Articles & Op-eds

09.16.20

Natural Gas Intelligence: FERC Nominees Tell Senate Public Interest Foremost if Confirmed

by Leticia Gonzales

The two nominees tapped by President Trump in July to fill vacant FERC positions pledged to be champions for the consumer by ensuring the reliability and fair cost of energy while remaining unbiased in their decision making. Speaking Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Democratic nominee Allison Clements noted her "tremendous respect" for the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission and "its role as an independent, bipartisan commission." The attorney worked f… Continue Reading


09.15.20

Associated Press: Senators push for extra census time, as court prods deadline

by Mike Schneider

As lawyers in a court hearing argued over what would happen if the U.S. Census Bureau blew a deadline to turn over data used for redrawing congressional districts, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday introduced a bill pushing the deadline into next year, even though a previous effort hasn't gone anywhere in the Senate. During a federal court hearing on whether to extend the 2020 census by a month, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, asked government attorneys to exp… Continue Reading


09.14.20

Anchorage Daily News: $21 million federal grant to help build cold-storage cargo facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport

by Alex DeMarban

A $21 million federal transportation grant will help pay for the cost of building a huge cold-storage facility at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, boosting the airport's value as an international shipping hub between the U.S. and Asia, Alaska's congressional delegation announced on Monday. The grant has been awarded to the Alaska Energy Authority, a state agency, to support construction of the 190,000 square feet project, which has been previously announced. The facility will b… Continue Reading


09.12.20

Value Walk: Support For Bipartisan Restaurants Act Grows In The Senate

Support for Bipartisan RESTAURANTS Act Grows in the Senate; 12 More Bipartisan Senators Cosponsor Bill, Including Sens. Murkowski, Brown, Manchin, King, Booker and Gillibrand 40 Republican and Democratic Senators Support an Independent Restaurant Relief Program Bill, Including Sens. Cornyn, Schumer, Graham, Tillis, and Gardner. House Bill Is Cosponsored by 194 U.S. Representatives. Support for Bipartisan RESTAURANTS Act Grows WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC… Continue Reading


09.11.20

CBC News: Alaskan sisters beg Canada to let them go to school in B.C.

by Yvette Brend

It's back to school this week for students in Stewart, B.C., but five Alaskan children who were set to join them this year are stuck at home after pandemic restrictions have essentially closed the border between two remote cross-border communities that sit side by side and usually intermingle. Right now, people are only allowed to cross the border between Hyder, Alaska and Stewart, B.C., for essential travel or they must abide by two-week quarantine requirements. For two American sisters that … Continue Reading


09.11.20

Alaska Journal of Commerce: USDA announces tariff relief for seafood harvesters

by Elwood Brehmer

Harvesters in more than a dozen commercial fisheries across Alaska that have been hit in the pocketbook by foreign tariffs on American seafood are eligible for part of $530 million in federal aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA announced Sept. 9 that the money is meant to offset weaker market conditions for American seafood brought on by import tariffs. A statement announcing the availability of the funds, which will be dispersed through the USDA's new Seafood Trade Relief Pro… Continue Reading


09.09.20

The Hill: Top health officials pledge to keep politics out of COVID-19 vaccine process

by Jessie Hellmann

Top federal health officials tried to reassure lawmakers on Wednesday that politics will not play a role in determining whether a COVID-19 vaccine is approved, amid fears that President Trump is politicizing the process. "Science and science alone will be the way in which this decision is made, otherwise I'll have no part in it," Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Trump has suggested that a … Continue Reading


08.31.20

The Hill: OPINION: Child care has always been essential to our economy — let's start treating it that way

by Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Suzanne Clark

The COVID-19 pandemic's economic and societal disruptions have highlighted an important truth: child care is essential to our return to work and our nation's recovery. Parents heal our sick, stock our shelves, design our products, and run our businesses-and, as any parent knows, those roles are secondary to our main job: raising and protecting our children. So, if we want to get parents back to work, we have to prioritize child care. The economic benefits of child care are well documented. We … Continue Reading


08.31.20

Environmental and Energy Study Institute: New Act Highlights Little-Known Pathway to Absorb Carbon Emissions

by Anna McGinn and Joseph Glandorf

The Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act (H.R.5589/S.3939) draws attention to a little-known-but critically important-pathway to absorb carbon emissions: coastal wetland ecosystems that act as carbon sinks, otherwise known as "blue carbon" ecosystems. Blue carbon ecosystems, which include mangroves, marshes, and seagrass, store disproportionately large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) but are increasingly under threat. A blue carbon ecosystem acts as a highly effective carbon sink because wetland plan… Continue Reading


08.28.20

KTVA: Cold Case Office in Alaska will investigate cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people

by Danielle Rivera

Anchorage is now home to one of seven cold case offices opening across the country that will be dedicated to investigating hundreds of cases of missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native people. While the work has already begun, Alaska's congressional delegation, tribal leaders and public safety officials in Alaska gathered for a ceremony to formally announce the cold case office which will tackle the organization and prioritization of cold cases, assign and investigate those cases,… Continue Reading


