Articles & Op-eds
Peninsula Clarion: Murkowski sees reason for optimism, though work remains to be done
by Elizabeth Earl
The economy still isn't great in Alaska, but there are reasons to be positive, according to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The pendulum of oil and gas activity is swinging back toward the high end, with ConocoPhillips tripling its income in Alaska in 2017, Hilcorp announcing its intentions to spend $285 million in Alaska in 2018 and the price of oil climbing to about $70 per barrel, among other exploration and development activities. The end of 2017 brought the granting of a multi-decade wish … Continue Reading
01.26.18
Cordova Times: Feds okay King Cove road through wildlife refuge
by Margaret Bauman
After over three decades of lobbying for a land based medical evacuation route between King Cove and the all weather airport at Cold Bay, residents of this Aleutians fishing community have a signed deal. Civic and tribal leaders from King Cove were in Washington D.C. on Jan. 22 as Della Trumble, spokeswoman for the King Cove Native Corp., and a member of the local Agdaagux tribe, signed the document with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. "Today's agreement goes a long way toward restoring… Continue Reading
01.23.18
The Hill: Zinke advances road through Alaska wildlife refuge
by Timothy Cama
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke approved a land-transfer deal Monday to allow Alaska to build a road through a federal wildlife refuge in the southwestern part of the state. The action closes a major chapter on a fight that has stretched more than three decades and became a top priority for Alaska, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), who is chairwoman of the committees overseeing both Interior Department policies and its budget. The gravel, one-lane road would cut through the Izembek Nati… Continue Reading
01.23.18
APRN: Zinke signs land trade to allow road for King Cove
by Liz Ruskin
Alaska's congressional delegation ticked another item off its decades-old to-do list Monday: Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke signed a land swap agreement to allow a road in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge for King Cove. It's a major turning point in the dispute over a roughly 12-mile road that would be mostly, or entirely, built on what's now a federally protected wilderness. King Cove Corporation's Della Trumble has been fighting for the road for more than 35 years. Now, she's clutching a bl… Continue Reading
01.18.18
Gray TV: Senator Murkowski, worried for coastal communities, is trying to assess ocean acidification
by Peter Zampa
Our coastlines could be in harm's way. Not because of a storm or a tidal wave, but because of ocean acidification. Carbon dioxide emissions are changing the chemistry of our oceans which could have a negative impact on coastlines and economies. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is looking for answers to this growing problem. She says we need to find out how vulnerable our communities are. "What is happening with ocean acidification is important to me as an Alaskan. Really it should be importa… Continue Reading
01.12.18
KTUU: Net Neutrality fight continues on Capitol Hill
by Peter Zampa
The fight over net neutrality is not going away in Washington. Following the Federal Communication Commission's vote to repeal certain internet regulations, a bipartisan group of senators is punching back. Mostly Democrats are signed onto an effort that would reverse the FCC's decision. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) joined the crusade and says this is about keeping the internet free and open. Sen. Cortez Masto (D-NV) says small businesses could fall by the wayside without net neutrality… Continue Reading
01.12.18
POLITICO Pro Q&A: Senate Energy Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski Back
by Anthony Adragna
Senate Energy Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski has recently scored major victories on long-running issues for Alaska, such as the nearly 40-year quest to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and she's optimistic a deal is near to end her battle to build road to King Cove soon as well. Murkowski emerged largely unscathed after breaking with the Trump administration on Obamacare last summer, and she says she has a good relationship with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Still, after th… Continue Reading
01.12.18
Alaska Public Media: Four decisions in three weeks: How Trump is transforming Alaska
by Elizabeth Harball
While many Alaskans might have been busy with Christmas plans or ringing in the New Year, some of the state's biggest resource battles reached turning points. In total, there were four big developments since mid-December, largely thanks to the Trump administration. If you didn't catch them all, here's a quick review: No. 1 - Congress approves drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Most Alaskans probably caught the biggest news story on the list, because it's a doozy: On Dec. 20, Pres… Continue Reading
01.10.18
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: OPINION: Let’s not be our own worst enemy in developing ANWR
by Curtis Thayer
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our congressional delegation Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young. They delivered the ultimate Christmas gift to Alaska, the ability to open the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for safe and environmentally responsible oil exploration. ANWR has been a 37-year, uphill battle, eventually passed by Congress only to be vetoed by President Clinton in 1995. Now that Congress and President Trump have finally approved ANWR, A… Continue Reading
01.05.18
Alaska Dispatch News: Trump administration puts Arctic offshore lease sales back on the table
by Alex DeMarban
The Trump administration moved Thursday to reopen vast territory in the Arctic Ocean and other U.S. waters to drilling by oil companies, launching a draft plan that could lead to a giant rollback of steps taken by the Obama administration. The five-year proposed program for federal offshore waters, starting in 2019, calls for 19 of 47 lease sales to be offered off Alaska coasts over five years. The first lease sales under the program would be in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. The administratio… Continue Reading
