Protecting Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains since 1995.
I remember ice floes in fast-moving water and hoarfrost on cars. I remember a steaming volcano in the distance. I remember 100 bald eagles in the trees. In late 1995, I drove down the Kenai Peninsula to accept the job running Cook Inletkeeper. It felt like another world. The year before, a dedicated group of […]
Most people donât know about the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia in 1921, or how, more recently, it helped shape resource development in Alaska. But this forgotten history is vital, because as the poet Maya Angelou famously put it: âYou canât really know where youâre going until you know where you have been.â […]
Decades-Old Regulations Currently Allow Use of Toxic Chemicals after Oil Spills A federal district court judge ruled on August 9 in favor of Inletkeeper and a coalition of individuals and environmental groups and ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its decades-old regulations on the use of toxic chemical dispersants in oil spill […]
If you were alive in the 1970s, you probably remember the âCrying Native Americanâ ad. It came in the wake of the first Earth Day, when millions of Americans flocked to the streets, driven by fresh visions of burning pollution in Ohioâs Cuyahoga River and the outrage of blackened California beaches after the Unocal oil […]
Alaskans are blessed with an abundance unlike anywhere else. And that abundance translates to a richness of life we all savor. Itâs hard to find anyone who voted for Trump or Biden who disagrees: we all love Alaska. So, why are we squandering this rich legacy for short term profit? And why are we allowing […]
When President Biden took office, he promptly delivered on his campaign promise to address climate change by pausing new oil and gas leasing in federal waters until his Administration could review the leasing program. The pause put the brakes on proposed federal Lease Sale 258, which had been rushed through in a matter of months […]
In the complex interplay between corporate profits and environmental protection, it can be hard to connect the dots to understand the larger picture. Inletkeeper is now engaged on two fronts which at first may appear disconnected, but on closer inspection, reveal a troubling linkage that requires heightened scrutiny. [Click here now to tell EPA we […]
As Alaska girds for a future without the wave of petrodollars that fueled our early years, itâs time we decide how best to protect and develop the incredible natural resources that make the Great Land unique. A new report makes clear that hard rock mining will not fill the fiscal gap left by flagging oil […]
A few minutes after midnight on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef, a glaring navigation hazard in Prince William Sound. The rest is history. Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS). And as we look back on the devastation and heartbreak wrought by the EVOS, itâs important […]
On January 15, the Dunleavy Administration welcomed-in 2021 with new proposed rules to strip Alaskans of our rights to keep water in our streams and lakes to protect our fish (see original post, below). Now, in response to strong public pushback, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has extended the public comment period until […]
Cook Inletkeeper today applauded the decision by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to cancel public hearings around the proposed million-acre Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258 in Lower Cook Inlet. BOEMâs move comes in the wake of President Bidenâs January 27 Executive Order placing a pause on all oil and gas leasing […]
In early January, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) spit out an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 1 million acre + Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258. BOEM spent a mere 3 months on the EIS; never before had the federal government rushed through an environmental review so quickly, and BOEM’s haste […]
In the last brutal days of the Trump Administration, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) threw a desperate lifeline to the oil and gas industry. On January 13, BOEM released a rushed and haphazard draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to pave the way for a million-acre oil and gas lease sale in the […]
The manufactured upheaval around this yearâs Presidential election begs a vital question: how do we address our societyâs most pressing issues when facts and science have been thrown under the bus? By all accounts, our communications ecosystem today is toxic. Shadowy ânewsâ sites sprout like mushrooms, amplified by profit-driven, social media algorithms and funded with […]
Early last September, as fishermen left the Homer Harbor for nearby cod and halibut fishing grounds, the 273â seismic vessel Polarcus Alima darkened the horizon in Kachemak Bay. The massive vessel – under contract to Hilcorp – proceeded to blast seismic airguns for weeks on end in a quest to explore for more oil and […]
