Alaska
Gov. Dunleavy and administration officials applaud Trump’s Alaska policies • Alaska Beacon
Gov. Mike Dunleavy and several top officials from his administration on Wednesday celebrated new executive orders issued by President Donald Trump that remove restrictions on resource extraction in Alaska.
Trump’s return to the White House means a promise for oil drilling in the Arctic, logging in Southeast Alaska and mining and other resource extraction around the state, the governor and his administration’s officials said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“From my perspective, this is ‘Happy Days are Here Again,’ to be honest with you,” Dunleavy said. “This is like wrapping a gigantic sled of Christmas presents for the state of Alaska.”
While Dunleavy and other officials heaped praise on Trump, whom the governor called a “force of nature in the White House,” they heaped scorn on former President Joe Biden and his administration.
“Jan. 20 really marked the cessation of the Biden administration’s war against Alaska. So It’s wonderful to be here basking in the light of morning in America, as we actually have a federal government that instead of treating us like a fief, is going to treat us as equal partners,” said John Boyle, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. “And actually work to promote jobs and investment and opportunities in the state, versus lobbing one inimical policy after another in their quixotic quest, I guess, to turn Alaska into an open-air museum.”
Similar scorn was expressed about environmentalists. “That we don’t have these wine-and-cheese-eating environmentalists in Seattle or San Francisco or some other terrible city that wants to impose their agenda on us is a good thing,” Boyle said.
Randy Ruaro, executive director of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, predicted a flurry of oil activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain.
New lease sales authorized by Trump will likely have a better industry response than did the lease sales held in 2021, where AIDEA was the main bidder, and earlier this month, in which there were no bidders, Ruaro said.
AIDEA, a state-owned development corporation, had the leases it bought in 2021 “illegally cancelled and stopped,” he said. Those leases could hold 3 billion to 4 billion barrels of oil, and Trump’s executive order reinstates them, he said.
As for the lack of response to the last lease sale, he blamed the Biden administration’s environmental conditions. “Terms and conditions were just too onerous. You couldn’t develop under those terms,” he said.
Boyle said there will also be more development in the National Petroleum Reserve, on the western side of the North Slope.
Trump reversing Biden policies, including recent policy calls made by the administration, “as they kind of slithered out the door, is going to be particularly important for us” to increase energy development and production, Boyle said.
Boyle conceded that the Biden administration had approved the giant Willow oil project being developed by ConocoPhillips in the reserve. But that administration put too many conditions on the development, hurdles that are now removed, he said. The mineral resources that provide the oil to be developed at Willow extends farther across the reserve, he said. “There’s going to be multiple Willows that are available to develop in the NPR-A.”
The Ambler Access Project being sponsored by AIDEA is another development project that has new life in the Trump administration. The project, which AIDEA proposes to fund, would put a road stretching about 200 miles into the Brooks Range foothills to provide access to an isolated mining district dominated by copper reserves.
The Biden administration “illegally stopped” AIDEA’s right to continue that project, Ruaro said. “We look forward to, probably the end of March, reengaging with a number of entities engaging in that project,” Ruaro said, listing some supportive tribal governments. “We’re all happy that we’re going to get a chance to move ahead and build some projects that’ll help Alaskans.”
The project is controversial. Though embraced by Alaska politicians and the mining industry, it is opposed by a coalition of tribal governments, environmentalists, sport hunters, some Native corporations and some budget hawks who do not want state money spent on it. The Biden administration in June officially rejected the project as proposed by AIDEA.
Boyle hailed the Trump order rescinding protections for roadless areas in the Tongass National Forest, saying it will allow logging to resume in the largest U.S. national forest.
“The federal government has done everything that they could under the Biden administration and before that, under the Obama administration and so on, to stop any kind of timber harvest in the Tongass National Forest. In my mind, this was the grossest mismanagement of a federal asset that I can imagine.” Boyle said.
Some other policies for which Trump has reversed Biden administration positions concern hunting in national park units, state control over waterways and the way fish are harvested in them, and broad land-management plans, the officials said.
Not included in Trump’s actions is anything that would restart development of the Pebble mine, the controversial copper project in the Bristol Bay region that was stopped through action by the Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency. But Dunleavy, who supports Pebble’s development, said he plans to raise that issue with Trump.
Legal challenges expected
Both Dunleavy and Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor predicted legal challenges to the new Trump policies.
“There’s going to be a lot of forces and a lot of lawyers making a lot of money trying to stop some of these things that the president wants,” Dunleavy said.
“If this were a military engagement, Alaska just received very capable and powerful reinforcement of fresh troops. But the battle will still rage on,” Taylor said.
Environmental groups are already gearing up for legal fights.
In a statement issued Monday, the environmental law firm Earthjustice listed ways that some of the Trump executive actions affect its Alaska clients, who include tribal members and fishers and hunters.
