Six rallies around the state this week have one purpose — spurring Alaska’s U.S. senators and representative to stop Pebble Mine permitting. The U.S. House of Representative passed an amendment last week that would suspend funding for permitting for the Proposed Pebble Mine project near Bristol Bay, and a rally held outside Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Juneau office Tuesday is part …
Governor’s cabinet-level picks all confirmed by the Alaska Legislature
JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) — Three of the governor’s controversial picks to run state agencies have been confirmed by a joint session of the Alaska Legislature. Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune had come under scrutiny for his previous work as a public face of the Pebble Partnership, with some lawmakers voicing concerns that he may struggle to regulate the …
Anti-Pebble Mine rally happening outside public hearing on Draft EIS
ANCHORAGE (KTUU) — Ralliers are gearing up to protest the Pebble Mine Project outside the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage, where a public hearing on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement is well underway Tuesday evening. Five anti-Pebble groups are hosting the rally — Save Bristol Bay, The Alaska Center, Cook Inletkeeper, The United Tribes of Bristol Bay, and Trout Unlimited …
Alaska Wants to Fight Warming While Still Drilling for Oil
Alaska’s appetite for oil is as ubiquitous as the state’s proliferating examples of a changing climate. The Arctic is melting faster than anywhere else in the world. Permafrost is thawing and releasing carbon into the atmosphere. Warmer air and ocean water have diminished sea ice. Native villages along the coast are moving inland to flee rising seas. But climate change …
The Anchorage election and clean energy
In the recent Anchorage election, voters sent a strong message about the future they want: one that is secure, just and thriving. Climate change poses one of the greatest threats to that future, and we need leadership that will dare to tackle it head-on. Right now, Anchorage has an urgent and exciting opportunity to address this challenge and set the …
Solarize Fairbanks looks to buy solar power in bulk
A campaign to get Interior Alaska residents to think about household solar power is gaining popularity. A meeting Monday evening at the Ken Kunkel Community Center will discuss “Solarize Fairbanks”, a community campaign to reduce the costs of solar panels. Standing outside the Chapin family home on a sunny hillside north of Fairbanks, Terry Chapin looks where he might put …
Leg with Louie: Power-Play During a Pandemic
The Governor’s budget vetoes came through this week. The cuts were not as dramatic as some may have feared, but they were made in bad faith. The Legislature put together their budgets working tirelessly under the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting their health and safety at risk in doing so, while maintaining good communication with the Administration throughout the …
Leg With Louie: No time for big cuts
The Legislature passed the FY 21 operating budget and FY 20 supplemental, and the FY 21 Mental Health Budget up to the Governor before going into recess. By the constitution, the Governor has 15 days, Sundays excluded, to take action on a bill while the Legislature is in session – and the Legislature is still technically in session. The Governor’s …
We can’t go back to ‘normal’
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 …