native women on the Board. Ms. Bahnke and Borromeo stood up to the rest of the Board when this plan was adopted on a majority line vote, and their fight for fair representation ultimately prevailed.

The Alaska Redistricting Board has been required by the courts to revise their maps so that Alaskan voices are more equitably represented. The Redistricting Board will take public testimony tomorrow (Saturday, April 2) at 2:00 p.m. To participate in:
Anchorage, call 907-563-9085
Juneau: 907-586-9085
Other: 844-586-9085.

This Saturday is a critical opportunity to submit comments to the Redistricting Board. If you cannot be at Saturday’s meeting, you can also submit written comments in advance at https://www.akredistrict.org/map-comment/

The main talking points are:

The Board should act immediately to comply with the court’s requirements and minimize confusion if this process is dragged out. It is in the public interest to swiftly adopt a map with final senate pairings so that voters can familiarize themselves with their new districts, precincts, and voting locations, on top of a new election system (RCV) and an unprecedented special election. The redistricting Board has an obligation to the public to resolve this quickly to avoid voter confusion and disenfranchisement.

In Anchorage, the Board should adopt the Senate pairings proposed by Redistricting Board member Melanie Bahnke instead of coming up with new pairings. These pairings, proposed by Melanie Bahnke, have been presented and considered on the record and were informed by public input and testimony. These pairings do not change districts’ underlying deviation and uphold the one person, one vote principle. In addition, they are the common-sense geographic and socioeconomic pairings (keeping Muldoon w/ Muldoon, West Anc. w/ West Anc, Eagle River w/ Eagle River, etc.).

Plan to participate and help secure Alaska’s more just and equitable redistricting map.

Thank you!
The Alaska Center

A DEC Budget Trap

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]So far, only three states in the United States have assumed primacy for dredge and fill permitting in wetlands. One of those states – Florida – assumed permit primacy in the waning days of the Trump administration. Like Governor Sean Parnell before him, Governor Dunleavy wants Alaska to pay for wetland permitting that is now being paid for by the federal government. The rationale for this proposed forever budget increase paid for by our schools and universities and roads in lean years is that there is an expectation that there will be a return on investment. Through far more relaxed permitting requirements, zero Tribal consultation, and minimal enforcement, Alaska will see a massive influx of Mines.
Governor Dunleavy convinced the state House Finance Committee to add $5 million to the operating budget so that the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation could hire 32 full-time staff. This means 32 new full-time salaries, benefits, travel budgets, etc., to create a state wetland dredge and fill program that is equivalent to the program already paid for by the federal EPA. Perhaps the Dunleavy administration is going to pay these new workers peanuts. $5 million is a far cry from the cost estimate in 2013 when Governor Parnell foisted primacy on the Legislature. At that time – EPA had 49 positions administering its permitting program at a cost of $7.9 million in 2013 dollars. You don’t have to read a crystal ball to see how this will play out for Alaska should the Senate adopt the House numbers and we start a wetland permitting program. You can bet that if the Legislature agrees to this initial $5 million allocation, we should more realistically expect to pay at least a 10 million dollar figure, subject to inflation, moving forward in countless budget years.
It will require more money than was described initially by a less than trustable Dunleavy Administration and the former Pebble spokesperson running DEC now – you can bank on that as a fact. It will lead to costly litigation for the state – bank on that. It will be a messy and costly tug of war between the state and federal government–look at what happened in Florida.
In Florida, with a Governor who is predictably combative with the federal government, there is significant disagreement on the scope of what are to be considered wetlands. Florida continues to apply the Trump EPA version, a predictably and significantly restrictive definition. This definition (Waters Of The United States – WOTUS) was invalidated by a district court opinion, and the Biden EPA is applying a pre-2015 version of WOTUS to which Florida disagrees. Alaska has 65% of the nation’s wetlands and a Governor who loves nothing more than to spend state money fighting the Feds, so the Legislature should anticipate this allocation to DEC will also kick off endless increases in “Statehood Defense” spending. 
The return on investment for paying to take over wetland permitting is likely to be this: 1. Good grandstanding politics for Governors. 2. Mine development plans that factor in lax state permitting and no Tribal consultation, so Mines are freer to destroy salmon habitat, and 3. Jobs–mainly for State attorneys paid out of the General Fund to fight with the EPA. That sounds like a great deal!
The State Senate should say No to this allocation of our money.
Sincerely,
The Alaska Center\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”5″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_button _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Bills to Watch This Week\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”9″ ][cs_element_button _id=”10″ ][cs_content_seo]More Bills This Session\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]