Search Results for: climate

Kinross Gold’s Fort Knox mine, is seen from space. (Google/Maxar Technologies, Airbus)

Mining exec: Alaska’s pricy, fossil fuel-based power could thwart investment

Kinross Gold says its Alaska investments have ‘extremely high’ energy costs and carbon emissions.

  • Nov 21, 2023
  • By Nathaniel Herz, Northern Journal
  • mining
Kinross Gold’s Fort Knox mine, is seen from space. (Google/Maxar Technologies, Airbus)
A board at the University of Alaska Anchorage Student Union, seen on Nov. 16, 2022, holds notices of employment opportunities. Alaska’s minimum wage is set to rise on Jan. 1 to keep up with inflation, and an initiative campaign is underway to bring about faster increases. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska minimum wage increases next year; additional hikes proposed in ballot initiative

Alaska’s minimum wage will increase on Jan. 1, 2024 from $10.85 to $11.73 an hour, in accordance with a law put in place by a… Continue reading

A board at the University of Alaska Anchorage Student Union, seen on Nov. 16, 2022, holds notices of employment opportunities. Alaska’s minimum wage is set to rise on Jan. 1 to keep up with inflation, and an initiative campaign is underway to bring about faster increases. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
An exploration site at ConocoPhillips’ Willow prospect is seen from the air in the 2019 winter season. Willow is located in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. (Photo by Judy Patrick/provided by ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.)

Environmental groups ask federal appeals court to halt Willow oil project

Two coalitions of environmental groups, having lost their case in an Alaska courthouse, are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to issue an… Continue reading

An exploration site at ConocoPhillips’ Willow prospect is seen from the air in the 2019 winter season. Willow is located in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. (Photo by Judy Patrick/provided by ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.)
A sticker expressing opposition to the Pebble Mine is seen on a coffee shop window in Kodiak on Oct. 3, 2022. Opposition to the mine has been widespread in Alaska’s fishing communities for several years. The fight is now being waged in briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, as the Pebble Limited Partnership continues to push for mine development. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Debate over Pebble mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region moves to dueling US Supreme Court briefs

Company sticking to development plans, despite federal action barring permitting for the project.

A sticker expressing opposition to the Pebble Mine is seen on a coffee shop window in Kodiak on Oct. 3, 2022. Opposition to the mine has been widespread in Alaska’s fishing communities for several years. The fight is now being waged in briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, as the Pebble Limited Partnership continues to push for mine development. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. board members, staff and advisors meet Oct. 30 at the corporation’s headquarters in Juneau to discuss a proposal to raise the fund’s rate of return by making riskier investments. The idea stalled when advisors suggested the strategy and timing are ill-advised. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File).

My Turn: Need for accounting and legislative oversight of the Permanent Fund

The governor or Legislature or both need to conduct an audit format available to the public or engage in serious oversight of the Alaska Permanent… Continue reading

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. board members, staff and advisors meet Oct. 30 at the corporation’s headquarters in Juneau to discuss a proposal to raise the fund’s rate of return by making riskier investments. The idea stalled when advisors suggested the strategy and timing are ill-advised. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File).
Jennifer Kirk, left, and Susanna “Sue Sue” Norton both died, two years apart, in homes owned by a former mayor and often occupied by his adult sons. Credit:Left photo: Facebook; right photo: courtesy of Lesley Sundberg

One woman died on an Alaska mayor’s property. Then another. No one has ever been charged.

Ex-mayor’s sons faced few consequences despite history of similar allegations.

Jennifer Kirk, left, and Susanna “Sue Sue” Norton both died, two years apart, in homes owned by a former mayor and often occupied by his adult sons. Credit:Left photo: Facebook; right photo: courtesy of Lesley Sundberg
Bering Sea snow crab, with two specimens seen in this undated photo, support an iconic Alaska seafood harvest, but a crash in population since 2018 triggered the first ever closure of the fishery in 2022. That closure was extended for the 2023-24 season. A newly published study shows that snow crab have some resilience to ocean acidification, with eggs and embryos that fare better in acidified conditions than do those of other Alaska crab species. (Photo provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Alaska’s snow crab show resilience to ocean acidification, which is underway in the Bering Sea

Study a possible bright spot for species hammered by a warmth-triggered crash.

