Author

Rick Whitbeck

Rick Whitbeck

Rick Whitbeck is the Alaska state director for Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs and opportunities.

COMMENTARY
This map, taken from the supplemental environmental impact statement for the Ambler Road project and published by the Bureau of Land Management on Oct. 13, 2023, shows the three primary alternatives for the project, not including the no-build alternative. (Bureau of Land Management image)

Solid Alaska infrastructure projects balance environmental stewardship with responsible development

By: - November 9, 2023

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Alaska must cease its resource development opportunities because we are destroying the planet in the process. This old argument is once again on full display in the recent opinion piece by Homer’s Marilyn Sigman. In her nearly 800-word attack on Alaska’s economy and Gov. Dunleavy, Sigman deployed fear […]

COMMENTARY
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sprawls to the shoreline of the Beaufort Sea, seen here in 2006. Oil development has been proposed for the refuge's coastal plain. (Photo by Steve Hillebrand,/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

ANWR development would benefit Alaska in the long run

By: - March 9, 2023

Any journalist, including Larry Persily, should focus on one simple tenet: All facts matter.  As a result, his recent piece hitting both the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge development should have Alaskans disappointed, because his commentary doesn’t include the necessary facts. Nor is it practical.  In no circumstance […]