Greens: Obama Climate Legacy at Risk Over Arctic Drilling

obamaalaska_082715gettyPresident Obama will visit Alaska on Tuesday in the midst of a fight with environmental groups, who argue he is putting his climate legacy at risk by allowing Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic waters off the state’s northern coast . . .

In the final quarter of his presidency, Obama intends to use the dramatic backdrop to highlight his administration’s efforts to combat global warming — an issue he’s looked to address through broad and controversial new regulations and international accords.

It’s a legacy Obama has done much to burnish in his second term, but one green groups argue will be jeopardized by the new Alaska drilling . . .

“President Obama is heading on a trip to Alaska to talk about climate change,” the group says on its website. “There is no clearer symbol of the self-defeating hypocrisy of his policies on energy and climate” . . .

“I know there are Americans who are concerned about oil companies drilling in environmentally sensitive waters. Some are also concerned with my administration’s decision to approve Shell’s application to drill a well off the Alaskan coast, using leases they purchased before I took office,” Obama said in his weekly address. (Read more from “Greens: Obama Climate Legacy at Risk Over Arctic Drilling” HERE)

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Rand Paul, Fresh off Caucus Victory, Will Campaign in Alaska

140814142020-rand-paul-iowa-story-topAn average of presidential polls in Iowa puts Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at just 3.3 percent support. An average of polls in New Hampshire puts him at 6.3 percent. In national polls, he’s just above the threshold to make the next Republican debate, hosted by CNN.

Naturally, Rand Paul is heading to Alaska.

On Tuesday, Paul will begin a five-state march, across a part of the country that will not hold primaries or caucuses until after 2016’s “Super Tuesday.” Paul will begin in Anchorage, Alaska, fly to Fairbanks, shoot down to Seattle, then go east to Spokane and the cities of western Idaho. On Thursday, he’ll speak at a Republican Party BBQ at the Idaho Falls home of GOP mega-donor Frank VanderSloot, who is best known for claiming that the IRS slapped him with audits after he donated to a pro-Mitt Romney super PAC. On Friday, Paul will campaign across Wyoming with Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), one of his earliest congressional endorsers. And Labrador will follow him down to Utah.

Why the West — and why now? It’s part of a strategy to build campaign networks early, taking advantage of the infrastructure and goodwill left by Paul’s father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Idaho will hold caucuses on March 8, and Alaska and Washington will vote together on March 26. (Utah and Wyoming have not locked in dates yet.) Ron Paul performed credibly in each of those states, with 24 percent in Alaska, 25 percent in Washington, and 18 percent in Idaho.

“Alaska has a tradition for having a libertarian bent,” Rand Paul explained in an interview last week. “Washington has a big liberty movement. I think there’s room for growth. They’re early caucuses, and we already have strong support out there, with the endorsements from Raul Labrador and Cynthia Lummis.” (Read more from “Rand Paul, Fresh off Caucus Victory, Will Campaign in Alaska” HERE)

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Nationwide Campaign to Shutdown Planned Parenthood Launches Today

Pro-life-prayer-1160x480On Aug. 22, pro-lifers in Alaska will join thousands around the nation in praying and fasting to end abortion and shut down Planned Parenthood.

The gathering is part of a nation-wide effort, Aug. 22-29, to pray and protest outside Planned Parenthood clinics following the release of undercover videos showing the abortion giant harvesting body parts of aborted babies and then haggling over the value of each part with prospective buyers.

In Anchorage pro-life advocates will gather outside the Planned Parenthood clinic at 4001 East Lake Otis Parkway from 9-11 a.m.

In an email to pro-life advocates local organizer Jane McCoy urged Alaskans to turn out on Saturday.

“Planned Parenthood has been the largest abortion provider in our country for decades, but the extent of their perverse inhumanity toward these tiniest of humans was not fully understood until the recent release of videos exposing their exploitation of these innocents through the dissection and harvesting of their precious organs for profit,” she said. “Please be a part of this nation-wide on Saturday, if you are able.”

Prayers for the interdenominational effort can be found at PrayerCampaign.org. (Re-posted with permission, “Nationwide Campaign to Shutdown Planned Parenthood Launches Today” originally appeared HERE)

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Transgender Madness: Anchorage Schools Allowing Boys to Use Girls’ Bathrooms, Locker Rooms

Transgender TroopIn yet another indicator that Alaska is not immune from the insanity that has gripped much of the rest of the nation, the Anchorage school district is implementing a directive from its “Compliance/Equal Employment Opportunity Office” mandating that boys (or girls) who prefer to use the restrooms or locker rooms of the opposite sex be allowed to do so.

Announced in the Compliance/Equal Employment Opportunity Office’s “Administrative Guidelines: Working with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students and Employees,” dated July 20, 2015, the Anchorage school district is now accommodating any child who wants to share a bathroom or locker room with an opposite-sexed student.

This policy appears to be compulsory. In fact, the “guidelines” state that “staff should not require a transgender or gender nonconforming student/employee to use a separate, nonintegrated space unless requested by the individual student/employee.” This mandate is underlined. In other words, even if a little girl, or her parents, objects to a boy using shared shower space with that girl, those objections are ignored and the preferences of the child with the sexual disorder/perversion are honored.

Effectively, the Anchorage school district is saying, “To Hell with the privacy rights of a child of the opposite sex who wishes to avoid being ogled by her perverted classmate.”

Incredibly, the Equal Opportunity Office also provides that:

Any transgender or gender nonconforming student/employee who is uncomfortable using a shared restroom or locker room regardless of the reason; shall, upon request, be provided with a safe and non-stigmatizing alternative. This may include, for example, addition of a privacy partition or curtain, use of a nearby private restroom or office, or a separate changing schedule.

