Articles & Op-eds
Investors Business Daily: GOP Seeking To ‘Veto’ EPA Ruling
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters Thursday that Republicans would try to pass a resolution blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The senator said she believed they had enough support to get the resolution out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. It would be unlikely to get far in the full Senate though. "For all intents and purposes, this is a veto of the (EPA) decision," Murkowski said. She made her comments in a bri… Continue Reading
12.16.09
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Murkowski criticizes EPA greenhouse gas finding
FAIRBANKS - Sen. Lisa Murkowski plans to file a disapproval resolution to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon dioxide emissions using the Clean Air Act. Murkowski made the announcement Monday after the EPA made an "endangerment finding" earlier this month that greenhouse gases threaten humans. "I remain committed to reducing emissions through a policy that will protect our environment and strengthen our economy, but EPA's backdoor climate regulations achieve neither… Continue Reading
12.16.09
Science Insider: An Interview with Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Having warmed an average of 2°C since 1948, oil-rich Alaska best embodies the dual challenges of coping with climate change while weaning the United States off fossil fuels. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, has been more accepting of the concept of humanmade climate change than other politicians in Alaska, notably former governor Sarah Palin. Having shown a willingness to engage on the issue of emissions controls as a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Murkowski is se… Continue Reading
12.15.09
Alaska Public Radio Network: Murkowski Wants to Limit EPA’s Clout on Greenhouse Gasses
Senator Lisa Murkowski is again trying to limit the Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate greenhouse gasses. Last week the E-P-A issued findings that carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gasses endanger public health. That determination allows the agency to move toward regulating emissions from coal-fired power plants. You can listen to the audio here.… Continue Reading
12.14.09
The Hill: Murkowski plans ‘resolution of disapproval’ to block EPA emissions rules
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) plans to seek a rarely used congressional "resolution of disapproval" to block EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under its current Clean Air Act powers. Murkowski is scheduled to speak Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. on the Senate floor about her effort to overturn EPA's "endangerment finding" this month that greenhouse gases threaten human welfare. The finding paves the way for the agency to regulate emissions from power plants, cars and other sou… Continue Reading
12.14.09
Roll Call: Murkowski Looks to Block EPA Carbon Emissions Limits
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) invoked a little-used provision of federal law that allows the Senate to override regulatory decisions by the executive branch to try to halt the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing strict new carbon emissions limits. Murkowski accused the EPA of attempting to strong-arm Congress into agreeing to a new cap on carbon emissions, a proposal Republicans have said would have dire economic effects. "Congress is being threatened in a misguided attempt to move a… Continue Reading
12.14.09
KTUU: Murkowski plans to block EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski plans to introduce a resolution of disapproval to block the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Murkowski wants to overturn the EPA's endangerment finding that greenhouse gases threaten people. She claims it's up to Congress to pass an emissions law, but the White House told the EPA to prepare to move forward. Environmentalists say Murkowski is trying to protect businesses before people, saying issues of climate change could be disastro… Continue Reading
12.14.09
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski tries again to limit EPA rules on greenhouse gas
WASHINTON -- Her first attempt failed, but on Monday Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, moved again to try to halt the Environmental Protection Agency's movement toward regulating the emission of greenhouse gases. The federal agency last week announced that global warming pollution endangers public health, and announced plans to move forward with regulations that will limit emissions by large producers of greenhouse gases. It could be years before any EPA regulations take effect, and the White Hou… Continue Reading
12.09.09
The Associated Press: Alaska Territorial Guard pension checks expected
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says Alaska Territorial Guard members whose military pensions were reduced by a Pentagon policy change in January should see full payments resume by year's end. The Alaska Republican says the Department of Defense told her Wednesday the December check for the 23 surviving members will include a lump sum payment retroactive to Oct. 28. Murkowski said she prodded thg Pentagon to implement language in the National Defense Authorization Act that di… Continue Reading
12.09.09
Anchorage Press: Alaska's Murmansk?
