The Bailout is Billions…Ten Specifically
The recent oil tax debate has raised more questions than answers for many Alaskans, including the majority of state Senators. Today, in a press release from Senator Bill Wielechowski, a few of those questions were answered. BREAKING: Data Shows Even As Companies Invest, Alaska Takes A $10 Billion Hit For Immediate Release: April 13, 2011 JUNEAU: Senator Bill Wielechowski (D–Anchorage) said new analysis shows that, even with the potential investment mentioned last week by ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva, under the Governor’s oil tax rollback proposal, the state would lose an estimated $10 billion over the next eight years. Last Thursday, Mr….
Kindred Quakes: Alaska and Japan
By Shannyn Moore Living in a seismic zone is tricky. The seconds that roll by during an earthquake are the longest I’ve ever experienced. I’ve been in an MRI machine, a fishing boat, and on the radio airwaves during quakes. No matter where, I ask myself: “Is this the ‘Big One’?” “Should I be standing in a door jam now?” “Thank God for building codes.” We share a nervous nature with the occasional quakes. Tonight all those questions Alaskans have asked since 1964 have been answered in Japan. It was a Big One. It was devastating. Our hearts and thoughts are…
Voices From The Flats — I Get It, But My Mayor Is Clueless
Post and Photos By Carl Johnson I have lived in two rather large metropolitan areas: the Twin Cities, with its two million people, and Los Angeles, with, well, way too many people. I chose to move to Anchorage eleven years ago not because I was looking for urban, but because I was looking for wild with just the right amount of urban. I have grown in my knowledge over time that I had made the right decision, enjoying many years hiking, biking and Nordic skiing on Anchorage trails, enjoying fishing for salmon in its streams, and enjoying picking berries in…
Documents, Employees Reveal BP’s Alaska Oilfield Plagued By Major Safety Issues
Jason Leopold has written an amazing piece on BP and how they handle safety in Alaska. Here is the article in full, which is cross-posted from Truthout. By Jason Leopold Nearly 5,000 miles from the oil-spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, BP and its culture of cost-cutting are contributing to another environmental mess. According to internal BP documents obtained by Truthout, and after interviewing more than a dozen employees over the past month, the Prudhoe Bay oil field, in a remote corner of North America on Alaska’s north shore, is in danger. After two serious oil spills and other mishaps,…
Hike Up the Hill (Non-Political!)
This is our first cold, windy, rainy weekend of spring. It reminds me of the entirety of last summer. And the summer before that. But I was able to go out and enjoy one of the warm sunny days earlier in the week. Things are really greening up, but the grasses and leaves are still not mature yet, so it’s easy to see all the little things that will become hidden under the green as summer progresses. Fungi and lichens seem to congregate on particular trees for some reason or another, and are easy to spot and photograph now. The…
This Bud’s for You! (Warning – This Post Has Zero Political Content)
Another totally perfect day in Anchorage. I decided to take a little hike to see if things were waking up yet. Usually, the first spring flowers I see are violets, so I headed down to the creek to see if they’d decided to make an appearance yet, and check out what else might be around. The first thing I noticed was….ash. Lots of it. After the eruption of Mt. Redoubt sprinkled a fine layer of powdery ash over Anchorage, everything turned grey. Then a couple more fresh blankets of snow, and it was all but forgotten. Well, now that the…