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Current Topics
Despite
soaring demand, Enstar says natural gas supply is sufficient. Alaska public Media
Enstar
pulled almost three times as much natural gas from storage as
initially anticipated in December, when unseasonably
cold temperatures moved into the region, but said
it's confident the supply is sufficient to serve its more than 150,000 customers.
Alaska
offers free rocks and dirt, helping big state-backed construction
projects. Alaska Beacon
The state of Alaska is
preparing to give away millions of dollars worth of gravel to public
corporations, a move that would amount to millions of dollars in
assistance to some of the state’s biggest construction projects.
According to a Q&A posted by the Alaska Department of Natural
Resources, the beneficiaries could include the proposed Ambler Access
Project and the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. If
the state of Alaska provides that gravel for free, it would be a
revenue loss of between $45 million and $66 million for construction
alone.
Hundreds
warned to evacuate in downtown Juneau amid high avalanche risk. Alaska Beacon
“If you live in a slide path
it’s time to grab your go bag and get out of your house and make
other arrangements until the hazard has cleared,” he said at a news
conference on Zoom that began late Friday morning. O’Shaughnessy
pointed residents to an
interactive map of avalanche zones in downtown Juneau.
Things That I Found Interesting
Why
Firefighters Have Greater Cancer Risk — and What Departments Are
Doing About It. Governing
Plastic has crept into
everything from furniture to building materials, and when it burns,
the chemicals are dangerous to breathe. Sooty helmets were once a
badge of honor. But research shows firefighters absorb carcinogenic
particles through their skin from soot and dirty gear. Carefully
cleaning suits and quickly showering are important health steps.
Manufacturers are starting to remove PFAS from firefighters’
protective suits, though replacing the older-style gear comes with a
big price tag for fire departments.
Arctic
Russia
and Chine co-operating more often and more in the Arctic, says NORAD
commander. CBC News
There's been a subtle but
significant shift in what NORAD has been seeing over the last year
when it comes to mostly Russian — but also Chinese — activity in the
Arctic, says the top commander of the North American Aerospace
Defence Command (NORAD). U.S. Gen. Gregory Guillot tells CBC News
that air and sea incursions into the zones just outside North America
have not only become more frequent, but also more
co-ordinated. "Sometimes we'll have — instead of a ship —
there might be four or five ships at the same time operating in
various parts of the Arctic Ocean down into the Bering area,"
Guillot said. And then a few hours later, he said, there will be an
air incursion in a different part of the region.
Greenland
official calls it ‘unfathomable’ that the US is considering taking
over the island - Anchorage Daily News
In perhaps their sharpest
pushback to date, Denmark and Greenland’s prime ministers underscored
that the territory is part of Denmark, and thus covered by the
umbrella of the NATO military alliance. A U.S. attempt to take over
or force the secession of the massive island would tear apart the
transatlantic alliance, which has been a linchpin of post-World War
II security.
Murkowski
helps introduce bill to block U.S. takeover of Greenland. Alaska News Source
Sen. Lisa
Murkowski, R-Alaska, is moving to block any U.S. effort to seize or
force control of Greenland, warning that such actions would shatter
NATO unity, alienate key allies and hand strategic victories to
Russia and China.
Economy
New
sign of labor market angst. Axios
Americans' outlook on
employment darkened last month: Job-finding expectations fell to
the lowest level on record. Survey participants' average response on
the odds that they could land a new gig within three months in the
event they are laid off fell 4 percentage points, to 43%, in
December, according to the New York Fed's survey
of consumer expectations — the lowest in its 13-year history. The drop
was driven by survey respondents whose annual incomes were less than
$100,000, with pessimism most pronounced for workers over 60 and
those with a high school degree or less.
Trump's
housing affordability bid: How it could impact investors. Axios
Right now, there's a lack
of affordable housing. Increasing MBS purchases in an effort to
lower rates could shave 10 to 15 basis points off a mortgage,
according to strategists, but in return, there could be a swell of
demand from buyers who are eager for lower rates. That demand
swell could in turn lead to higher prices. The U.K. offers a
cautionary tale: Efforts to make mortgages cheaper for first-time
buyers there fueled demand, which inflated prices, leaving
affordability worse
off.
