Walker said the state government risks spending all of its savings if it denies there’s a problem and hopes for oil prices to rise.
Arctic
Newtok asks: Can the U.S. deal with slow-motion climate disasters?
Newtok is requesting a federal disaster declaration to deal with ongoing erosion and thawing permafrost. The village estimates it has just three years before it must be completely abandoned.
At hacking hearing, Sullivan steers clear of Russia
In the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has been a consistent voice warning about the Russian threat, particularly when it comes to Russia’s military build-up in the Arctic. At a hearing on cyber-hacking Thursday, Sullivan focused on hacking by other countries and didn’t discuss Russia at all.
Alaska’s congressional leaders renew push to allow ANWR drilling
U.S. Senators. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan have introduced a bill to open up a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling.
The feds are finally paying to move a village, but it’s not in Alaska
This year, for the first time, the federal government made tens of millions of dollars available to relocate a small Native village threatened by climate change. But that village is in Louisiana, not Alaska.
Obama bans future oil leases in much of Arctic, Atlantic
President Barack Obama has designated the bulk of U.S.-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing.
Obama brought attention to threatened Alaska villages, but little funding so far
President Obama went out of his way to highlight Alaska villages threatened by rapid erosion during his visit to the state last year. But as Obama prepares to leave office, most of those villages find themselves no closer to a solution.
Report: 2016 was Arctic’s warmest year on record, effects are cascading down into ecosystem
This year was 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than 1900. Also, water temperatures in the Arctic were 9 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the recent average.
Enviros ready for ANWR fight, with military vets in their camp
With Donald Trump about a month away from the White House, Alaska’s congressional delegation sees a chance to finally open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The environmental lobby is ready for the fight. And they’ve got some new, patriotic allies on their side: military veterans. Genevieve Chase served…
Scientists report Arctic is melting even more rapidly
Government scientists meeting in San Francisco have issued their 2016 report card for the Arctic. Temperatures continue to soar, and sea ice is melting at record rates.