Economy & Environment
Arctic greening won’t save the climate – here’s why
Satellite images show the Arctic has been getting greener as temperatures in the far northern region rise three times faster than the global average. Some theories suggest that this “Arctic greening” will help counteract climate change. The idea is that since plants take up carbon dioxide as they grow, rising temperatures will mean Arctic vegetation […]
Nonpartisan solutions promoted for energy and climate problems, but not everyone is on board
Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, one of the main speakers at the Alaska Renewable Energy Conference and the founder of the Center for the New Energy Economy, pleads for nonpartisan consensus to achieve the energy transition needed to tackle climate change. "If we don’t think of this in a bipartisan way, if we think of how do we talk to other sides of the aisle about that, we’re not going to get there,” he said.
Alaska Peninsula oil lease sale continues long streak without bids
For the eighth consecutive year, oil companies have passed up an opportunity to acquire oil exploration rights on state lands in the Alaska Peninsula. No bids were received in an annual lease sale held by the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas that offered 5 million acres on the peninsula, which extends from the southwestern […]
Cook Inlet basin energy future lies beyond fossil fuels, conference speakers say
The 1950s discovery of oil on the Kenai Peninsula is credited with helping secure Alaska’s statehood. By the 1960s, the Kenai Chamber of Commerce had adopted a catchy nickname for the city: “The Oil Capital of Alaska.” In 1969, Cook Inlet began supplying liquefied natural gas to Toyko-based utilities, making it the nation’s first source […]
Utilities in Alaska’s Railbelt announce $200 million transmission upgrade project
Utilities in Alaska’s most heavily populated core announced on Wednesday that they are investing more than $200 million to upgrade transmission lines, a program that officials said can help prepare for a shift to increased use of renewable energy. The utilities serve customers in a 700-mile grid that extends from Fairbanks in the north to […]
State-owned Alaska corporation advances plans for road through the Mat-Su
The state-owned Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has requested permission from the federal government to build a 100-mile road into the mountainous western Matanuska-Susitna Borough. On Tuesday, AIDEA officials said by email that they had filed a permit request under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. […]
EPA moves to prevent Pebble mine development in Bristol Bay watershed
The Biden administration has officially revived an Obama-era plan that would put the Bristol Bay watershed off-limits to the proposed Pebble Mine or any similar project. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced its intention to invoke a rarely used provision of the Clean Water Act to prevent the issuance of any wetlands-fill permit for […]
Governor signs bill intended to encourage nuclear microreactors in Alaska
Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Tuesday signed a bill aimed at easing the construction of small nuclear reactors, using a signing ceremony on the first day of the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference to highlight what he characterized as a promising technology to power remote parts of the state. Microreactors are compact nuclear reactors that can generate […]
Fast-food worker’s wage lawsuit survives in U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a small, but potentially significant, victory to a fast-food worker from Iowa. The court did not address the basic premise of Robyn Morgan’s lawsuit – that the Taco Bell restaurant she worked for had violated wage-and-hour laws. The court did, however, address a procedural issue that could have […]
With new agreement, Port of Alaska and Sandia lab to evaluate renewable energy for microgrid
A partnership between the state’s biggest port and one of the nation’s top engineering labs seeks to establish a large microgrid to ensure a dependable supply of electricity. The Port of Alaska, located in Anchorage, and Sandia National Laboratories, a major U.S. Department of Energy contractor, have signed a “historic” memorandum of understanding to move […]
Bill to combat Alaska’s invasive species falls short in Legislature
Invasive species, according to wide consensus in Alaska, pose big threats to native fish, plants, terrestrial animals and even people’s safety and thus merit some vigorous preventive and response actions. Nevertheless, a seemingly popular bill that would have set up a system to coordinate those actions died without final passage in the Alaska Legislature. The […]
ConocoPhillips starts production at new Alpine satellite field
ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. announced Friday that it has started oil production at its Fiord West Kuparuk reservoir, a satellite of its Alpine field. The start of oil flow followed the drilling of a well that ConocoPhillips said set an extended-reach record. The well was drilled about a month ago by Doyon 26, the largest mobile […]