Articles & Op-eds
Federal bill gives edge to Alaska gas pipeline
by Rena Delbridge
FAIRBANKS - The potential of super-low-interest federal loans and increased guarantees might lend greater appeal to proposals to build a large-diameter natural gas pipeline linking Alaska's North Slope resources and markets in Canada and the Lower 48. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced several provisions benefiting an Alaska gas pipeline that she's secured in a comprehensive energy bill in Washington, D.C. She's the ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by… Continue Reading
06.06.09
Murkowski optimistic on Alaska gas piplene progress
by Erika Bolstad
WASHINGTON -- Alaska's proposed natural gas pipeline has the support of the White House and plenty of congressionally sponsored incentives that will grease it through the federal regulatory process, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. So now isn't the time to get sidetracked by "finger-pointing," Murkowski said, referring to an emerging rift among Gov. Sarah Palin, her colleague Sen. Mark Begich and her father, former Gov. Frank Murkowski. Over the past week, Begich complained … Continue Reading
06.04.09
Ratification of the ‘Law of the Sea’ treaty would redraw the maps
by Adrian Lysenko
BARROW, Alaska- The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420 ft. icebreaker homeported in Seattle, Wash., breaks ice in support of scientific research in the Arctic Ocean. The Healy is mid-way through a four month deployment. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Prentice Danner. Alaskans are living in a time period to see one of the last redrawings of the world maps, when "more is known about the surface of Mars than about the Arctic Ocean's deep." That quote came from Scott G. Borgerson,… Continue Reading
06.03.09
Federal report says villages need better help in relocating
by Erika Bolstad
LEAD: Single federal office should direct moves to escape floods, erosion. WASHINGTON -- The federal government could be doing more to help relocate Alaska Native communities whose vulnerability to erosion and flooding has only worsened with global warming, concludes a report from the Government Accountability Office. Congress should designate a lead federal agency to work with the state of Alaska, the report found, saying that a lack of agency leadership "has emerged as an impedime… Continue Reading
06.03.09
The limping legislator
by Daniel LIbit
Since hurtling 300 feet down a ski slope at Alaska's Alyeska Resort in March, Lisa Murkowski has been limping around Capitol Hill. It's been a complete pain in the neck - well, the knee - but the senator has come to notice a distinct upside to wielding crutches in Congress. "It definitely creates conversation with members I wouldn't typically have interactions with," says the Alaska Republican. "They will come up to me and ask me how I am." A few weeks ago, en route from the Senate cha… Continue Reading
06.03.09
Young lashes out at Congress over missile defense
by Jason Lamb
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Rep. Don Young took his colleagues to task Tuesday for proposed cuts to the Missile Defense Agency at the same time North Korea appears to be preparing to test launch a long-range missile that could strike Alaska. Young's admonition came a day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates toured missile silos at Fort Greely and defended his move not to add any more interceptor missiles there. "I just hope that we're not caught, pardon the pun, with our pants down… Continue Reading
06.01.09
Murkowski Walks Delicate Line as Ranking Member
by Geof Koss
In the summer of 2007, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined a small group of Senators to sponsor a cap-and-trade bill that aimed to find middle ground in the increasingly heated debate over global warming. Spearheaded by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and then-Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the Low Carbon Economy Act represented a good-faith effort by moderates from both parties to reduce emissions without sacrificing economic growth. The group won praise for its work, but the Senate's … Continue Reading
06.01.09
Murkowski calls for more support of nuclear energy
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski is asking President Barack Obama to back up his claims that he supports nuclear energy. Murkowski made the comments on the Senate floor Monday, urging the administration to expand the role of nuclear energy in the nation's energy strategy. While Obama has said in the past he supports nuclear energy, he's also said the United States must not increase its reliance on nuclear energy until national security and nuclear waste disposal have been adequat… Continue Reading
05.31.09
EDITORIAL: A study in fixing nursing shortage
Much of the debate about the nation's health care has centered on costs. But there's another fundamental question that's received far less attention: Who will provide care to an aging population in the years ahead? A report released last year by Dr. Peter Buerhaus and other researchers found that the nation could fall short by as many as 500,000 nurses in the next 16 years, in part because age will thin the current ranks of caregivers. To meet the demand, the Council on Physician and Nur… Continue Reading
05.31.09
Senate committee probes finances of Alaska Native corporations
by Betty Mills
WASHINGTON - Leaders of 20 Alaska Native corporations spent last week scrambling to gather financial information for a Senate subcommittee that is probing their participation in a federal contracting program. The Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight scheduled a hearing for July 16 on federal contracts awarded to Alaska Native corporations under a program administered by the Small Business Administration. At issue is the participation of Alaska Native corporations in the agency's … Continue Reading
