Articles & Op-eds
PR Newswire: Protect Our Power Welcomes Federal Legislation To Safeguard Electric Grid from Attacks
The electric grid resilience organization Protect Our Power welcomed the planned introduction in Congress of energy legislation that includes provisions to better protect the U.S. electric grid against physical and cyber threats. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, Chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has released the text of The American Energy Innovation Act, co-authored with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, Ranking Member of the Committee. The legislation includes provisions aimed … Continue Reading
03.02.20
E&E News: How 3 metals could drive the EV revolution
by Peter Behr
The acronym "NMC" may be the key to a global competition to push down the cost of lithium-ion batteries, and thus the key to the future of electric vehicles. The letters stand for compounds of nickel, manganese and cobalt, three elements that are vital ingredients in the most common of today's EV batteries. Combined into a complex lattice structure, they form the battery's positive electrode where lithium ions gather as the battery delivers its power. Today, scientists on three continents are … Continue Reading
03.02.20
Alaska Journal of Commerce: US Commerce Department allocates $35 million for Alaska fisheries disasters
by Elizabeth Earl
Fishermen affected by the 2018 Pacific cod and Chignik sockeye disasters will soon have access to about $35 million in relief funding. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross allocated about $65 million to fisheries disaster relief, about $35 million of which is for Alaska, according to a Feb. 27 announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Within Alaska, about $24.4 million will go to the Pacific cod fishery disaster and about $10.3 million to the Chignik sockeye fishery. T… Continue Reading
02.28.20
Reuters: U.S. senators unveil bill to support renewable and nuclear power, efficiency
by Timothy Gardiner
The top two senators on the U.S. Senate energy committee unveiled a bipartisan energy legislation package on Thursday that would support renewable energy, efficiency measures and nuclear power, and aides said it should move quickly to a vote in the chamber. The American Energy Innovation Act compiles more than 50 bills that were considered by the Senate Energy Committee over the last year. Before becoming law, it would have to be passed by the Senate and House of Representatives and signed by P… Continue Reading
02.28.20
Global Mining Review: Senate energy package recognises importance of American mining
by Jessica Casey
The National Mining Association (NMA) has applauded the Senate's 'American Energy Innovation Act,' which includes important steps to address the nation's alarming mineral import reliance and to increase the nation's development and deployment of essential carbon capture technologies. "Mining has never been more important to energy needs," said Rich Nolan, NMA President and CEO. "From the fuels that provide the foundation for the nation's electricity grid, to the materials essential to future te… Continue Reading
02.28.20
International Business Times: Energy News: Murkowski, Manchin Join Forces To Modernize Energy Laws
by Marcy Kreiter
KEY POINTS The American Energy Innovation Act combines 50 bills handled by the Senate Eenrgy and National Resources Committee Environmental groups say the bill does not do enough to address carbon pollution The bill also address cyber- and grid security Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Thursday introduced a massive energy bill that seeks to modernize domestic energy laws and strengthen national security, focusing on new technology to make cars and trucks more … Continue Reading
02.28.20
Bloomberg: Senate to Take Up Bill Boosting Climate R&D, Avoid Regulations
by Ari Natter
Legislation that could be voted on by the U.S. Senate as soon as next week aims to boost energy storage technology as well as nuclear and renewable power -- but avoids more aggressive steps to fight climate change sought by Democrats. The bill, unveiled Thursday by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, represents the GOP's latest approach of promoting clean energy while steering clear of mandates to cut emissions of climate-warming gases or stop fossil fuel development … Continue Reading
02.28.20
The Hill: Murkowski, Manchin introduce major energy legislation
by Rebecca Beitsch and Rachel Frazin
Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday introduced a long-awaited energy package that's shaping up to be the best chance this year for passing legislation to expand the use of cleaner forms of energy. The American Energy Innovation Act would touch nearly every aspect of the energy industry, incorporating more than 50 bills advanced by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took steps Thursday to bring the … Continue Reading
02.25.20
Ketchikan Daily News: Murkowski speaks on impeachment
by Sam Stockbridge
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke with the Daily News on Thursday in Ketchikan about her pivotal role in last month's Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, calling it "a pretty ugly time in Washington." Murkowski voted against calling new witnesses for the Senate trial and eventually voted to acquit President Trump on both articles of impeachment, though speaking on the Senate floor on Feb. 3 Murkowski called the president's behavior "shameful and wrong." The Senate voted against he… Continue Reading
02.25.20
KRBD: As nature of war changes, Murkowski suggests revisiting 2001 military authorization
by Eric Stone
Sen. Lisa Murkowski visited Ketchikan on Friday, where she met with local officials, tribal leaders and business groups to discuss federal issues affecting the region. Afterwards, she sat down with KRBD to talk about her worries about growing unchecked presidential power in Washington. Murkowski made national headlines after she broke with Republican colleagues on a mid-February vote to limit the president's power to strike Iran. But without a veto-proof two-thirds majority, the resolution will… Continue Reading
02.24.20
Ketchikan Daily News: Murkowski talks AMHS
by Sam Stockbridge