This past week, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council sent shockwaves across Alaska when it abruptly closed commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Lower Cook Inlet. The closure resulted from the State of Alaskaâs blanket refusal to work with the federal government to co-manage the salmon fishery in Lower Cook Inlet. The irony […]
On the day before Thanksgiving, Alaskans woke to astounding news: the Army Corps rejected a major permit for the Pebble mine. Never before had the Army Corps rejected a major permit for a large oil, gas or mining project in Alaska. Never. And it only came about after years and years of relentless pressure from […]
When I was young and my mom thought I was running with the wrong crowd, she had a simple admonition: if you lay down in the gutter, you get up dirty. That was long ago. But today, when I look at our industry âpartnersâ in Alaska, it feels like weâre wallowing in the gutter. While […]
Today another public relations bombshell tore into the Pebble Partnership, with the release of new tapes by the Environmental Investigation Agency showing Northern Dynastyâs Ron Thiessen bragging about the companyâs political influence over Alaska Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski. Thiessen also boasts how Alaskans will pay at least $1.5 billion for the roads, ports […]
Background: The Exxon Valdez Trustees Council (EVOSTC) was established after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill to oversee restoration of the injured ecosystem through the use of the $900 million civil settlement. The Council consists of three state and three federal trustees (or their designees). The Council is advised by members of the public and by members of […]
Forty-five years ago a group of Alaskans with a passion for Cook Inlet took on the oil and gas industry. And in a remarkable David and Goliath battle, they prevailed. Thanks to this small but dogged group of fishermen, scientists, artists and activists, the epic view across Kachemak Bay – and the remarkable resources of […]
In late September, the âPebble Tapesâ dropped like a bomb on the Pebble Partnership, blasting public relations shrapnel through the Canadian corporation that will draw blood for a long time. As Pebble staggers through the smoke and fog of the Pebble Tapeâs fallout, itâs engaging some tried and true corporate strategies for damage control. But […]
As the fishing season hit its stride this summer, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune sent a letter to commercial fishermen about the hazards of dumping raw sewage close to shore. And while sewage management â especially on smaller boats â can be a challenge, Mr. Brune was right. Itâs illegal to dump […]
Another hardrock mine has reared its head in Cook Inlet, and itâs raising big questions from local property owners, fishermen and businesses. In late August, Inletkeeper flew to the west side of Cook Inlet to meet with local residents and representatives of High Gold – the junior Canadian mining interest currently exploring the Johnson Tract. […]
Talk is cheap, but numbers donât lie. Northern Dynasty Minerals (NAK) – the junior Candian mining interest behind the proposed Pebble mine – did its damndest to hype its stock in the lead-up to the much-anticipated release of its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) earlier this month. And while it came as no surprise the Army […]
Alaskaâs land, water and communities are facing a climate crisis, and we all know the problem. Surface air temperatures in the Arctic are rising at twice the rate of average global warming. A hotter, more arid atmosphere is melting the stateâs iconic glaciers at a troubling pace, aggravating destructive forest fires. Climate change-induced ocean acidification […]
Massive spending on lobbyists gives foreign mining interests unfair advantage over everyday Alaskans A new compilation by Cook Inletkeeper from U.S. Senate Lobbying Reports shows the Canadian mining interests behind the proposed Pebble mine have spent more than $15 million since 2007 on high-priced lobbyists to buy their way to federal permits. And since 2017 […]
Mike Dunleavy recently flew all the way to the east coast to stand by Donald Trump as he gutted rules under the nationâs âenvironmental magna cartaâ â the National Environmental Policy Act. Of course Mike Dunleavy has contorted himself in any number of ways to coddle a President whoâs handling of the COVID pandemic has […]
There is an enduring struggle in Cook Inlet to maintain a balance between developing oil and natural gas resources while also protecting the watershedâs rich biodiversity and thriving tourism and fishing industries. To date, the scale has tipped in favor of development, and one of the most irrevocable outcomes may be the extinction of the […]
First impressions are often telling. Inletkeeper first met with Northern Dynasty in Homer in 2005, before the Candian junior mining interest – which had never before developed a mining project – formed the Pebble Limited Partnership. The meeting was cordial but somewhat fraught, because Northern Dynasty had recently announced plans to dig a massive hole […]
