Beware of the oversimplified claims about how to deal with China, climate change

In this corner we have Sen. Cathy Giessel and Rep. Zack Fields joining the promotional parade of oversimplistic claims about how to deal with China, ignoring what the cost would be to consumers.

And in this corner we have Rep. George Rauscher attacking the very idea of studying how much carbon dioxide is released in creating steel, plastic, etc., ignoring the cost of climate change or the consequences to consumers.

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Broadcasting hypocrisy: Dunleavy, AG sing praises of AM radio, while attacking public radio, TV

The hypocrisy of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Attorney General Tregarrick Taylor is on full display with the state claiming that we must have AM radios in electric cars because of the need for emergency communications.

Taylor has just signed onto the latest right-wing Republican chain letter whining about the future of AM radios in cars, while Dunleavy has just vetoed $1 million for public radio in Alaska.

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Without $7 billion in state subsidy, North Slope 'bullet line' would come at a high cost to consumers

Cook Inlet natural gas will not be able to keep the heat and lights on for all concerned during the next decade, according to a study led by Enstar, the Canadian company that supplies natural gas to Southcentral.

The leading long-term option for filling the gap, the study says, is an in-state gas pipeline, subsidized by the state, a fossil fuel solution that downplays renewables.

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Dermot Cole Comments
BP, Hilcorp, RCA defend secrecy before Supreme Court, while Valdez seeks transparency

The refusal of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to engage in a public evidentiary hearing on the most important case in the RCA’s history—the sale of BP’s assets to Hilcorp—is at the center of the Supreme Court case at which oral arguments took place Wednesday.

The attorneys for the RCA, Hilcorp and BP all defended the actions of the RCA and did not deal with matters of substance, but instead focused on technicalities and process.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Dunleavy sides with Hilcorp to preserve secrecy, hiding key pipeline details from Alaskans

The repeated failures of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the Alaska Legislature will be on full display Tuesday when the Alaska Supreme Court hears a case about whether the public deserves to be informed about some of the many secrets behind the biggest single business transaction in state history—the sale of BP’s Alaska business to Hilcorp.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Dunleavy names former 'personal assistant' with thin resume to state utility regulation board

Nothing that John Espindola has done during his years of working for the state as a “personal assistant” and policy analyst for Gov. Mike Dunleavy qualifies him to serve on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

And it is doubtful that the work Espindola did in New Mexico in the years before he hired on with Dunleavy in 2018 meet the minimum educational and professional requirements spelled out in state law about who is eligible to regulate Alaska’s utilities.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Dunleavy turns to right-wing support group again for UA Board of Regents pick

The Legislature rejected Bethany Marcum, the CEO of the right-wing Alaska Policy Forum, after Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed her to an eight-year term on the University of Alaska Board of Regents.

Dunleavy is politically aligned with the forum, a group that is no friend of public education, both K-12 and the University of Alaska. The forum is a bottomless well of misleading claims and phony statistics about education.

Dunleavy has returned to the Alaska Policy Forum talent pool to make another selection for the regents, this time former forum board member Seth Church of Fairbanks, who has long been active in right-wing causes.

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Dermot Cole Comments