“Destroying a wild salmon stream to sell coal to China is about the worst idea in Alaska’s proud history of salmon protection. We’ve always promoted responsible mines. But this one is irresponsible,” said Representative Les Gara, of state plans allowing dredging of eleven miles of the Chuitna River’s tributaries to keep moving forward.
Read More →House Democrats welcome the signs of progress and new exploration
Today, Alaska House Democrats released a letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that indicates the agency may be prepared to approve ConocoPhillips Alaska’s plans to expand the Alpine unit into the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (NPR-A).
“We know there is more work to be done, but we take this as a very positive indication that this important development for Alaska could be moving forward soon,” said Rep. Bob Miller (D-Fairbanks).
Read More →The Alaska District believed it had all of the necessary documentation by the middle of September 2011, to revise the Record Of Decision (ROD) and prepare an initial permit decision. However, after recent meetings between Conoco Phillips Alaska, Incorporated (CPAI) and other agencies, CPAI informed the Alaska District that it would submit project design changes. These changes were received on October 19, 2011, and must be assessed as part of the final ROD decision. I have asked my staff to continue to monitor the progress of this action and report to me.
Read More →Rep. Gara's UAA Oil Tax Debate Presentation video - Smarter Ways To Go than Giving Away $1.8 Billion a Year With No Commitments for New Exploration or Production
Read More →Link to the Powerpoint Slides in PDF format: http://www.akdemocrats.org/gara/111411_Max_AK_Share_PP.pdf
Read More →Giving oil revenue away for nothing didn’t work before and won’t work now
Today, Representative Les Gara articulated why giving away billions of dollars of Alaska’s oil revenue as the governor proposes will not increase development on the North Slope but will instead wipe out the $15 billion in savings Alaska has achieved under the current law, putting Alaska’s economy, now and into the future, at great risk. Rep. Gara made his case in a debate on the governor’s proposed multi-billion dollar oil giveaway hosted by the Union of Students (USUAA) student government at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
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