Alaska's Energy Desk

Alaska’s Energy Desk is a collaboration between KTOO-FM in Juneau, Alaska Public Media in Anchorage, KUCB in Unalaska, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks, KBRW in Utqiaġvik and KYUK in Bethel. Each week we produce in-depth coverage of energy issues in Alaska for radio, video and web. From the state budget to personal energy use, resource development to Arctic life, we cover how energy issues impact Alaskan lives and landscapes. Alaska’s Energy Desk is a Regional Journalism Collaboration, launched in 2016 with a supporting grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Workers hopeful as Agrium takes steps to reopen its Kenai Peninsula plant

The Agrium natural gas-to-fertilizer plant in Nikiski has been taking steps to reopen. If it does, it could add hundreds of high-paying jobs to the struggling Kenai Peninsula economy. Listen Now

Stranded seal gets first-class rescue in Unalaska

Most of the time, a seal in Unalaska doesn’t attract too much attention, but a ringed seal is a different story. The marine mammals live near ice and typically are found further north. When a sick ringed seal appeared and then vanished last week, the community united to find it. Listen now

Ask a Climatologist: In Alaska, wildfire season can go from mild to severe in an instant

Wildfire season is off to a slow start in Alaska. But that could change very quickly. That’s because predicting how severe a wildfire season will be in the state is so tricky. Alaska’s Energy Desk is checking in with climatologist Brian Brettschneider each week as part of the segment, Ask a Climatologist. Brettschneider says over the entire season, which runs through the end of July, no wildfire forecast is useful for Alaska.

Climate change roundtable puts Alaska contradictions on full display

Representatives from the oil and gas and mining industries joined environmentalists and local community leaders to spitball solutions. Listen now

Ask a Climatologist: What is polar amplification?

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Brettschneider says it’s a phenomenon called polar amplification. Listen now

Feds take key step toward approving another Conoco development in NPR-A

If it goes forward, the project would be ConocoPhillips's third oil development inside the boundaries of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Listen now

Conoco’s big plans for NPR-A are getting even bigger

Conoco thinks it's sitting on so much oil that the company is considering building a major new project in the Reserve, a processing facility. Listen now

Hundreds of dying seabirds found in Bering and Chukchi seas

Since May, hundreds of dead and dying seabirds have been found across the northern Bering and southern Chukchi Seas. Listen now

This woman came all the way to Alaska from the Pacific Islands to talk climate change

Climate change is threatening remote Alaska villages. It’s also hitting other low-lying places around the world, from Bangladesh to the Pacific Islands. Local leaders from those places are at a conference in Girdwood this week. Listen now

ANWR drilling foes see chance to sow doubt

What can opponents of drilling in the Arctic Refuge expect to accomplish with control of just one chamber of Congress? Momentum.

Interior delays public comment deadline for ANWR oil leasing

The Interior department is giving the public an additional month to weigh in on its controversial plans to allow oil leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Dunleavy fires head of state oil and gas watchdog agency

In a letter sent Tuesday, the governor informed Hollis French he is "immediately" being removed from his position as chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Rocks (ore) separated by wooden planks

Donlin Gold to begin drilling program

It’s going to be a busy year for Donlin Gold. The company is gearing up for another round of geotechnical drilling, its first in two years.

Can the youth climate lawsuit go to trial? A federal appeals court will rule.

“The courts’ view of it is that the case is unusual enough and novel enough that it would be wise to resolve some of the legal uncertainty before trial rather than after,” said environmental law professor Sean Hecht.

BP’s Alaska exit no surprise, say experts and industry insiders

BP's exit from Alaska was rumored long before it was officially announced on Tuesday. But that's not the only reason the company's $5.6 billion deal with Hilcorp is far from surprising, experts and industry insiders said.
A silver sign that says "The Pebble Partnership"

Pebble’s owner reports growing deficit and doubts about its future. Again.

A spokesman says Pebble remains confident. The parent company says it's lost $40 million so far this year, and has a deficit over $400 million.

Yellow cedar is dying. Can Southeast Alaska sawmills profit?

A recent study explores the business potential of salvage logging, or harvesting trees that are already dead.

Why does a barrel of Alaska oil cost less than a pizza?

Economists at the state’s Department of Revenue were working to identify what drove the price down and what they could expect going forward.

DNR to complete its review of BP sale this week

DNR Commissioner Corri Feige says that will allow the companies to close a piece of their deal by June 30th.
Reasearchers on some spotty sea ice

Once again, Arctic Report Card says abnormal the new normal

The 2020 Arctic Report Card is out, and results show life in the Arctic is heating up — faster. This year was the Arctic's second-warmest on record, affecting everything from plankton to people.