There is much more to Anchorage’s new “Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” policy than this, including eliminating compulsory “sex-segregated facilities.”

This transgender madness will only end if concerned citizens like you engage and speak boldly, unapologetically, and publicly about why such policies are detrimental to our community. If your efforts fail and the schools ignore you, yank your children out of their system and place them in alternative schooling, such as private or home schools.

Anchorage School District’s Administrative Guidelines: Working With Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students and Employees

The following is a copy of the Anchorage, Alaska School District’s Administrative Guidelines on Working with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students and Employees. According to one district teacher, these “guidelines” are being introduced in training now and are presented as mandatory requirements for district schools. Read this recent article on the new standards.

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Four Missing After Landslides in Alaska

150818-sitka-alaska-landslide-kramer-drive-0940p_efd868428799e371b286aa87b09a38c4.nbcnews-ux-320-320Four people in the Alaska community of Sitka are missing after rains apparently triggered a series of landslides Tuesday, authorities said . . .

“We have had about two-and-a-half inches of rain in the last 24 hours and that caused three landslides and a sinkhole,” spokesperson Sara Peterson told the station.

A state of emergency has been declared in Sitka, a town and borough of about 9,000 people located in the far southeast portion of the state, in a mountainous area. Gov. Bill Walker said he will travel to Sitka Wednesday to survey the damage.

“It’s a very grim situation. Our prayers are going to go out to all those in Sitka,” Walker said. “I think the weather has changed a bit, but still concerned about potential additional slides,” he said. (Read more from “Four Missing After Landslides in Alaska” HERE)

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Feds Give Shell Permission to Drill for Oil in Alaska for First Time in 20 Years

<> on July 9, 2015 in Shishmaref, Alaska.The federal government on Monday gave Royal Dutch Shell the final permit it needs to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska’s northwest coast for the first time in more than two decades.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced that it approved the permit to drill below the ocean floor after the oil giant brought in a required piece of equipment to stop a possible well blowout.

The agency previously allowed Shell to begin drilling only the top sections of two wells in the Chukchi Sea because the key equipment, called a capping stack, was stuck on a vessel that needed repair in Portland, Oregon.

Since the vessel arrived last week, Shell is free to drill into oil-bearing rock, estimated at 8,000 feet below the ocean floor, for the first time since its last exploratory well was drilled in 1991.

“Activities conducted offshore Alaska are being held to the highest safety, environmental protection, and emergency response standards,” agency Director Brian Salerno said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to monitor their work around the clock to ensure the utmost safety and environmental stewardship.” (Read more from “Feds Give Shell Permission to Drill for Oil in Alaska for First Time in 20 Years” HERE)

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Measure Introduced to Compel Anchorage Christians to Violate Conscience, Serve, Hire, Work for Cross-Dressers, Homosexuals

anchorage_rainbowAnchorage Assemblyman Bill Evans has introduced a measure to force Christian landlords, business owners and others with religious objections to homosexuality and/or other sexual disorders, to violate conscience in their business practices.

Evans, who somehow won the endorsement of the Alaska Family Council’s political arm (Alaska Family Action) in his last election, issued the following press release:

On Thursday, Anchorage Assemblyman Bill Evans filed with the Anchorage Municipal Clerk’s Office a new ordinance that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected categories under the Municipality’s equal rights law.

The goal of the ordinance, according to Evans, is to provide a balanced approach that respects the rights of everyone affected by this
issue.

“The ability of every person in society to be judged based upon their skill, accomplishments, and talents, and not because of some immutable characteristics, is a result we should encourage. At a time when we need more citizens to be productive income generators, we cannot tolerate impediments to employment that are not based on actual performance,” stated Evans, a longtime employment attorney and former two-time Chairman of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.

Evans claims that religious liberty is protected by an exemption he drafted but his proposed language is exceptionally narrow and would fail to protect that vast majority of traditional Christians who have strong religious convictions about homosexuality and gender identity issues.

Upon hearing about Evans’ proposal, one Anchorage conservative activist bluntly emailed, “War has begun.”

Activists are rightly concerned, given Mayor Berkowitz’s unequivocal support for “anything goes” sexuality. That support, along with the liberal votes on the Anchorage Assembly, almost ensure passage of Evan’s measure.

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Alaska Republican Party Announces that Rand Paul is Visiting Alaska

rand-paul-profile-apThe Alaska Republican Party Communications Director Susan Downing announced in an email circulated among activists that 2016 Presidential Candidate Senator Rand Paul is coming to Alaska on August 25. He has apparently scheduled trips to both Anchorage and Fairbanks.

From the August 13, 2015 email:

We’ve gotten confirmation that presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul will be in Alaska on Aug. 25 for events in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Our understanding is that he will be in Anchorage during the morning and two events will be announced soon. He’ll spend the afternoon in Fairbanks. There will be rallies in both locations, and possibly other events.

This is very exciting — one of the top candidates coming to Alaska. We’ll send more news as we learn the details, but this is for your calendar.

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Man in Bear Costume Harasses Bears in Alaska

downloadAuthorities want to talk to a man who donned a fairly realistic bear costume — head and all — and wore it when harassing a bear and two sows trying to feed on pink salmon in an Alaska river.

The incident happened Monday on the Chilkoot River near Haines, said Alaska Fish and Game Assistant Area Management Biologist Mark Sogge . . .

A crowd had gathered at a weir, used to count fish, because the sow and two cubs have frequently been showing up there to feed during the salmon run. (Read more from “Man in Bear Costume Harasses Bears in Alaska” HERE)

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