08.28.20

Refinery 29: This Fertility App Shared Data Without User Consent. Here’s How Senators Are Fighting Back

by Molly Longman

Senators are urging the Federal Trade Commission to look into a fertility app that's allegedly engaged in shady data sharing practices. Premom paints a rosy picture of trying to get pregnant. The website features dewy blades of grass and smiling pregnant people holding lavender. It boasts that it's a "simple, effective, and affordable solution for all trying to conceive." But there's nothing simple about the allegations against the company. Premom's Android app was collecting a wide range of dat… Continue Reading


08.23.20

Anchorage Daily News: ‘Permanency navigators’ help Anchorage’s homeless youths find housing and stability

by Paula Dobbyn

Keegan Cranston-Stuckey used to wander Anchorage's streets at night, trying to keep herself awake and alive. Every day was a struggle to stay safe and fed, especially when she found herself pregnant. The 22-year-old, who gave birth last month to a healthy son, ended up without shelter after she aged out of Covenant House Alaska, which serves homeless youths 13 and older and young adults. Although Cranston-Stuckey often felt sick because of her pregnancy, she remained on the street until relentl… Continue Reading


08.23.20

Daily Energy Insider: Alaska lawmakers applaud DOE authorization of Alaska LNG project

by Dave Kovaleski

The Alaska Congressional delegation voiced their support for the Department of Energy's order authorizing the Alaska LNG project to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). The Alaska LNG Project is an 800-mile pipeline project that includes a treatment facility and a liquefaction facility. It is the nation's largest energy infrastructure project. "A final export license from DOE is an important asset for Alaska LNG," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said. "After the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission … Continue Reading


08.18.20

Smithsonian Magazine: Women Senators Reflect on the 100th Anniversary of Suffrage

by Meilan Solly

When suffragist Jeannette Rankin was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1916, she made a prescient prediction: "I may be the first woman member of Congress. But I won't be the last." One hundred and four years later, a record-breaking number of women sit in both congressional chambers, with 26 serving in the Senate and 105 in the House. Now, on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which extended the franchise to (mostly white) women on a federal… Continue Reading


08.17.20

Anchorage Daily News: The federal government will hold an ANWR lease sale. But drilling would be more than a decade away

by Alex DeMarban

The Trump Administration on Monday set the stage for a lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the coming months, but industry observers and Alaska leaders say oil won't flow for years. Drilling in the sensitive coastal plain faces strong resistance, questions about future demand for oil and vows from large banks not to invest in the region, they said. But some said that while litigation could slow the lease sale, the promise of a large discovery in a little-explored land land, wh… Continue Reading


08.13.20

KTVA: Murkowski and other senators call for extension of Census 2020 deadline

by Jennifer Summers

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is part of a bipartisan group asking for more time for the Census Bureau to complete the 2020 census. Murkowski and Sen. Brian Schatz, (D) Hawaii, are leading a group of 48 senators from both sides of the aisle who are calling for an extension of the census deadline because of logistic delays caused by COVID-19. The group of senators is suggesting the deadline change be included in the next COVID-19 relief package. "Extending the deadlines for the delivery of these … Continue Reading


08.12.20

Forbes: Worried About The Safety And Effectiveness Of The Covid-19 Vaccine? The SAVE Act Aims To Make Transparency A Priority

by Robert Gladder, MD

As Russia debuts its new Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, and begins to inoculate some of its citizens without extensive testing regarding its safety or efficacy, concern regarding the pressure to get a vaccine safely to market here in the United States via Operation Warp Speed has many people concerned, and rightfully so. While vaccine trials typically take many years until a viable vaccine comes to market, the reality is that these are not normal times. But the process to produce a safe and effec… Continue Reading


08.11.20

Cordova Times: Landslide preparedness legislation introduced in Senate

Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash, has been approved with bipartisan support and now heads to the U.S. House for consideration. S.529, the National Landslide Preparedness Act, would target key gaps in current science and mapping that are critical to understanding landslide hazards and risks, Cantwell said. A major landslide four miles east of Oso, Washington on March 22, 2014 collapsed an unstable hill, sending mud and debris to the south across the Still… Continue Reading


08.05.20

KTVA: Murkowski praises executive order geared at improving rural health care

by Jennifer Summers

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is praising an executive order signed by President Trump to improve rural health and telehealth access. The order states the COVID-19 public health emergency has increased the use of telemedicine across the country by limiting access to in-person visits. This prompted the administration to help patients get better access to health care providers. Murkowski calls telehealth crucial technology, especially for Alaska. "In Alaska, telehealth has been vital for some time… Continue Reading


08.04.20

CNN: 3 senators introduce legislation aimed at increasing transparency in vaccine approval process

by Lauren Mascarenhas

Three US senators released bipartisan legislation Tuesday aimed at increasing safety and transparency around the approval of a coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in the US. Sens. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, Mike Braun, a Republican from Indiana) and Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, said they introduced the Safe Authorization for Vaccines during Emergencies (SAVE) Act in part to improve public confidence in a potential vaccine amid some concerns that safety is being… Continue Reading

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