Alaska

Palin says global warming harms Alaska, still wants to drill

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (from left), Senator Mark Begich, Congressman Don Young and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar arrive at a public forum meeting in Anchorage Tuesday to discuss Outer Continental Shelf development.Courtesy Alaska governor’s officeSarah Palin seems to have discovered global warming, and she’s got just the thing to do about it. Yesterday […]

The Fishery That's Too Big to Fail

This is a guest post by John Hocevar and Jeremy Jackson. Jeremy Jackson is the William E. and Mary B. Ritter Professor of Oceanography at the Scripps Institution. John Hocevar is a marine biologist and the director of Greenpeace’s oceans campaign. If you like seafood, you’ve probably eaten Alaska pollock, the tender white fish used […]

Twenty years after the biggest oil spill in the U.S., we still have a lot to learn

The Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, March 1989. Tuesday marks 20 years since the Exxon Valdez dumped nearly 11 million of gallons of crude oil into Alaskan waters, resulting in the most severe impacts on the environment of any spill anywhere. I was there and will attest to the graveness of the situation […]

Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife want you to know that Sarah Palin still hates wolves

Ashley Judd (yes, that Ashley Judd) and Defenders of Wildlife would like you to know that even though Sarah Palin is no longer running for vice president, she still hates critters. They’ve launched a new campaign and website, Eye On Palin, that decries her “anti-wolf, anti-wildlife” agenda. Here’s their new YouTube video:

Alaska Dem. kicks off Congress with call for ANWR drilling

Newly sworn-in Alaska Sen. Mark Begich (D) on Friday kicked off the 111th Congress by attacking Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) for reintroducing a bill to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Begich has been bullish on opening the reserve for drilling. In a press release he accused Lieberman of "knee-jerk reaction" to please greens:

"Sen. Lieberman's ANWR legislation is another misguided attempt at locking up ANWR to appease environmentalists across the country," he said. "What this country needs is a comprehensive energy plan dealing with oil and gas development, as well as renewable energy resources, to ease our dependence on foreign oil. Domestic production including the enormous oil and gas reserves believed to lie beneath the Arctic Refuge must be a part of that policy."

Hmmm, sound like anyone else we know from Alaska?

Most importantly, this is further proof that an increased Democratic majority in the Senate doesn't mean it will be all rainbows and sunshine when it comes to environmental policy. Major differences exist within the caucus and are already flaring up.

(Via Politico.)

You haven’t heard the last of me, you meddling kids!

“What they don’t know is, I’m going to go back and kick their ass.” — Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), on his plan for revenge against his colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee, who just forced him out with the threat of a no-confidence vote

BLM opens land near Alaska’s Bristol Bay to development

Some 2 million acres near Alaska’s Bristol Bay will be opened to development for the first time under a plan released Friday by the Bureau of Land Management. The agency’s decision to throw the door open for mining and drilling in the area, which is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run, is opposed […]

Governating Alaska: not as fun when oil revenues are down

“Now we kick in that fiscal conservativeness that needs to be engaged, and we progress this state with $57-a-barrel oil.” — Alaska governor Sarah Palin, commenting on the changed fiscal landscape she’s returned to in her home state

Merkley triumphs in Oregon; three other races still undecided

The Oregon Senate race has been called for enviro-backed candidate Jeff Merkley, who finished with a 48.4 to 46 percent lead over Republican incumbent Gordon Smith. In Minnesota, the latest tally puts Republican incumbent Norm Coleman just 439 votes ahead of Democrat Al Franken, a margin that falls within the state’s mandatory recount law. That […]