EPA’s Alaska Power-Grab Will Hurt the Nation

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Photo credit: NPCA Photos

That’s because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is about to lock some of America’s poorest communities into a permanent economic depression as a favor to national environmental groups. If the EPA succeeds, what happens in Alaska won’t stay in Alaska – there will be huge economic and employment consequences for the rest of the country.

The Pebble Project is a proposed copper mine about 15 miles from my hometown of Iliamna in southwestern Alaska. The Pebble deposit contains one of the world’s largest discoveries of copper, and if the proposed mine secures more than 60 different regulatory approvals from about a dozen state and federal agencies, the project would create about 2,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent positions. For permitting, the developers will have to prove to regulators the project will not harm the surrounding environment, including Bristol Bay’s sockeye salmon population.

The Pebble Partnership has invested $120 million so far on environmental and socioeconomic studies that will be used to develop a formal permit application, which regulators will spend three to five years reviewing. But that’s not good enough for the national environmental groups who oppose the Pebble mine. Instead, they want the EPA to take the unprecedented and probably unlawful step of using Section 404 of the Clean Water Act to preemptively veto the project before any permit applications can be filed. The EPA appears to be following those marching orders, because in May the agency issued a draft report stating that a copper mine in the Bristol Bay Watershed would likely harm salmon populations. If the draft report is finalized, the EPA could then veto all mining activity in the region.

The State of Alaska is deeply troubled by this potential EPA power grab, as the Pebble site is located on state-owned land that’s been set aside for mineral development. The EPA’s draft report is essentially a literature review that contains no new or on-the-ground scientific research conducted as part of the assessment. Without a permit application, the EPA made up its own mine plan, assuming environmentally harmful technologies and practices “from the late 1800 and early 1900s” – historic examples that do not apply directly to a modern mine under current regulations , according to Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources. The draft report presents a “biased picture of only adverse impacts of a hypothetical mine,” and key sections “start with conclusions, and then subsequently follow with facts that support the conclusion,” which is “inappropriate for a scientific document developed by a regulatory agency.” But of all the State of Alaska’s criticisms, this was perhaps the most revealing: “No reference to, or consideration of, winter freezing or permafrost is provided in the risk assessment.” That’s right – the EPA wrote a report about Alaska and forgot the part about winter.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Pursuing Shale Oil to Fill Pipeline

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Canada may have its Albertan oil sands, and North Dakota has its Bakken oil formation. But don’t count Alaska out when it comes to producing unconventional oil.

Alaska, which has fallen behind North Dakota in oil output and whose Prudhoe Bay oil fields are waning, is exploring the possibility of extracting oil from the source rock on the state’s North Slope. The state has leased more than half a million acres of its land to exploration companies, and even some environmentalists believe that the shale oil development could be the best way to increase output with relatively modest damage to the environment.

As in shale developments in Texas, North Dakota and elsewhere in the lower 48 states, the key to unlocking Alaska’s shale oil is a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, a method of injecting a mix of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to free up captured oil and gas.

As in Canada and North Dakota, a pipeline is playing a key role in the public debate over this new technological frontier. But whereas a new pipeline — the Keystone XL extension — is needed to get oil to markets in the lower 48, the quandary in Alaska is how to fill the existing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. That pipeline is operating at less than one-third of its total capacity, as the Prudhoe Bay fields decline.

For the moment, it remains unclear whether Alaska can replicate the shale oil boom that is reshaping North Dakota and parts of Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) issued its first assessment of the North Slope’s shale rock resources in February, estimating that the region contained between zero and 2 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil, along with between zero and 80 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Read more from this story HERE.

Remote Alaska to Stockpile Food, Just in Case

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Photo credit: Christie 13

Alaska is known for pioneering, self-reliant residents who are accustomed to remote locations and harsh weather. Despite that, Gov. Sean Parnell worries a major earthquake or volcanic eruption could leave the state’s 720,000 residents stranded and cut off from food and supply lines. His answer: Build giant warehouses full of emergency food and supplies, just in case.

For some in the lower 48, it may seem like an extreme step. But Parnell says this is just Alaska.

In many ways, the state is no different than the rest of America. Most people buy their groceries at stores, and rely on a central grid for power and heat. But, unlike the rest of the lower 48, help isn’t a few miles away. When a fall storm cut off Nome from its final fuel supply last winter, a Russian tanker spent weeks breaking through thick ice to reach the remote town.