  • Nov 11, 2023
  • By: Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon
Bering Sea snow crab, with two specimens seen in this undated photo, support an iconic Alaska seafood harvest, but a crash in population since 2018 triggered the first ever closure of the fishery in 2022. That closure was extended for the 2023-24 season. A newly published study shows that snow crab have some resilience to ocean acidification, with eggs and embryos that fare better in acidified conditions than do those of other Alaska crab species. (Photo provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Demonstrators protest against the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil-drilling project before a scheduled speech by Biden at the Department of the Interior in Washington, March 21, 2023. A federal judge on Thursday upheld the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska’s remote North Slope, a massive project that had drawn the ire of environmentalists who accused the president of backpedaling on his pledge to combat climate change. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Federal judge in Alaska upholds Biden administration’s approval of the massive oil-drilling project

A federal judge on Thursday upheld the Biden administration’s approval of the massive Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska’s remote North Slope, a decision that environmental… Continue reading

Demonstrators protest against the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil-drilling project before a scheduled speech by Biden at the Department of the Interior in Washington, March 21, 2023. A federal judge on Thursday upheld the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska’s remote North Slope, a massive project that had drawn the ire of environmentalists who accused the president of backpedaling on his pledge to combat climate change. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire
Denise Koch, director of engineering and public works for the City and Borough of Juneau, explains efforts being made to secure various types of flood mitigation funding while City Manager Katie Koester listens during a Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night in the Assembly Chambers.

City still seeking millions in federal flood funding, despite FEMA disaster aid rejection

NOAA, Army Corps of Engineers, others being asked to help with future prevention efforts.

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire
Denise Koch, director of engineering and public works for the City and Borough of Juneau, explains efforts being made to secure various types of flood mitigation funding while City Manager Katie Koester listens during a Juneau Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night in the Assembly Chambers.
Henry Fleener, hatchery manager at Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute Mariculture Wet Lab, talks about a NOAA Fisheries project that involves building a small hatchery to house, condition and spawn oyster broodstock in order to find ways to improve existing processes. (Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire)

Pushing to expand mariculture in Alaska (Part 2): The pearl in mariculture, for now, are the oysters

Shellfish is still small business, but on the rise as Alaska works to diversity food sources.

Henry Fleener, hatchery manager at Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute Mariculture Wet Lab, talks about a NOAA Fisheries project that involves building a small hatchery to house, condition and spawn oyster broodstock in order to find ways to improve existing processes. (Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire)
A marker for the U.S.-Canadian border sits between Skagway, Alaska, and Stikine Region, British Columbia. (Photo by Philip Yabut/Getty Images)

Opinion: British Columbia is committed to responsible mining practices

As close neighbors, British Columbia and Alaska share a common goal: to foster responsible resource development by championing the highest standards of environmental protection for… Continue reading

A marker for the U.S.-Canadian border sits between Skagway, Alaska, and Stikine Region, British Columbia. (Photo by Philip Yabut/Getty Images)
Jennifer Medley (left) practices literacy skills with students at Fireweed Academy on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, in Homer, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

From Hope to Homer, how one school district is adjusting to Alaska Reads Act

Implementing the standards outlined by the legislation is not a one-size-fits-all approach

Jennifer Medley (left) practices literacy skills with students at Fireweed Academy on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, in Homer, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Fishing boats line the docks in Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 2, 2022. Fish-harvesting employment has been declining since 2015, with multiple factors at play, according to an Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development analysis. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska seafood harvesting jobs decline as fish crashes, pandemic and other factors take toll

Alaska fish-harvesting employment declined in 2022, a continuing yearslong slide caused by a variety of factors, according to an analysis by the state Department of… Continue reading

Fishing boats line the docks in Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 2, 2022. Fish-harvesting employment has been declining since 2015, with multiple factors at play, according to an Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development analysis. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Crew members adjust the net as it releases fish aboard the Northern Hawk factory trawler on Saturday, Aug. 5 in the Bering Sea. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News)

With little movement on salmon bycatch, Alaska advocates look to Biden administration for action

