We find ourselves in a major transition, a time the like of which most of us have never known. The uncertainty of this moment has filled us with varying levels of fear and anxiety. Collectively we are facing a pandemic, a collapsing stock market, dropping oil prices and the continuing impacts of increasing climate change. Every one of us has …
State ‘will be lenient’ on air and water quality enforcement amid COVID-19 pandemic
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – State regulators are scaling back enforcement of air and water quality protections until at least June and are asking regulated entities to self-report violations during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Governor Dunleavy has instructed his commissioners to do everything that we can in our power to stabilize the economy, to let the regulated community know, to let Alaskan …
Leg With Louie: COVID-19 Legislative Response update
By the time you receive this email, the Alaska State Legislature may be in recess, allowing them to leave Juneau and practice effective social distancing, which is not possible during floor sessions and hallway discussions. We should commend their efforts to date. A series of important bills have proceeded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its mounting impacts on …
Leg With Louie: Obituary for House Resolution 12
The short, happy life of HR 12 ended this week. HR 12 was born last spring and died this winter, and we won’t spend long mourning it, but we will mark its passing with a few brief words: HR 12 was a house resolution that sought to establish a House Special Committee on Climate Change. At the time of its …
A First Step in Building a Healthy Economy for all: Alaska’s First Just Transition Summit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 13, 2020 FAIRBANKS, AK: January 8-10. Local community organizations Native Movement, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition (FCAC), Native Peoples Action, Gwich’in Steering Committee, The Alaska Center, Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG) and Alaska Community Action on Toxics came together to create an open space for community dialogue and planning. Over the past 30 years, Alaska has …
Leg With Louie: hope for the future in the dim light of a dawning decade
Under a newly proposed Trump Administration rule, Environmental Impact Statements on major federal actions, say permitting a Pebble Mine or a transnational oil pipeline, would be limited to a maximum of two years of agency and public review and among other limitations, the analysis of cumulative impacts is not allowed. Trump’s new EIS rule change would institutionalize the same shoddy, …
Youth-led protest held on Delaney Park Strip against climate change
ANCHORAGE (KTUU) – Dozens of protesters gathered at the Delaney Park Strip, urging state lawmakers to combat climate change and for the governor to reinstate an environmental action committee. The protest was part of Fridays for Future, a movement started by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg who would go on strike from school every Friday to call for more environmental …
Local youths lead a growing Alaska climate justice movement
Youth around Alaska have been at the forefront of recent actions: over 300 people in Fairbanks joined 4 million people globally as part of the youth climate strikes and sixteen young Alaskans are suing the state for contributing to climate change. Young people are mobilizing at unprecedented scales to fight for our futures. Here in Fairbanks, we have drafted seventeen …
First big local politics forum draws 18 of 28 candidates
Candidates for local office agreed Tuesday that people have the right to unionize, to drink clean water and breathe clean air. They agreed there’s a need to better address suicide, that first responders need more de-escalation training and that major factors associated with climate change are human caused. They disagreed on issues such as whether transgender students may use the bathroom …
It’s time to act on climate change
You can’t live in Fairbanks for more than two years and not feel the impacts of climate change. Sleeting storms, excessive snowfall, intense forest fires, thawing permafrost, increasing humidity, high winds, sinking roads, flooding, fishing closures. For 19 years, I’ve seen these “rare incidents” become the norm, and I’ve seen and felt how these impacts threaten our homes, jobs and …