Weather isn’t the only thing that can wreak havoc in Alaska, where small planes are a preferred mode of transportation and the drive from Seattle to Juneau requires a ferry ride and 38 hours in a car. The state’s worst natural disaster was in 1964, when a magnitude-9.2 earthquake and resulting tsunami killed 131 people and disrupted electrical systems, water mains and communication lines in Anchorage and other cities.

“We have a different motivation to do this, because help is a long ways away,” said John Madden, Alaska’s emergency management director.

Read more from this story HERE.

Jihadists Call for Alaskan Navy SEAL’s Murder; His New Book Slams Obama for Taking Credit for bin Laden Hit

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Bin Laden apparently was hit in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in “No Easy Day.” The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)’s Dutton imprint.

Bissonnette says he was directly behind a “point man” going up the stairs. “Less than five steps” from top of the stairs, he heard “suppressed” gunfire: “BOP. BOP.” The point man had seen a “man peeking out of the door” on the right side of the hallway.

The author writes that bin Laden ducked back into his bedroom and the SEALs followed, only to find the terrorist crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and two women wailing over his body.

Bissonnette says the point man pulled the two women out of the way and shoved them into a corner and he and the other SEALs trained their guns’ laser sites on bin Laden’s still-twitching body, shooting him several times until he lay motionless. The SEALs later found two weapons stored by the doorway, untouched, the author said.

Read more from this story HERE and Bissonnette’s statement that the Navy Seals knew Obama would improperly take credit for the raid. They feared he might be reelected as a result. Also, Jihadists have published Bissonnette’s photo and demanded his killing since Fox News disclosed his identity.

Alaska Right-to-Life Endorsed Candidates Win 8 of 11 Races in GOP Primary

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Photo credit: utsfl

Anchorage, AK – It was a good night for the pro-life cause around the state of Alaska. In all, eight of eleven candidates endorsed by AK Right to Life PAC won Republican primaries, with one race yet undecided in House District 6, where the incumbent Eric Feige holds a 114-vote lead over his pro-life challenger, George Rauscher.

There were four contested Senate primaries in which AK Right to Life PAC candidates were endorsed. Headlining the night was a pair of Senate races featuring incumbent members of the Pro-abortion Democrat-controlled bi-partisan working group. Both sitting Senators lost to more conservative pro-life challengers.

In Senate District D, Mike Dunleavy handily defeated Senator Linda Menard by a margin of 58.22% to 41.78%. Many expected the race to be much closer, but at the end of the day with less than 16% turnout, Republicans went resoundingly for Dunleavy. And in Senate District O, challenger Peter Micciche easily defeated incumbent Senator Tom Wagoner by more than nineteen points. Micciche is currently the Mayor of Soldotna. Neither Dunleavy nor Micciche have Democrat challengers in the general election. Incumbent Senator Cathy Giessel also won easily in Senate District N.

On the House side, AK Right to Life PAC endorsed in 7 contested primaries. Five of those races were in the Mat-Su Valley. Four of the five won by twenty points or more: Wes Keller in District 7; Shelly Hughes in District 8; Lynn Gattis in District 9; and Bill Stoltze in District 11. Incumbent Peggy Wilson also won by double digits in District 33. As mentioned above, District 6 challenger George Rauscher still trails by a narrow margin with 10% of precincts not yet reporting.

While two races were decided against AK Right to Life PAC’s endorsed candidates, there is good news even there. In House District 26 where our endorsed candidate, Larry Wood, came in second, the winner, Lora Reinbold, is also a strong pro-life conservative. And in Senate District C, where AK Right to Life PAC endorsed long-shot candidate David Eastman, the winner, Click Bishop, is also pro-life with some exceptions.

On behalf of Alaska Right to Life, I would like to offer our sincere congratulations to the winners of tonight’s primaries, and many thanks to all the pro-life candidates who stood up and were counted in this election cycle. May God bless you for your efforts. Onward and upward!

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Matt Johnson is the executive director of Alaska Right to Life.