Charted:
Independent muscle. Axios
A record 45% of
American adults identified as independents last year — an
increase driven by millennials and Gen Z.
Education
Opinion:
The education numbers the governor does not talk about. ADN
Here are six results his
education policies overlook.
Energy
Nuke
industry pushes overhaul of Reagan-era law. Axios
Nuclear industry officials
implored Congress yesterday to overhaul the 44-year-old law
governing radioactive waste disposal if it's serious about helping
the burgeoning industry.
(My comment: France has been
recycling and reusing spent nuclear fuel for a long time. No issues.)
In
2025, U.S. natural gas spot prices increased from 2024. EIA
In the Northwest, the annual
average natural gas spot price at Northwest Sumas fell by $0.24/MMBtu
in 2025 as ample natural gas supply from Canada coincided with less
demand for natural gas-fired electricity in the Pacific Northwest
region. Natural gas production in Western Canada set record
highs last
year, led by the Montney, a shale basin in British Columbia and
Alberta.
Connecting
Donlin Gold to Alaska LNG. Mining News North
By leveraging the
infrastructure, expertise, and labor force that Glenfarne would
assemble to build the Alaska LNG pipeline, the collaboration could
lower costs and accelerate the timeline for constructing what would
effectively be a spur line to the Donlin project. Glenfarne's
involvement could also facilitate future delivery of energy to
communities and projects across Southwest Alaska.
Alaska
antimony supply chain growing pains. Mining News North
While pinning America's
antimony supply hopes on the high-grade occurrences across the 49th
state is not without merit, Alaska's emerging antimony mining and
refining sector enters 2026 facing the challenges that accompany
rapid growth in a regulatory and social licensing environment not
built for speed.
Hilcorp
chairman: We're going to Venezuela. Northern Journal
Hildebrand,
a billionaire who donated more than $4 million to Trump and Trump
groups over a couple of years, was there to shower compliments on Trump. He
said that Trump, who
recently appointed Hildebrand’s wife as ambassador to Costa Rica, a job she began this week, is a tremendous leader.
“And finally Hilcorp is fully committed and ready to go to rebuilding
the infrastructure in Venezuela,” Hildebrand said.
Short-term
energy outlook. EIA
(My comment: Lower price
point for oil means great things for consumers - lower cost for
heating oil (rural Alaska) and gasoline at the pump. It means lower
revenue for State treasury. Fortunately the State’s reliance on oil
revenue has decreased over the last 5 years to less than 30% now. Our
revenue comes from the Permanent Fund, created by Alaskan voters in
1976, and saving oil money, not spending it for themselves. Most of
those Alaskans have died or are pretty old now. They deserve our
thanks.)
Southcentral
Alaska utilities move to expand gas storage, an insurance policy for
severe cold and a bank for imports. ADN
The shift to more gas storage
adds to the evolving role of the Cook Inlet basin, where once-mighty
gas production has waned over the decades, requiring utilities to
increasingly look at storage to help meet demand.
Politics
Alaska
judges will soon be bound by tighter ethics rules under a rewrite of
court standards. Alaska Beacon
The changes, which stretch
for dozens of dense, jargon-filled pages, prescribe things like what a judge can ethically
do during an election, how to respond if someone’s life might be
endangered by secrecy and even what happens if an attorney is drunk
in the courtroom.
In
US Supreme Court case over which absentee ballots count, Alaska
doesn't pick a side. ADN
The Alaska brief was filed by
Jenna Lorence, the first Alaska solicitor general after Attorney
General Stephen Cox created the role and appointed the Indiana attorney
in October to fill it. The 14-page brief says it does
not support either party in the case. The state’s impartiality
drew criticism from an elections attorney, Scott Kendall, one of the
main architects of the state’s ranked choice voting and open primary
system. “If you’re going to file something, take a position in favor
of Alaska’s laws because they’re there for a very good reason,”
Kendall said.
