Ask a Climatologist: Chukchi Sea ice at record low
Ice in the Chukchi Sea is at a record low for this time of year, by a wide margin. Listen now
Oil lease sale for National Petroleum Reserve sees little interest
Nine hundred tracts, totaling more than 10 million acres, were up for bid. But at the annual lease sale held today, oil companies bid on only seven tracts. The sale lasted less than 10 minutes. Listen Now
A judge blocked a Trump plan for a controversial road through an Alaska wildlife refuge. Now the administration is appealing.
Lawyers for the Trump administration are appealing a decision by federal judge Sharon Gleason that blocked a land exchange that was supposed to lead to construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge on the Alaska Peninsula.
State fund for renewable power falls prey to budget woes
Since 2008, the state has set aside a pot of money for renewable energy projects like small dams and wind turbines. Called the Renewable Energy Fund, the projects it's backed have replaced tens of millions of gallons of expensive diesel in communities from Skagway to Nome. Listen now
For sale: A stake in an array of ConocoPhillips’ Alaska projects
On the block are old, new and unbuilt projects: the Kuparuk River Unit, which is Alaska’s second-largest oil-field; the newer Alpine unit to the west; and the undeveloped Willow prospect in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
Homer, state argue over gas assessments
The City of Homer wants the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to pay a little more than $26,000 in natural gas assessments for eight state-owned plots of land. DOT refuses. The city and DOT are negotiating a solution.
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Alaska gets millions of dollars from Volkswagen settlement
The state of Alaska is receiving over $8 million in settlement money after a top car company cheated on its federal emissions tests. Listen now
Developers of proposed Pebble Mine offer dividends to everyone in Bristol Bay, hotbed of mine opposition
Register now, the company says, and payments will begin with construction. "Shameless" says one leading opponent.
Walker wants to borrow money to pay $900 million in oil tax credits
The tax credits are scheduled to be paid off fully in 2025. Walker and the Department of Revenue are proposing paying them off by 2019 at a discount. Listen now
Legislature releases audit of Alaska’s gasline corporation
Auditors found that, generally, the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation has followed the restrictions placed on spending the $480 million it has gotten from the state over the last eight years.
Trans-Alaska pipeline operator increases oil flow, demand creeps back
Demand for oil is starting to creep back as the economy reopens, and oil producers globally have made major cutbacks to production.
Alaska’s pro-oil Republican governor is quietly pushing green energy projects too
Even as climate change threatens to impose steep costs in Alaska, Dunleavy is still promoting the state's oil industry.
But he says he's excited by the plummeting cost of renewable power sources, and their potential to bring down electricity prices and recruit more business to the state.
Oil industry prepares to fight to keep tax credits alive in 2017
When Governor Bill Walker released his state budget last week, the phrase “oil and gas tax credits” was notably absent from the announcement. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a hot topic this year.Lawmakers in the new House majority coalition say the current oil and gas tax credit structure is unsustainable, and they're working on a bill to change it. Listen Now
BlueCrest is latest company to stop work, citing state’s defunct cash-for-credits scheme
BlueCrest is the latest to fall victim to the now-defunct cashable credit program. It announced on August 1 that it couldn’t afford to keep drilling on the Kenai Peninsula and that it would be laying off about 150 people. Listen now
The man who translates climate change data for Alaskans is retiring. Here’s a Q&A
Alaska’s summer may have seemed cold. And it was, compared to the previous few. But it was actually still significantly warmer than the previous three decades. Rick Thoman, who’s retiring from his job as a federal climatologist, talks about how sometimes our brains can tell us different things than the data. Listen now
Walker admin says Corps moving too fast on Pebble
The proposed gold and copper mine would sit upstream from Bristol Bay. Gov. Bill Walker has said he doesn’t support the mine and believes the priority should be on the region’s salmon.
Video: Can we harness the power of Cook Inlet?
Cook Inlet has some of the most dramatic tidal shifts on the planet. From scientists to startups, many have speculated how this fast-flowing water could be harnessed to produce electricity. Professor Tom Ravens (University of Alaska Anchorage) and Chris Rose (Renewable Energy Project Alaska) discuss the potential and challenges of tapping hydro-kinetic energy.
Murkowski asks for longer Pebble comment period
The current 90-day public comment period ends on May 30. The senator wants the Army Corps of Engineers to give the public an additional 30 days to weigh in.
Arctic Energy Summit focuses on both fossil fuels and renewables
Representatives from across the circumpolar North are meeting this week in Fairbanks for the Arctic Energy Summit.
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Unalaska is researching whether it can use wind power
V3 Energy consultant Doug Vaught anchors a MET tower on Unalaska's Hog Island, with help from environmental planner Kate Arduser. The city is using...