I suspect one reason the mine has kept the new mitigation plan secret is that it may be attempting to protect Gov. Mike Dunleavy and ward off complaints about the lack of public review and what action or agreements the state is considering to help Pebble.
Read MoreSen. Lisa Murkowski always operates as if the yellow caution flag is flying, but at last she has called out the efforts by President Trump to steal the election. Sen. Dan Sullivan is quiet in the corner, hoping to ride another one out.
Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka, already behaving like a candidate running for office, has not explained her vision of a 50 percent state budget cut, a reduction that is impossible without wholesale layoffs, and the elimination of many state services and programs.
Read MoreOne of the dying gasps of the Trump administration is a proposed regulation sought by Alaska’s Congressional delegation that purports to force banks to make loans to support Arctic oil investment even if they don’t want to.
Read MoreDespite claims to the contrary by the Dunleavy administration, the state is an active partner with the Pebble Mine in crafting a mitigation strategy like the one revealed on the Pebble Tapes. This may be why the mitigation plan is still a secret.
Read MoreThis going-out-of-business sale has all the credibility of Rudy’s seminar at Four Seasons Total Landscaping. Add it to the Trump catalog of Pyrrhic victories around the world, all of them as phony as a degree from Trump University.
Read MoreGov. Mike Dunleavy’s refusal to follow 35 other states and issue a mask mandate sends a strong signal to his supporters that wearing a mask is optional and that he isn’t serious.
Read MoreThe bureaucratic language borders on indigestible and some of this is speculation, but the Dunleavy administration appears to be aiming at a future for state government in which key functions are privatized, with low-priced contract workers elsewhere in America or around the world.
Read MoreThe state revenue department made a loan to an oil company LLC that didn’t get paid back. At the request of the revenue department, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority paid the principal and back interest, taking the loan off the hands of the revenue department. A new audit says the 2015 loan should never have been made.
Read MoreI suspect the reason the sale didn’t happen is that the industry made it clear to the Trump administration that a lease sale would not attract the giant bids envisioned by Alaska politicians and a sale could prove to be an embarrassment—not of riches, but of paltry bids from companies without financial muscle.
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