(My comment: An Indiana
attorney is representing Alaska’s position. Appointed by a new AG who
just arrived. Its hard to identify which of those two facts are the
most disturbing.)
1
big thing: Trump's limitless view of power. Axios
The Donroe Doctrine doesn't
necessarily stop at adversaries, as the unfolding crisis over
Greenland shows. Dangling the threat of military force, Trump and his
team are openly discussing what a "purchase" or transfer of
control would look like — an idea that has deeply
unsettled Denmark and NATO.
1
big thing: The Powell pushback is working. Axios
There are plenty of
complaints to be made about the Fed's policy decisions and the
secretive way it makes them. But at the end of the day, there's a
deep cross-partisan consensus that you want skilled technocrats in
charge of the nation's money supply rather than overt politicization.
(My comment: I would love to
see politicization of our own Permanent Fund Board go away by
requiring skilled financial experts in those board seats.)
Anchorage
mayor asks Assembly to set aside sales tax proposal in favor of plan
to help fund schools. ADN
Anchorage Mayor Suzanne
LaFrance on Monday announced a proposal to place a one-time, $12
million levy for the Anchorage School District on the April municipal
ballot. In doing so, she asked the Assembly to set aside other
revenue measures indefinitely, including her own 3% sales tax
proposal, “for the time being.”
US
Supreme Court rejects state petition to take up fight over Alaska
subsistence. ADN
The U.S. Supreme Court has
declined to review a lower court’s decision in a case involving
subsistence fishing in Alaska, a decision that keeps in place a
unique federal protection viewed as critical by Alaska Natives.
Opinion:
Alaska voters know this system — and they’ve backed it twice. ADN
Alaskans in 2020 approved a
citizens initiative to adopt what is called ranked choice voting and
used it for the first time in 2022. It eliminated party primary
elections and moved the state to a one-size-fits-all primary where
the top four vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless
of party affiliation. Opposition to the switch came mostly from
conservative Republicans who did not like losing control over
partisan primaries and did not like seeing moderates win elections by
appealing to the middle.
Time
for real leadership to outweigh reelection Alaska Beacon
We need
leaders this year among the 60 legislators. They don’t have to be
fearless leaders, just fearful of the damage caused by doing nothing.
And if the governor vetoes their work, he’ll be gone in 11 months. It
will be up to Alaskans to reelect legislators who did their job so
that they can do it better next year with a new governor.
Health Care
Investigation
of an Increase in Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease —
Alaska, 2025
a concerning rise in acute
rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Alaska,
preventable conditions that can follow untreated strep throat
infections and can cause lasting heart damage, especially in
children.
New
bill would allow Alaska to use vaccine advice of medical experts
outside of federal government Alaska Beacon
As the Trump
administration chips away at longstanding childhood vaccine
standards, a newly introduced bill in the Alaska Legislature would
give state health officials the option of following vaccine advice of
medical experts outside of the federal government. State health
officials announced on Dec. 29 that the state still recommends
universal Hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns. Alaska has a higher-risk status
for the virus that warrants an exception from the new general
recommendations, state health officials said.
Alaska's
Rep. Nick Begich votes against 3-year extension of federal health
care subsidies. Alaska Beacon
House
passes bill to extend health care subsidies in defiance of GOP
leaders. ADN
The U.S. House of
Representatives voted 230-196 on Thursday to extend Affordable Care
Act subsidies for three years and reverse massive
cost increases that went into effect with the new year. Alaska’s
lone member of the House, Republican Rep. Nick Begich III, voted
against the extension, as did 195 other Republicans.
(My comment: Interesting. Mr.
Begich has been very clear in meetings I’ve attended with him:
“Alaska has to get off Federal money”. Yet, he’s a big supporter of
the Rural Health Transformation Project which brings potential $1.4
Billion to Alaska in one-time money.)
Investigation
of an increase in acute rheumatic fever in Alaska. EPI (Alaska DOH)
A concerning rise in acute
rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Alaska,
preventable conditions that can follow untreated strep throat
infections and can cause lasting heart damage, especially in
children.
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