Energy & Mining

The ways Sitka could and is being affected by climate change are numerous: the impact of warming oceans on the fishing industry, landslides, increased pest activity in the Tongass, more intense storms impacting utilities — the list could go on.

The state won 10-year oil leases for nine pieces of land by submitting the minimum offer: $25 an acre. But drilling for oil in the refuge is expensive, and it faces an aggressive opposition campaign.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s denied a permit for the proposed mine back in November. 

The road would stretch 211 miles from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District east of Kotzebue and would cross Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

One of the Trump administration’s biggest energy initiatives suffered a stunning setback Wednesday, as a decades-long push to drill for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ended with a lease sale that attracted just three bidders — one of which was the state of Alaska itself.

It’s a win for the Trump administration, which has pushed to lock in drilling in the refuge in its final weeks, before President-elect Joe Biden takes office and can try to stop it.

The reserve, the largest area of federally managed land in the U.S., is located west of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in an area containing large new oil discoveries, including ConocoPhillips’ Willow prospect.

With the first-ever oil lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just two days away, a federal judge in Anchorage will consider a request Monday to stop the Trump administration from issuing the oil leases.

The U.S. Congress has appropriated more than $3.6 million to monitor transboundary watersheds and for diplomatic efforts in cross-border negotiations with Canada.

It was a momentous year for people who have fought for and against the proposed Pebble Mine.