Ask a Climatologist: Will May gloom bring summer doom?

May weather can't tell us much about what the rest of the summer will hold in Southcentral Alaska. Listen now

Cook Inlet companies defend oil and gas tax credits

As Alaska continues to grapple with a major budget shortfall, one line item promises to be particularly controversial: tax credits for oil and gas producers.
A giant truck on snowy land.

Seeking hidden ‘pockets of oil’, BP takes on a massive project at Prudhoe Bay

The 3-D seismic survey is part of the effort to keep the oil field alive for decades to come.
The view from Point Hope, early winter 2015. (Photo by Ellen Chenoweth/University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Oil and subsistence in the warming Arctic: A conversation with Tom Kizzia

In the most recent issue of The New Yorker, Alaska writer and longtime former ADN reporter Tom Kizzia looks back at the debate over offshore drilling in North Slope communities. Kizzia visited Point Hope to report on how climate change is affecting the region’s twin pillars: oil development and subsistence hunting.

Why students and scientists spend summer on ice

The Juneau Icefield Research Program has been around for 70 years. First, exploring the icy expanse. And later, tracking the rate Southeast glaciers are shrinking.
a ship on the water

From permafrost to polar bears, draft report evaluates Alaska gasline’s environmental impact

The report concludes the $43 billion export project could have significant impacts on the environment — but would be a boost for state and local economies

Special session off to slow start, despite looming deadlines

Gov. Bill Walker called the Legislature back to work after it failed to pass a budget by the constitutional deadline last week. Lawmakers now have 30 days to try to accomplish what they couldn't do in the last four months: pass a budget and make some progress on closing the state's $4 billion deficit. Download Audio

Juneau Hydropower a step away from crucial license

A Juneau startup that wants to build its own hydroelectric plant could soon get their rubber stamp from the federal government. Download Audio

Senators urge Sweeney to be tough at Interior

Alaskan Tara MacLean Sweeney faced no resistance at a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing today on her nomination to be assistant Interior secretary for Indian Affairs. Listen now

As the Arctic warms, a changing landscape on the Chukchi Sea

"These ridges that we’re standing on, there would have been more of them, and they would have been bigger," ice researcher Andy Mahoney said. "The features that we now see, they’re something of a shadow from the past." Listen now

New bill from House lawmaker would hike minimum tax on oil industry

A state House lawmaker has released another bill proposing changes to the state’s oil and gas tax credit regime. Anchorage Democrat Les Gara debuted his bill, called the “Fair Share for Alaska’s Oil Act,” on Wednesday (Feb. 15). Listen now

Alaska mission to China kicks off with ceremony, trade talks…and speed dating

The short meetings were a chance for Alaska businesses to introduce themselves directly to what they hope will be a giant market of new customers. Listen now

Alaska teens ask state to stop delaying action on climate change

The teens hand delivered a petition to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, asking for reduced carbon emissions and a strategy moving forward. Listen now

As wildfires blaze, Southeast glaciers could be feeling the melt

Out on the glimmering white expanse of the Juneau ice field, a group of students and scientists work an assembly line of sorts. Listen now

What can unflappable geese teach us about the future of Arctic development?

Every summer, millions of migratory birds like the greater white-fronted goose descend on the National Petroleum Reserve, to lay eggs, molt their feathers and fatten up. A lot of the oil potential lies squarely in migratory bird habitat. Listen now

The challenges of being the only woman on a pipeline crew

Diane Schenker had recently graduated from Reed College and was living in Fairbanks when she heard a rumor that Welding Union 798 had been forced to hire women to help build the trans-Alaska pipeline. A 21-year-old with no experience in construction, Schenker convinced the union office manager to let her work with an all-male crew of welders from the South. Listen now

Lawmakers: TransCanada buyout likely, but is state ready?

Lawmakers say it’s all but inevitable they'll approve the governor’s request to buy out TransCanada and take a larger stake in the Alaska LNG project. But they are raising concerns about the state’s ability to take the company’s place. Download Audio

Freezing temps mean it’s time to clean the legacy wells on the North Slope

As the cold winter months hit the North Slope, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is heading back out to plug four old wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The agency hopes the process goes more smoothly this time around. Listen Now

Tesoro’s Flint Hills acquisition expected to streamline petroleum distribution

Tesoro’s pending acquisition of Flint Hill’s fuel distribution and marketing operations in Fairbanks, North Pole and Anchorage, will streamline the transportation of refined petroleum products from Southcentral to the Interior. Download Audio

Citizens group investigates Cook Inlet’s aging oil infrastructure

A watchdog citizens group is working on a series of reports on Cook Inlet’s oil and gas infrastructure, following several accidents last spring. Listen now