Alaska couple plead guilty to conspiring to kill federal judge

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Lonnie and Karen Vernon, followers of jailed Alaska militia leader Schaeffer Cox, reached a deal with prosecutors to avoid the need for a trial that had been set to begin next month.

The Vernons and Cox were active in the “sovereign citizen” movement, whose adherents believe individuals are sovereign nations and federal, state and local laws do not apply to them.

The Vernons each entered a guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to commit murder for their plan to kill Alaska-based U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline, who presided over a federal income tax case that ultimately cost the couple their home.

The Vernons also admitted in their plea agreement to planning to kill an Internal Revenue Service official and Beistline’s daughter and grandchildren.

The Vernons bought a silencer-equipped pistol and grenades in March 2011 and told the seller of the weapons about their intentions, according to the plea agreement. But the seller turned out to be a confidential government informant, and the Vernons were arrested immediately after the transaction took place.

Read more from this story HERE.

First fatal bear mauling in history of Denali National Park

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Photo credit: Marshmallow

A grizzly attacked and killed a lone backpacker in Denali National Park and Preserve on Friday after the man encountered the bear next to a river and lingered there snapping pictures, according to the National Park Service.

The death is the first fatal bear mauling in Alaska in seven years and the only one in the 6-million-acre park’s recorded history, going back more than 90 years, the Park Service said.

“It’s an extremely rare event, and it’s not common that we even have injuries related to bears,” said park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin. “We don’t see a lot, and we think some of that is due to our education.”

But the man — identified late Saturday as 49-year-old San Diego, Calif., resident Richard White — apparently ignored key parts of that education, which the Park Service says he received prior to heading into the Denali wilderness, in part of the park where there are no trails. Photos on White’s camera showed he stayed near the bear, instead of leaving the area, as required by his permit, park officials said.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers assisting park rangers shot a large male grizzly Saturday believed to have killed White and cached his body the day before, the Park Service said. The rangers had been unable to recover White’s remains for more than 24 hours, but retrieved him late Saturday, a park spokeswoman said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Democrats control Alaska’s Senate even though the GOP has the majority

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A majority coalition known as the “Alaska Senate Bipartisan Working Group,” is the controlling power in the state senate. The group consists of ten Democrats and six Republican members. So, although the Alaska Senate is under the leadership of Republicans, the Democratic controlled caucus effectively rules the roost and decides what bills are allowed to come up for committee hearings and before the floor for a vote.

Democrats Hollis French — Senate Judiciary Chair — and Johnny Ellis — Chair of the Senate Rules Committee — are prominent members of this controversial alliance. They’ve stopped tax relief for oil companies wanting to develop oil resources, thereby grinding to a halt resource development and economic growth through jobs that would have been created as well low cost energy for Alaskans.

Another consequence of this band of liberal Democrats and the Republicans who have thrown their hat in with them, is that they have vociferously stifled and blocked virtually all pro-life legislation. Two examples, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban (HB301) and Parental Consent Bill (HB364), were passed in the House but blocked from even getting a hearing by French.

The Democrat coalition comes into sharp focus when looking into the Senate Seat D race, encompassing District 7 & 8 of the Valley. Mike Dunleavy has pledged to not join the current “bi-partisan” Senate majority that is controlled by liberal Democrats. His opponent, incumbent Linda Menard, is a member of this liberal coalition that has turned our State Senate into a “graveyard” for almost all conservative legislation.

Mike has been endorsed by Alaska Right to Life PAC and Alaska Family Action Inc., Conservative Patriots Group and Alaska Outdoor Council.

Mike Dunleavy has a strong family background, extensive business and educational experience in our state and the Valley. Mike’s work history includes serving as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent; running the Mat-Su correspondence program; managing the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project; heading up the University of Alaska’s K-12 outreach program; and currently working as the President of the Mat-Su School Board.

Mike Dunleavy has earned respect and strong support because he has proven on a consistent basis that he not only “talks the talk” about conservative values and principle, but he “walks the walk.” Electing Dunleavy may very likely restore control of our state’s Senate to conservative hands.

Alaskan Navy Seal who wrote book on bin Laden killing identified, faces likely probe

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On Wednesday this week, Reuters reported that a Navy Seal had written a book about the mission that killed Osama bin Laden. The book, entitled “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden,” was written by a former Seal Team Six member under the pseudonym of “Mark Owen” along with co-author Kevin Maurer. The publisher states that it will be released on 9/11.