Amid catastrophic shortfalls in salmon harvests in some of Alaska’s rural, Indigenous communities, advocates have pleaded for a crackdown on unintentional catch of those same… Continue reading

Crew members adjust the net as it releases fish aboard the Northern Hawk factory trawler on Saturday, Aug. 5 in the Bering Sea. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Alexander Smith battles for a puck in front of the Eagle River goal during Saturday’s 6-1 Crimson Bears win over the Wolves at Treadwell Arena. (Klas Stolpe for the Juneau Empire)

JDHS opens season by icing Eagle River

Crimson Bears hockey puts football-size scores on visiting Wolves

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Alexander Smith battles for a puck in front of the Eagle River goal during Saturday’s 6-1 Crimson Bears win over the Wolves at Treadwell Arena. (Klas Stolpe for the Juneau Empire)
University of Alaska environmental science professor Eran Hood (foreground right) and National Weather Service Juneau hydrologist Aaron Jacobs discuss their hope of renaming Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin, a Tlingit name referring to a small weasel-like mammal in the area — during a presentation Friday at the University of Alaska Southeast. They also discussed the basin’s history, a record flood from it that occurred this summer and the possibility of future such floods. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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Experts seek to rename Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin; warn its deadly flood threat rising

History, future and monitoring of ice dam that caused record flooding this year focus of UAS event.

University of Alaska environmental science professor Eran Hood (foreground right) and National Weather Service Juneau hydrologist Aaron Jacobs discuss their hope of renaming Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin, a Tlingit name referring to a small weasel-like mammal in the area — during a presentation Friday at the University of Alaska Southeast. They also discussed the basin’s history, a record flood from it that occurred this summer and the possibility of future such floods. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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Curt Chamberlain, an attorney who grew up practicing subsistence fishing in Aniak, argues at Friday’s Alaska Federation of Natives convention for changes to federal law to protect Native subsistence harvests. Chamberlain was one of the speakers participating in a floor session on the subject. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Native leaders at AFN call for legal overhaul to protect traditional fish harvests

The crash of salmon stocks in Western Alaska’s Kuskokwim River has sparked a bitter court fight between the federal and state governments, and now Alaska… Continue reading

Curt Chamberlain, an attorney who grew up practicing subsistence fishing in Aniak, argues at Friday’s Alaska Federation of Natives convention for changes to federal law to protect Native subsistence harvests. Chamberlain was one of the speakers participating in a floor session on the subject. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska souvenirs bearing the names Oliver and Olivia are seen in a downtown Anchorage gift shop on Thursday. Oliver was the most popular name for baby boys in Alaska in 2022, and Olivia was one of the most popular names for baby girls. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska vital statistics show declines in both deaths and births in 2022

Worst COVID-19 effects may be easing, while fertility continues yearslong downward trend.

Alaska souvenirs bearing the names Oliver and Olivia are seen in a downtown Anchorage gift shop on Thursday. Oliver was the most popular name for baby boys in Alaska in 2022, and Olivia was one of the most popular names for baby girls. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Fisheries biologist Randy Brown of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks handles a net used for dolly varden trout in northern Alaska. (Photo by Katrina Liebich)

Alaska Science Forum: Finned adventurers nosing into the Arctic

A few years ago, Randy Brown wondered if he might lose $50,000 he had just won as part of the Rachel Carson Award for Exemplary… Continue reading

  • Oct 20, 2023
  • By Ned Rozell
Fisheries biologist Randy Brown of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks handles a net used for dolly varden trout in northern Alaska. (Photo by Katrina Liebich)
Fall colors are seen on Aug. 24, 2015, along the Canning River on the western edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the last entity to hold leases in the refuge coastal plan, has gone to federal court to try to get the canceled leases reinstated. (Photo by Katrina Liebich/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Alaska development agency sues federal government over canceled oil leases

Lawsuit about ANWR drilling argues Biden administration put politics over legal mandates

Fall colors are seen on Aug. 24, 2015, along the Canning River on the western edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the last entity to hold leases in the refuge coastal plan, has gone to federal court to try to get the canceled leases reinstated. (Photo by Katrina Liebich/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)