“The Trump administration’s agenda for Alaska would destroy valuable habitats and subsistence hunting and fishing grounds while furthering the climate crisis. Earthjustice and its clients will not stand idly by while Trump once again forces a harmful industry-driven agenda on our state for political gain and the benefit of a wealthy few,” Carole Holley, Earthjustice’s managing attorney in Alaska, said in the statement.
At the news conference, Dunleavy demurred when asked about some of Trump’s actions.
He declined to take a public position on Trump stripping the Denali name from North America’s tallest peak, reverting to the Mount McKinley name.
Denali has been the state’s official name for the peak for half a century.
He will probably travel back to Washington in February, and then he will “be able to have the discussion about the mountain, what the mountain means to Alaskans and Americans, what the mountain means in terms of its name Denali to our Native folks, and just have that conversation with him,” he said.
“Until I have the conversation, I’m going to refrain from saying what it should be or shouldn’t be. But right now, the name is Denali,” he said.
Dunleavy said he did not know enough about Trump’s action halting federal support of wind energy projects, both offshore and onshore, to comment. Wind energy is important in Alaska, particularly in isolated rural areas.
“We’re all digesting what’s just occurred. I will have to see if that’s impacting all wind projects. That would be tough on places like Texas and Iowa, which produce a tremendous amount of wind, if it’s all wind projects,” he said. Alaska currently does not have offshore wind energy projects.
He also declined to comment on Trump’s order that seeks to halt spending under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Both pieces of legislation have funneled large amounts of money to Alaska for projects like water and sewer service in rural areas, where some communities lack piped water, and broadband access. As of early 2024, the infrastructure law had provided $7.2 billion to the state, according to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
Two US soldiers were wounded by a brown bear during a training exercise in Alaska on Thursday, the US Army stated.
Anchorage Daily News reported that the soldiers were from the 11th Airborne Division, and that the exercise had been a “land navigation training event” near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
State wildlife officials said that the bear attack seemed to be a defensive one, from a bear which had recently emerged from its den. Staff members from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game collected evidence at the scene in an attempt to learn more about the bear, such as its species and gender.
“The incident is currently under investigation, and we are working closely with installation authorities and local wildlife officials to gather all relevant information and ensure the safety of all personnel in the area,” the 11th Airborne Division said in a statement, reported ABC News.
ABC News also cited an 11th Airborne Division spokesperson, Lt.-Col. Jo Nederhoed, who said that the two soldiers had been seriously wounded, but were receiving care at a hospital in Anchorage, and had shown improvement by Saturday morning.
“We hope both individuals have a full and quick recovery, and our thoughts are with them during this time,” Fish and Game Regional Supervisor Cyndi Wardlow said in a statement reported by Anchorage Daily News. “In this case, having bear spray with them in the field may have saved their lives.”
Both of the soldiers reportedly had and used bear spray during the attack.
The bear’s condition and whereabouts are currently unknown.
Up, up and away … that’s where most travel prices are going.
It’s true. Not only are our nation’s geopolitical thrusts in the Mideast affecting the cost of your fill-ups, every component of your trip from airfares to car rentals and hotel stays are subject to price hikes.
Imagine filling up a jetliner with jet fuel that’s doubled in price. It’s enough to melt your credit card, regardless of the number of points you get for every dollar spent!
Because the price of oil affects everything, higher prices are eating away at your travel budget in many ways.
Bag fees
There’s lots of press on this. All airlines are increasing their checked-bag fees because of the jump in fuel prices.
Back in 2009, Alaska Airlines instituted a $15 fee for the first checked bag and $25 for the second bag. At the time, there was no charge for the first bag and a second bag was $25.
Last week, Alaska Airlines, along with other major airlines, increased its fees to $45 for the first checked bag and $55 for the second bag. Delta Air Lines charges the same.
Even if the cost of oil comes down, I don’t expect bag fees will ever be reduced.
Travelers who live in Alaska are somewhat insulated from the new hikes because both Delta and Alaska Airlines offer two free checked bags, with conditions:
1. Alaska offers two free checked bags for travelers flying to or from Alaska who are enrolled in Club 49. This does not affect other flights on Alaska. Separately, ATMOS credit card holders can get a free checked bag. Also, elite members of the ATMOS scheme get one or two free checked bags systemwide.
2. Delta offers two free checked bags for travelers flying to or from Alaska who are SkyMiles members who live in Alaska. Again, this does not apply to other Delta flights. Separately, Delta American Express cardholders can get a free checked bag.
3. Elite-level travelers with the oneworld airline cartel, including Alaska Airlines, can get one or two checked bags on American, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Qantas or other oneworld carriers.
[Anchorage’s international airport rolls out self-driving wheelchairs]
Main Cabin vs. Basic Economy
The spread between the lowest available price, Basic Economy, and a more flexible ticket, Main Cabin, has increased. While the difference used to be $20-$30 each way when the Basic Economy scheme was introduced in 2018, the round-trip upcharge now can exceed $100.
