Economy & Environment
Tire toxicity faces fresh scrutiny after salmon die-offs
For decades, concerns about automobile pollution have focused on what comes out of the tailpipe. Now, researchers and regulators say, we need to pay more attention to toxic emissions from tires as vehicles roll down the road. At the top of the list of worries is a chemical called 6PPD, which is added to rubber […]
Report portrays mixed picture of Alaska’s huge seafood industry
The Alaska seafood industry remains an economic juggernaut, but it is under strain from forces outside of the state’s control, according to a new report commissioned by the state’s seafood marketing agency. The report from the McKinley Research Group, titled The Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry, is the latest in a periodic series commissioned […]
New Alaska research projects focus on climate change, mercury and workforce development
Four new research projects selected for funding in a University of Alaska Anchorage program will address some of the most pressing problems facing the state: climate change, marine ecosystem health and losses in the labor force. The projects, each designed to run for two years, were winners in an annual competition that uses an endowment […]
Lawmakers hope to use this emerging climate science to charge oil companies for disasters
A fast-emerging field of climate research is helping scientists pinpoint just how many dollars from a natural disaster can be tied to the historic emissions of individual oil companies — analysis that is the centerpiece of new state efforts to make fossil fuel companies pay billions for floods, wildfires and heat waves. When a flood […]
Too many cubicles, too few homes spur incentives to convert offices to housing
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. HERNDON, Va. — Juan Ramirez, watching his dog play in Chandon Park here in suburban Virginia on a Saturday morning, tries to imagine the massive office buildings next to the park becoming apartments and townhouses. “I guess it’s inevitable. People don’t […]
In Donlin lawsuit, Murkowski, Sullivan and Peltola come to mining project’s defense
Alaska’s three-member, bipartisan congressional delegation is siding with boosters of the major proposed Donlin mine in an ongoing lawsuit filed by tribal governments that seeks to invalidate the Southwest Alaska project’s federal environmental approvals. Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, in documents filed in federal court late […]
Alaska projects win nearly $125 million in EPA’s national Solar for All grant competition
Alaska is getting an infusion of nearly $125 million to build and expand solar energy projects, part of a national Solar for All program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Northwest regional office announced on Tuesday. The funding is split between two projects, one of them a partnership between the Alaska Energy Authority and the […]
On Earth Day, Alaska Senate passes green-billing legislation, revised hunting license standards
The Alaska Senate voted unanimously on Monday to make it easier for groups of Alaskans to invest in wind and solar power projects, sending the idea to the state House for further work. Senate Bill 152, from Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, allows Alaskans to jointly invest in a renewable power project, and if the project […]
Millions of salaried workers to become eligible for overtime under new Biden rule
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor Tuesday announced a final rule that means millions of salaried workers who are employed in the executive, administrative or professional industries will become eligible for overtime pay. The rule will affect roughly 4 million workers in the first year of implementation and will be broken into two checkpoints. […]
House approves tougher route for environmental protections on Alaska rivers, lakes
A bill passed Thursday by the Alaska House of Representatives would affirm a tough hurdle for top-level environmental protections on rivers and lakes in the state. House Bill 95, passed on a 21-18 vote, would require that labeling a river or lake a “Tier III” waterway requires legislative approval. Under the federal Clean Water Act, […]
Polluters must pay to clean up areas contaminated with PFOA, PFOS
Industries that discharge toxic PFOA and PFOS compounds into the environment will now be held legally and financially responsible for the contamination, according to a final rule issued by the EPA today. The Department of Defense is also subject to the new requirements. PFOA and PFOS are now classified as hazardous substances under Superfund law, […]
Relocation of eroding Alaska Native village seen as a test case for other threatened communities
The Yup’ik village of Newtok, perched precariously on thawing permafrost at the edge of the rapidly eroding Ninglick River, is the first Alaska community to begin a full-scale relocation made necessary by climate change. Still, the progress of moving to a new village site that is significantly outpacing relocation efforts at other vulnerable Alaska communities, […]