Articles & Op-eds
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: The Izembek road fight: Trump administration right to press ahead for much-needed road
News-Miner opinion: The proposed road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge would hardly seem to be an issue of concern for residents of Interior Alaska. The refuge is located, after all, about 1,300 miles away from Fairbanks near the far end of the Alaska Peninsula. But it is a concern. And that is why it is good to hear that the administration of President Donald Trump has agreed to appeal the late March decision of an Anchorage federal judge to block the project. The reason Interior … Continue Reading
06.11.19
KTVF: Cordova cuts ribbon on new energy future
by Sara Tewksbury
CORDOVA, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and energy leaders were in Cordova, Alaska over the weekend for the ribbon cutting of Cordova Electric Cooperative's battery energy storage system. Dr. Imre Gyuk, Director of the Energy Storage Program at the Office of Electricity, Department of Energy, has been working in energy storage for around twenty years. Gyuk says his program works to find locations to deploy battery energy storage systems that have a positive business. "This particular project wi… Continue Reading
06.10.19
Epoch Times: China Threat to Hold Rare Earth Minerals Hostage Is Our Opportunity
by Andy Pudzer
China's recent "threat" to restrict sales of rare earth minerals to the United States is actually a tremendous opportunity for America. Although China currently dominates global production of rare earth minerals-which are vital for high-tech electronics, military hardware, and other crucial products-that won't be true for long if Beijing imposes higher tariffs or stricter export quotas as leverage in its ongoing trade negotiations with the U.S. At the moment, China produces roughly 80 percent … Continue Reading
06.10.19
Scientific American: We Need To Get Serious about "Critical Materials"
by Morgan D. Bazilian
The U.S. is 100 percent import-reliant on 14 minerals and metals that are essential for defense technologies, consumer goods and clean energy technology, and 50 percent or more reliant for another 30, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. These numbers go beyond the recent headlines on rare earths to illustrate fundamental building blocks of the energy transition: lithium, cobalt and nickel for batteries, and materials for solar power and wind turbines. In many of these areas, China has becom… Continue Reading
06.10.19
Marie Claire: The Invisible Victims
by Christa Hillstrom
In June 2017, sisters Ashley and Kimberly Heavy Runner Loring were full of plans. Ashley hoped to leave her home on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, east of Glacier National Park in Montana, later that summer for Missoula, where she would live with Kimberly while studying environmental science at the University of Montana. But while Kimberly was away for a few months getting to know her fiancé's family in Morocco, Ashley grew despondent. The then-20-year-old was devastated following a br… Continue Reading
06.10.19
KYUK: AG Barr says ‘everything is on the table’ to solve Alaska’s public safety crisis
by Krysti Shallenberger
Late last month, U.S. Attorney General William Barr spent three days touring Alaska with the congressional delegation to hear about and see for himself the lack of public safety in rural Alaska. He spent a day in Bethel and the nearby village of Napaskiak. Barr's security detail outnumbered the number of village public safety officers in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a region roughly the geographic size of Oregon. Western Alaska has a public safety crisis, one that's been there for decades. A re… Continue Reading
06.05.19
PR Newswire: Rodger Baker Addresses China's Global Footprint and its Implications for the Arctic and Alaska
Stratfor, the world's leading geopolitical intelligence platform, is excited to announce that Senior Vice President of Strategic Analysis, Rodger Baker, will address the 2019 Northernmost Border Security Roundtable at the Joint Elmendorf-RIchardson Base, Alaska Command on June 6th. Baker will be joined by Lt. General Thomas Bussiere, Commander, Alaska Command; U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski; U.S. Congressman Don Young; U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhar… Continue Reading
06.05.19
Daily Energy Insider: Experts eye government role in expansion of energy storage
by Ed Roberts
A panel of experts called on the federal government to increase its role in the development of energy storage technology, which is being increasingly seen as a method to ensure energy supplies amid natural disasters and other periods of power shortages or outages. Ben Fowke, president and CEO of electric utility Xcel Energy, told the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during Tuesday's hearing on expanded development of grid-scale energy storage there are three key areas in need … Continue Reading
06.05.19
CBS News: Congress tackles crisis of missing and murdered Native American women
by Grace Segers
Although May 5 is nationally considered a day for celebration, in many tribal communities, it is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native American Women. The date commemorates the birthday of Hanna Harris, a young mother and member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana, who was reported missing in July 2013 and found murdered a few days later. Hanna's story is emblematic of the struggle plaguing tribal communities and indigenous women living in cities. Native American w… Continue Reading
06.04.19
KSRM: Murkowski Backs Commitment To Alaska LNG Project
by Jennifer Williams
The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) announced a funding agreement to help complete the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitting process for the Alaska LNG project. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: "This is a welcome announcement and an important step for the Alaska LNG project, as they can now have confidence they have the resources to complete the FERC process. I appreciate this commitment and urge all inv… Continue Reading
06.04.19
Alaska Public Media: A stretch of the Denali Park Road sits atop a creeping landslide. And it’s picking up speed.