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, discussed the Alaska Marine Highway System and an assortment of other issues with the Daily News on Thursday during her two-day visit to Ketchikan. Murkowski has been on a visit to Alaska over the past week, stopping in Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. In Southeast Alaska communities, she said she expected to hear from residents about the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in the Senate, or the ongoing U.S. Forest Service consideration of a … Continue Reading
02.23.20
KCAW: Murkowski circles up with Pacific High students
by Catherine Rose
US Senator Lisa Murkowski took time during the congressional recess to make a swing through Sitka this week. She did all the expected things, like addressing the Chamber of Commerce and meeting with community leaders to discuss funding priorities. And the senator did one unexpected thing: She spent the afternoon in a talking circle with just over a dozen students at Pacific High School- where one of the most influential voices in Washington had to wait her turn. Pacific High students start and… Continue Reading
02.23.20
Anchorage Daily News: Worries about the fate of the Denali Park Road persist as tourism season looms
by Morgan Krakow
As the summer tourism season approaches in Alaska, anxiety continues to simmer around the fate of the road that runs through Denali National Park and Preserve. The Denali Park Road is the only way to drive into the park. Running east to west, through steep mountain passes, the road carves through the 4.7 million acre park. Private vehicles are restricted along the 92-mile road past Mile 15, but hundreds of thousands of visitors each year rely on buses run by commercial operators to take them i… Continue Reading
02.19.20
Juneau Empire: Murkowski: ‘Do what’s good for Alaska’
by Peter Segall
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has a message for the state's lawmakers: it's time to move past partisanship and toward solutions. Speaking to the Alaska Legislature at the Capitol Tuesday, Murkowski said the current environment in Washington was one of the most bitter and divided of her career. Murkowski, one of Alaska's two Republican senators, is often considered a moderate in Washington and in her address to the Legislature said she felt worn down by "one of the darkest, most partisan … Continue Reading
02.19.20
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Murkowski warns of partisanship in annual legislative address
by Erin McGroarty
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke on a number of topics ranging from state and national legislation to the recent impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate during her annual address to the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday morning. The senator made immediate note of the impeachment at the beginning of her speech, pointing to partisanship in both the House and Senate throughout the process. "The division in Washington, D.C, is an embarrassing portrayal of what we have become," Murkowski said. … Continue Reading
02.18.20
Alaska Public Media: Murkowski pushes Legislature for more REAL ID support in rural Alaska
by Andrew Kitchenmann
In her annual address to a joint session of the Legislature Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told lawmakers that the state should do more to help Alaskans get REAL IDs. "This is going to take state resources, in order to get out to these communities," she said. "And in fairness, it's not something that we can just pass the plate and ask for it to be funded. We've just got to put the resources towards it so that people can move." Rural lawmakers have said the state should put more money toward… Continue Reading
02.18.20
Anchorage Daily News: Sen. Murkowski says she’s focused on Alaska issues, not on presidential race
by Becky Bohrer
President Donald Trump has had policies that are good for the country and have helped Alaska, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday, but she did not say if she would support his reelection bid. Murkowski, a Republican, told reporters in Juneau that she planned to focus on issues important to the state, not on "what's coming up in November." In 2016, Murkowski said Trump had "forfeited the right to be our party's nominee" after a 2005 video surfaced of him making lewd comments about women. Sinc… Continue Reading
02.17.20
KTVA: Murkowski and other US senators criticize new vaping guidelines
by Jennifer Summers
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski joins other lawmakers expressing concerns over the Food and Drug Administration's January guidance over vaping, saying it does not do enough to address the draw for young people. Sens. Mitt Romney, Maggie Hassan, Jeff Merkley, Susan Collins and Tom Udall joined Murkowski and explained their concerns in a letter Monday to Mitch Zeller, the FDA's director of the Center for Tobacco Products. The senators suggested flavors be banned in a greater range of electronic nicot… Continue Reading
02.14.20
Arkansas Democrat Gazette: House votes to revive ERA
The House of Representatives gave the Equal Rights Amendment a temporary new lease on life Thursday by voting to remove a 1982 deadline for ratification by the states. The 232-to-183 vote, on a resolution introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., pushes the issue to the Senate, where Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have introduced a similar measure. During debate on the House floor, Republicans argued that enshrining the ERA in the Constitution would mean abortion coul… Continue Reading
02.14.20
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: What Congress and the Trump administration are doing to address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women
by Liz Ruskin
The victims' families and communities had long felt the tragedy: Alaska Native women are murdered and go missing at rates that are far too high. But until two researchers in Seattle issued a report on it in 2018, the crisis wasn't known by a single name. The report authors used the term "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women" and under that banner, the gears of government began to turn. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says the report has focused national attention on the horrifying reality that Native wome… Continue Reading