12.30.17
ADN: ‘A historic moment’: How ANWR drilling was passed by Congress after decades of effort
by Alex DeMarban
Twelve years ago, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens experienced what he called the saddest day of his life, when he couldn't hammer a measure through the Senate to crack open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, a career goal for the longtime Alaska senator who died in 2010. On Wednesday, the Alaska delegation got the job done. They sent legislation to President Donald Trump, calling for two lease sales within seven years in a coastal section of the 19-million-acre refuge. "This is… Continue Reading
12.22.17
KSRM: Sun Shines On Arctic Coastal Plain
by Dorene Lorenz
Senator Lisa Murkowski R-AK: "This is a very historic day of course, but it's also…winter solstice…the shortest day, the darkest day…for us in Alaska we have had some pretty dark days recently." Love her for working across the aisle or hate her for being a RHINO, no one can take away this magic moment from Senator Lisa Murkowski. It's a message Alaska's Congressional Delegation has dreamed about delivering. Senator Lisa Murkowski R-AK: "With passage finally, almost 40 year… Continue Reading
12.22.17
LETTER: Commend Murkowski for clean energy priority
by Heather Reams
To the editor: Sen. Lisa Murkowski can always be counted on when it comes to commonsense clean energy policies. In fact, she recently called for a broad, bipartisan energy bill to be passed in early 2018. Hopefully, such a bill will include the renewal of the "orphaned" tax credits for renewable energy that were left out of the final tax reform bill. For now, Sen. Murkowski should be commended for making sure her colleagues on the tax reform conference committee understood that they must ma… Continue Reading
12.21.17
Juneau Empire: EDITORIAL: Let’s end 2017 on a high note
by Senator Lisa Murkowski
Health care dominated the headlines this summer and although the cameras turned off and the media largely tuned out after the end of the fiscal year, my colleagues and I kept working. Under the leadership of Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, and Patty Murray, D-Washington, those of us on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) held hearings where governors, providers and stakeholders came together to talk about what was broken in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to provide ideas … Continue Reading
12.20.17
KTVA: Murkowski: Passage of ANWR drilling ‘a big day for Alaska’
by Chris Klint
Alaska's congressional delegation hailed Wednesday's historic passage of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, attached to a sweeping GOP tax-reform bill sent by a House vote to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, as well as Rep. Don Young, spoke with reporters minutes after the House's 224-201 Wednesday vote resolved a snag from its initial passage of the bill Tuesday evening. The Senate quickly passed it as well later that night. … Continue Reading
12.20.17
Juneau Empire: Murkowski introduces bill to study ocean acidification
by Kevin Gullufsen
Warm water changes Ph of oceans, spurring crab dieoff and hurting salmon prey Global warming is causing ocean water to become less like baking soda and more like milk, chemically speaking. It's a pHenomena called ocean acidification (OA) and it could have damaging effects for marine life. A bill announced week by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski seeks to study the effects OA would have on coastal communities. The Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2017 would direct the National Oceanic an… Continue Reading
12.20.17
Alaska Journal of Commerce: Tax overhaul, ANWR heads to Trump’s desk
by Elwood Brehmer
When President Donald Trump signs the federal tax overhaul into law the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be open to the oil industry. Most Alaskans are happy about it, some aren't. In the Lower 48 the public seems more split on the issue, if not slightly against it. After 37 years of debate, what more is there to say? The members of Alaska's congressional delegation, who got the last words on ANWR in Congress when the tax bill passed, wanted to add a little more in a … Continue Reading
12.20.17
CNN: For Murkowski, the fight to open up ANWR was generations in the making
by Ashley Killough
Washington (CNN)Sen. Lisa Murkowski wasn't up for re-election on November 4, 2014, but she still scored a personal victory that night. With Republicans taking control of the Senate, she effectively became the next chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. According to High Country News at the time, Murkowski hoisted a chair over her head at an election party in Anchorage and declared to the crowd: "I am the chairmaaaaaan!" Landing that position, followe… Continue Reading
12.20.17
OPINON: Historic Opportunities for Alaska in Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
by Senator Lisa Murkowski
This holiday season, Alaskans can have a renewed sense of hope for good jobs, larger paychecks, stronger growth, and enduring prosperity. The reason why is today's passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which includes two historic opportunities for our state. The first - and perhaps most unexpected, at the start of this year - is the opening of the 1002 Area within the non-wilderness portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Set aside by Congress in 1980, Alaskans never gave up on its incr… Continue Reading
12.13.17
Juneau Empire: Young says Arctic drilling is priority from tax bill; Murkowski wants quality
by James Brooks
Rep. Don Young is clear about what he wants from the Republican tax legislation being debated in Congress. "ANWR's the No. 1 thing," he told reporters during a press call last week. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she wants to see good legislation. "I want a good tax bill. I want a tax bill that really does provide for a level of equity and fairness and simplicity," she said Monday. Young are both members of the House-Senate conference committee that will meet Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washingto… Continue Reading