In the autumn of 1916, the Russian Empire, engaged in World War I, founded the city of Romanov-on-the-Murman where the Tuloma River empties into a portion of the Barents Sea that stays ice-free year round. Since Russia was allied with the powers of Western Europe, but geographically cut off by its enemies-Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire-the idea was that a new city on the Arctic Ocean, connected to the more populated areas of Russian by rail, would be a strategic port. Supplies a… Continue Reading
12.08.09
RTT News: Sen. Murkowski Introduces Bill To Study Establishing Arctic Deep Water Port
Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, unveiled legislation Tuesday authorizing a study to determine the feasibility of building a deep water port in the Arctic. Dubbed the Arctic Deep Water Sea Port Act, the legislation would direct the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to conduct the study in an effort to protect U.S. strategic interests in the region. The two-year study would seek to determine what strategic capabilities a deep water port could provid… Continue Reading
12.08.09
The Associated Press: Murkowski proposes study of Arctic port sites
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced a bill to study the possibility of building a deep water port in the Arctic. The measure would direct the defense secretary to conduct the study with an eye toward protecting U.S. strategic interests in the region. Murkowski, an Alaska Republican says the two-year study would try to determine the best location for a port and what strategic capabilities it could provide. It also would look at the resources needed to establish a p… Continue Reading
12.07.09
KSRM Radio: Murkowski Says Health Insurance Rates Will Go up with Reform
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski continues to oppose the current Health Care reform bill on the Senate floor. On Friday, Senator Murkowski took to the Senate floor again to explain a recent study by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute of Social and Economic Research. She said that she asked ISER to review the numbers and this was part of the results of ISER's findings. She said the findings show an increase in average premiums. She said it would be a twelve percent increase in premiums. … Continue Reading
12.06.09
KTUU: Senate health care bill 'poor fit' for Alaska, Murkowski says
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski released a statement Saturday about the health care bill under debate in the U.S. Senate, calling it a "poor fit" for Alaska. Citing a study of the Democrats' bill by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute of Social and Economic Research, Murkowski says nearly 28,000 Alaskans would see their health care premiums rise if it were passed. "Because Alaska is a high-cost state, many more people in Alaska will become subject to the bill's excise tax o… Continue Reading
12.04.09
The Hill: Murkowski attacks Obama climate aid pledge
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, doesn't like White House plans to help developing nations battle climate change. "I'm surprised the president would commit our nation to billions in new and long-term spending, particularly in a year that has seen our government rack up a record deficit, and before our economy is back on track," she said in a statement this evening. "I'm also disappointed that the administration has chosen… Continue Reading
12.03.09
New York Times: Senate Blocks Use of New Mammogram Guidelines
The Senate on Wednesday night agreed to bar the federal government from relying on the findings of an independent panel of health experts that recently recommended women should begin having routine mammograms at age 50 rather than at age 40. Without a vote, the Senate agreed to accept an amendment to the big health care legislation proposed by Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, effectively requiring the federal government to ignore the new recommendations by the expert panel, the U… Continue Reading
12.03.09
New York Times: Doppelgängers on the Senate Floor
As if it weren't hard enough to parse the fine points of health care policy, Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland and the main sponsor of a women's health amendment approved by the Senate on Thursday, went to great lengths to make sure that viewers and listeners could recognize the differences between her amendment and a rival proposal put forward by Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska. "I say vote for Mikulski. Don't vote for Murkowski. And please, on this one, get it s… Continue Reading
12.02.09
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski: "I want to be able to rely on the good judgment of a provider I trust."
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced an amendment today to the health care bill that effectively bans the government from using guidelines from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to deny coverage. Murkowski's amendment, aimed at guidelines the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force released last month on breast cancer screening, would apply to private insurers and government insurance plans. It is one of numerous amendments introduced and set to be debated in the coming days. The t… Continue Reading
11.23.09
Alaska Public Radio Network: Alaska Senators Split Vote on Health Care Bill
Alaska's Senators split their vote Saturday on whether to bring health care legislation to the floor. Democrats got exactly the 60 votes needed with all party members lining up for it, and all Republicans voting against introducing it. You can listen to the audio here. # # #… Continue Reading
11.23.09
KSRM Radio: Alaska Senators Split on Health Care Vote
U.S. Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski continue to be on opposite sides of the health care reform debate. On Saturday night's cloture vote to allow floor debate on the bill, Senator Mark Begich continued to support the bill with a yes vote. In a statement over the weekend, Begich stated that he voted in favor of moving the bill forward; however, he emphasized that his vote is not a vote on the final legislation. Begich said the Senate owes it to the public to fully debate the health refo… Continue Reading