For example, the lowest Basic fare to Portland is $337 round-trip on Alaska Airlines. The upcharge to Main Cabin, with full loyalty points, pre-assigned seats and more flexibility on changes and cancellations, is $447, a 33% upcharge.
This trend is not specifically attributable to the new Iran War. It’s just a cost that continues to rise.
New fees
I’m impressed at the creativity of airline people who dream up new fees. Here are some of my favorites from Alaska Airlines:
1. Phone reservations: $15
2. Partner award booking fee: $12.50
3. Pet travel fee: $100 in the cabin, $200 in the baggage compartment with a kennel
4. Left on board item return fee: $20
On Condor Airlines, operating the only nonstop service from Anchorage to Europe, travelers can choose from four different bundles in economy class. The least-expensive, Economy Zero, from $840 round-trip, features fees for travelers:
1. Carry-on bag fee, up to 8kg: $35; a small bag like a purse always is included for free
2. Checked bag: $75
3. Airport check-in: $30
All three of these fees are included in the next-highest fare bucket, Economy Classic, from $900 round-trip. It’s cheaper to buy the bundle than it is to buy the components a la carte. Seat assignments are additional, from $25 for economy.
Airfares on the rise
There are a few good deals available for travel to select West Coast/Intermountain destinations in May, including:
1. Anchorage-San Francisco on Alaska Airlines, from $307 round-trip. Fly May 15-28 only. Add $90 round-trip for Main cabin.
2. Anchorage-Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines, from $317 round-trip. May 15-25 only. Add $90 round-trip for Main.
3. Anchorage-Phoenix on United, Delta or Alaska, from $267-$287 round-trip. Fly May 8-June 9 only. Add $90-$100 for Main.
4. Anchorage-Denver $357 round-trip on Delta. Fly May 8-June 9 only. Add $90 round-trip for Main.
For travel to other destinations, or later in the summer, be prepared to pay more.
Flying to Hawaii? Alaska Air’s nonstop prices out at $706 round-trip between May 30 and June 6. Add $110 round-trip for Main.
Nonstop flights from Anchorage to Salt Lake City start at $669 round-trip with Delta on May 17. That’s $100 more than the cost for the same flights last month. Add $90 more for Main.
Hotel costs continue to rise, accompanied by pesky resort fees.
The Outrigger on the Beach in Waikiki is a very nice beachfront hotel. It’s not plush, or the nicest property. But it’s solid. The cost is $334 per night.
But there’s more: a $50 per night resort fee, plus a variety of taxes and charges, totaling $112.55 per night.
Down in Seattle, the Sound Hotel in the Belltown neighborhood is marketed by Hilton. The discounted rate for “Honors” members — it’s free to join — is $313.34 per night for a king room in late May. Taxes and fees add an extra $56.40 per night.
There’s no appreciable bump yet for hotel rates as a result of the oil price surge. Yet. But if these hotel rates seem high, they’re in line with hotel rates in Anchorage this summer. At the Sheraton in Anchorage in June, it’s $450 per night, plus $54 in taxes and fees, when booked at Expedia.
Car rentals are not cheap
My go-to site for car rentals is the Costco site, which compares major brands and automatically includes Costco discounts.
In Las Vegas, for a one-day rental in May, Budget charges $67 per day, which includes taxes and fees of $22.77. In Anchorage, the same kind of car, medium SUV, costs $92.97 with Alamo.
The biggest differences so far in car rental rates seems to be the bill you’ll pay when you fill up the tank before returning. There’s no appreciable jump in prices because of the new war.
When it comes to making travel arrangements for the spring and summer, it’s more risky making completely non-refundable arrangements.
I made the decision to purchase most of my summer travel plans in advance, but only after determining I would not need to change the dates. Particularly with airline tickets, it’s expensive to change your dates.
There’s lots of uncertainty regarding travel arrangements, particularly international travel. As fuel prices go up due to oil shortages, travel companies will look for ways to recoup the increased costs. In most cases, those higher costs will be borne by travelers.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has led to a decrease in oil prices nationally, but Alaska’s senior senator said the state faces a different situation that could threaten rural communities.
“If you can’t produce power because you don’t have the diesel or you just can’t pay the prices, your little communities can collapse,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said at a Friday press conference at the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage.
The price of oil has been a double-edged sword for Alaska. On one hand, the increased price of North Slope oil brings more revenue to the state, but consumer prices can also rise.
North Slope oil prices were $106.36 a barrel on Thursday.
“This is a very precarious time,” Murkowski said. “Our state has enjoyed a bounty because we have benefited from the higher prices of oil that goes into our treasury, but it’s the Alaskans in … the off-road communities that are threatened to be hit most hard.”
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