According to Reuters:

The U.S. government was surprised by the news that a Navy SEAL who participated in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan has written a book about the operation in which the al Qaeda leader was killed, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. . . It was not vetted by government agencies to ensure that no secrets were revealed.

The agencies not consulted included the Pentagon and the CIA. The publisher, Dutton of the U.S. Penguin Group, responded:

The book was vetted by a former special operations attorney. He vetted it for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security.

After a bit of sleuthing, Fox News discovered that the author was part of the elite team that killed three Somalian pirates who had taken control of an American vessel in the Indian Ocean in 2009, and that

“Mark Owen,” the pseudonym under which the book was written, is actually 35 year-old Matt Bissonnette of Wrangell, Alaska. Bissonnette held the rank of chief in the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 prior to retiring. He was one of the first men in the room where bin Laden died, witnessing the occurrence first-hand.

Some have called Fox’s decision to publicize Bissonnette’s name and location “astonishing” as it most certainly puts the former Navy Seal at risk of reprisal by Islamic fanatics.  Fox disagreed, noting that anyone who publishes such a book loses any reasonable expectation of privacy.  The network also contended that Bissonnette’s goal is to publicly confront Obama for “taking credit” for the raid, since he had cited the need to “set the record straight.”

It now appears that Obama may be attempting to preempt this confrontation. According to Reuters, Bissonnette is likely to face a Department of Defense probe over his failure to have the book “cleared” prior to publication:

Colonel Tim Nye, spokesman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, which directs operations by Navy SEALs and other special operations forces, said on Thursday that SOCOM did not review the book before publication, nor had the SEALs.

Nye said that because the book had not been subjected to appropriate pre-publication review, it could become a target of “potential investigation” by government authorities.

Unfortunately for Obama, “any such inquiry was unlikely to be launched until after the book’s publication, scheduled for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States.”

 

Attorney conceived in rape to speak in Anchorage, comments on Akin controversy

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By Steven Ertelt. Rebecca Kiessling, a pro-life attorney from Michigan, fully understands the national debate going on concerning the controversial comments Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin made about abortion and rape. Kiessling was conceived when her mother was victimized by a rapist.  [She contends that discussion of “legitimate rape” has no place in a pro-life candidate’s discussion of abortion]:

“If you are 100% pro-life with no rape exceptions, there is no need to question the veracity of a rape victims’ account, because you are against all abortions. It would not matter if a woman was not or not raped,” she stated.

While abortion advocates often talk about supporting a woman’s right to privacy, Kiessling says rape exceptions in abortion laws turn that notion on its head.

“Rape exceptions in the law actually put the government in the position of having to ascertain when the child was conceived, who the father is, whether the child was conceived during the alleged rape or during intercourse with her husband or boyfriend, and if the child was conceived during the time frame of the alleged rape, then the government would need to determine whether the sexual intercourse was consensual or not,” she explained. “So rape exceptions serve to perpetuate the injustice against rape victims that their accounts are to be viewed with skepticism, and it further leaves the majority of impregnated rape victims wholly unprotected under the law. Rape exceptions suggest that a “real rape victim” couldn’t possibly love “the rapist’s baby” and that rape victim mothers don’t exist.”  Read more from this story HERE.

On October 11, 2012, Ms. Kiessling will be speaking at the annual Alaska Right to Life Dinner in Anchorage:

Rebecca Kiessling is a Family Law attorney, adoptee, and home school adoptive mother of 5 children — the oldest two are adopted. She delivers a powerful presentation of her own life story, “Conceived in Rape: From Worthless to Priceless.” Rebecca was adopted nearly from birth and, like many adoptees, struggled with issues of value, identity and purpose. At 18, Rebecca was devastated to learn that she was conceived out of a brutal rape at knifepoint by a serial rapist. Rebecca believes her life was spared for a purpose, and has devoted herself to fighting for the rights of the innocent unborn and to raising her 5 children to know their own value, identity and purpose in Christ.

The sit-down dinner will begin promptly at 7 p.m. and the program will immediately follow. This event is being underwritten so there is no charge to attend, however this banquet is the most important fundraiser of the year for Alaska Right to Life and a financial appeal will be made. Register by phone or email.