by Nathaniel Herz
Officials at Denali National Park and Preserve are studying whether the existing path of the park's 92-mile road can be spared from a creeping landslide, in what scientists say could be a preview of Denali's future as its permafrost thaws. The creeping pile of earth, at Polychrome Pass halfway along the road, is not just rocks falling down a hillside - it's whole section of mountain, including the road, that's slowly sliding downhill. Just between September and March, the landslide pushed a 10… Continue Reading
06.04.19
KTVA: AG Barr announces Anchorage among 10 cities in national crime prevention initiative
by Elizabeth Roman
U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced Monday that Anchorage is one of 10 communities that will be part of the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) - an initiative meant to combat violent crime across the nation. According to a release from the Department of Justice, PSP enhances federal support of state, local and tribal law enforcement officials and prosecutors as they "aggressively investigate and pursue violent criminals, specifically those involved in gun crime, drug trafficking … Continue Reading
06.01.19
Anchorage Daily News: As he visits a Kuskokwim River village, the U.S. attorney general calls public safety in rural Alaska an ‘emergency’
by Alex DeMarban
In a Western Alaska village at the end of a multi-day swing through the state, U.S. Attorney General William Barr called the lack of police and high rates of violence and sex crimes in rural Alaska an "emergency" and vowed to do everything he can to fight the problem. He made the statement after traveling on the Kuskokwim River by boat from Bethel, the largest community in Western Alaska. Napaskiak leaders pressed for more federal support for police and tribal courts to stop a scourge of alcoho… Continue Reading
05.31.19
Seafood Source: Alaska lawmakers urge officials to remove US-caught China-processed seafood from tariff list
by Steve Bittenbender
Alaska's congressional delegation has reached out to the U.S. Trade Representative, asking the federal government to reconsider a tariff decision that the lawmakers say will produce unintended consequences for the fishing industry in their state. While U.S. Representative Don Young and U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan agree with the Trump administration's objective in ending China's unfair trade practices, they told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a letter dated 23 M… Continue Reading
05.31.19
KYUK: U.S. Attorney General Barr Says 'Very Basics Of Public Safety Are Lacking In The Villages'
by Krysti Shallenberger
U.S. Attorney General William Barr is in Bethel and Napaskiak today, May 31. The visit continues his Alaska tour, meeting with public officials and Alaska Native leaders to discuss public safety, the lack of law enforcement in rural communities, and how the federal government can help. "This is the first trip I've taken, because I feel that this is the most pressing need in the country: to provide the basics of safe communities here," Barr told KYUK. In an interview with KYUK in Bethel, Attorn… Continue Reading
05.30.19
KTVF: Senator Murkowski speaks at Annual Spring Luncheon, addresses Pebble Mine
by Sara Tewksbury
Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke at the 16th Annual Spring Luncheon hosted by 'Ladies that Lunch.' Murkowski attends the annual event to update the Fairbanks community on what is happening in D.C. She addressed the significance of Alaska's role in the Arctic. Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke at the 16th Annual Spring Luncheon hosted by 'Ladies that Lunch.' Murkowski attends the annual event to update the Fairbanks community on what is happening in D.C. Outside of the event there were protesters speaki… Continue Reading
05.30.19
Stock News Press: U.S. will rue forcing China's hand on rare earths
by Scott Gibson
America's rare earth mineral dependence is a long-standing issue. US companies are years away from challenging Chinese dominance of rare earth minerals due to a lack of domestic processing facilities, ensuring the Asian nation will maintain its near-monopoly on refining and powerful leverage in trade talks. According to the US Geological Survey, from 2014 to 2017 the United States imported 80 percent of its rare earth compounds and metals from China. China on Wednesday issued a blunt warning … Continue Reading
05.30.19
National Interest: China's Latest Trade Threat Could Actually Turn Out To Be A Huge Opportunity For the US
by Michael Bastasch
Reports of Chinese threats to escalate its trade dispute with the Trump administration to include rare earth minerals has, once again, shined a spotlight on U.S. dependency for elements used in hundreds of hi-tech products and military equipment. "China is letting the U.S. know that it has leverage," said Dan McGroarty, head of the American Resources Policy Network (ARPN), which advocates for mineral exploration. McGroarty said reported Chinese threats to play the "rare earths card" could galv… Continue Reading
05.23.19
mHealth Intelligence: Congress Eyes Funding, Support for Project ECHO Telehealth Programs
by Eric Wicklund
A new bill before the Senate aims to beef up the Project ECHO telemedicine model by proving more federal funding and technical assistance, potentially creating dozens of new connected care programs across the country. The Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes Act of 2019 (ECHO 2019 Act), introduced this week by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), aims to build on both the 2016 bill of the same name and the telehealth program developed in 2003 at the Universit… Continue Reading
05.23.19
Washington Examiner: OPINION Sen. John Thune: The Senate is working for America
by Senator John Thune
During his 1980 debate with then-President Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan famously asked Americans whether they were better off than they'd been four years earlier. That question has been a measuring stick for elected officials ever since. Republicans in Congress are committed to making life better for Americans. We've made great strides over the past two years, and there's more on the horizon. After a historically slow economic recovery from the Great Recession, too many Americans were struggling… Continue Reading