05.30.09
EDITORIAL: Suicide prevention
How best to push back the darkness, let in the light? No one is sure why Alaska's suicide rate has risen for four straight years and is the nation's highest. Alaska can round up the usual suspects -- alcohol and drug abuse, hopelessness, isolation, poverty, wretched family lives, lack of opportunity, sexual abuse, biological factors, culture, history, racism -- but we still won't have all the answers. We do have some answers, however. And as Susan Soule, mental health consultant and former d… Continue Reading
05.29.09
Murkowski concerned about Fairbanks air traffic control staff, sent letter to FAA
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski is expressing her concern about reduced air traffic control staff in Fairbanks. Murkowski sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration Friday saying reduced personnel at the Fairbanks tower may be dangerous to aviation traffic in Fairbanks. The FAA recently cut back on air traffic control staff in Fairbanks including the terminal radar approach control. The regional radar center in Anchorage now handles the midnight shift. Murkowsk… Continue Reading
05.26.09
EDITORIAL: Sound Protection
Alaska's congressional delegation introduced legislation earlier this month to maintain an essential component of the system that keeps Prince William Sound safe from another oil spill like the one that erupted from the Exxon Valdez tanker 20 years ago. In the spring of 1989, this newspaper and those across the nation featured daily portraits of the liquid devastation sloshing around the sound and smearing its way westward down Alaska's coastline. The crude oil badly oiled beaches as far dis… Continue Reading
05.18.09
Alaska Could Lead The Nation In Renewable Energy
by Christina Grande
An energy conference is going on in downtown Anchorage about how to make Alaska more energy efficient and using the state as one of the worlds leaders for renewable energy. Renewable Energy Alaska project is hosting a two day Business of Clean Energy in Alaska conference at the Dena'ina Center. One local alternative energy supplier lives by his motto, "I run a complete homestead on solar and wind and I have been for many years," says Kirk Garoutte, owner of Susitna Energy Systems… Continue Reading
05.17.09
Interior Alaska coal-to-diesel plant faces setback
by By Rena Delbridge
FAIRBANKS - Local officials hoping to build a coal-to-diesel plant near Eielson Air Force Base are up against the wall trying to coordinate with the military and could be out $10 million in federal funds anticipated to move the planning into a second phase. But U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said a top Air Force official told her the military will work with Fairbanks officials about concerns that the joint endeavor is off track. At a Senate subcommittee hearing last week, Murkowski raised the … Continue Reading
05.17.09
Coal-to-diesel plant faces problems
Fairbanks officials are hoping to build a coal-to-diesel plant near Eielson Air Force Base. However, obstacles are mounting in trying to coordinate with the military to the point that officials now fear a $10 million federal earmark to move the project along won't be well-spent. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said a top Air Force official has told her the military will work with Fairbanks officials about concerns that the joint endeavor is off track. The senator raised her concerns at a Senate… Continue Reading
05.16.09
Two-tug tanker escort could become federal law
The Alaska congressional delegation said it is pushing legislation that would require loaded oil tankers to be escorted by at least two vessels that can tow them away from trouble as they sail through Prince William Sound. Congress authorized the current escort rules in 1990 as part of the reforms written after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Sound a year earlier. The Exxon Valdez had just a single hull. Congress required that single-hull tankers get the escort tugs. Another reform was to … Continue Reading
05.14.09
Future teachers group chats with Murkowski
by Kayla Jeffress
Sixteen Future Teachers of Alaska students from the Barrow school system held a teleconference with Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski on April 28. Fifth-graders from Ipalook Elementary School, eighth-graders from Eben Hopson Middle School, and 11th- and 12th-graders from Barrow High School called in with their advisers and Martha Stackhouse, program director from Ilisagvik College. The Future Teachers of Alaska program is a cooperative effort between Ilisagvik College and the North Slope Borou… Continue Reading
05.14.09
Murkowski, Begich team up on tanker escort bill
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate on Thursday that would require every oil tanker leaving the Valdez Marine Terminal to be escorted out of Prince William Sound by two response tugboats. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. currently provides the two-tug service, but some watchdog groups fear the industry may attempt to lower that to one tug in an effort to save money in the future. Alyeska provides the two-tug escorts because its respo… Continue Reading
05.14.09
Politicians push for mandatory escort of oil tankers
The Alaska congressional delegation says it is pushing legislation that would require loaded oil tankers to be escorted by at least two vessels that can tow them away from trouble as they sail through Prince William Sound. Congress authorized the current escort rules in 1990 as part of the reforms written after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Sound a year earlier. The Exxon Valdez had just a single hull. Congress required that single-hull tankers get the escort tugs. Another reform was to … Continue Reading