On June 2, 2020, a federal court ruled the Trump EPA must revise rules governing the Clean Water Act’s National Contingency Plan – which covers oil spill prevention and response in Alaska and across the United States. Inletkeeper joined Alaska Natives and other plaintiffs in the litigation to force EPA to comply with the law […]
TAKE ACTION NOW: https://inletkeeper.org/hilcorpdumping/ CHECK OUT OUR SHORT VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT5Fqlfbubs In todayâs increasingly greedy world, oil and gas companies will go to just about any length to make as much profit as possible. And Texas-based Hilcorp is the poster child for profits at any cost. Since it gobbled up the lionâs share of oil and […]
Government bureaucrats love to highlight Alaskaâs work protecting our environment, because it helps sell the idea that Alaskaâs âopen for business.â The big mining, oil and gas corporations also like to tout Alaskaâs green bona fides, because it helps insulate them from public criticism. Thereâs only one problem: itâs all a lie. Thatâs because Alaskaâs […]
When Pebbleâs draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) came out last year, it was widely panned as a superficial nothing burger, designed simply to push the project to the next stage of the process. How bad was it? So bad that agencies reporting to Donald Trump and Mike Dunleavy had this to say: The Department of […]
When it comes to development projects like the Pebble mine, our state agencies in Alaska are supposed to be neutral arbiters. They can call balls and strikes, and but theyâre not supposed to hit home runs for one side or another. But a recent letter from the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources makes […]
Alaskans fighting the Pebble mine have largely focused their ire on Senator Lisa Murkowski, because sheâs the more moderate politician and someone who might actually do something. Dan Sullivan, on the other hand, has largely escaped scrutiny, because Alaskans know heâs a shameless toady for the billionaire Koch dynasty and deep in the pocket of […]
Barack Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel once famously said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you could not do before.” Emmanuel must have had a crystal ball to channel the Trump Administration when he uttered those prescient words. […]
Today, Cook Inletkeeper joined four Native Tribes in a legal challenge to the Dunleavy Administrationâs decision to let Donlin Gold build a 315 mile-long gas pipeline across hundreds of fish streams from Cook Inlet to Donlinâs mine site next to the Kuskokwim River. Lawyers from Earthjustice filed the lawsuit in Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage […]
The Iditarod is truly the Last Great Race. But it has also struggled for funding in recent years, and in 2016, it capitulated to major sponsors â including Donlin Gold â to install a âgag rule,â which prohibits mushers from criticizing race sponsors, among others. Rule 53 of the Iditarod Official 2020 Rules states: âAll Iditarod mushers will be held […]
Inletkeeper recently reported about Alaskaâs unenviable status as the most toxic state in America due to pollution from large metal mines. Today, a new report issued today by Earthworks pulls back the curtain on Alaskaâs phony permitting scheme, with key findings about pollution violations from large Alaskan mines that include: 100% – All five mines […]
Itâs curious why any Governor would continually poke a stick into the eye of his constituents, but Mike Dunleavy seems to have a unique penchant for it. In just the past several months, Mike Dunleavyâs apparent distaste for coastal Alaskans has taken a variety of forms, including: Loss of Ferry Service:Â In perhaps his biggest […]
In 1984, a cyanide gas leak from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people in whatâs been called the worldâs worst industrial disaster. Less than a year after the Bhopal disaster, a Union Carbide plant in Institute, West Virginia, suffered another chemical leak which sent dozens of […]
On  January 28, the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) announced it had been overestimating the number of endangered beluga whales for years in Cook Inlet, and said the âpopulation is estimated to be smaller and declining more quickly than previously thought.â Two days later, Inletkeeper joined the Center for Biological Diversity in a notice of […]
UPDATE – FEBRUARY 3, 2020. Today, Goldman Sachs responded to the letter (see below) from over 550 Alaskans applauding its decision to stop funding fossil fuel projects in the Arctic. In a short letter, Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO David Solomon wrote “climate transition is a critical priority” for the company. While this of course […]
Whatâs Happening: The Alaska Department of Fish & Game recently issued a public notice to repeal the current ban on jetskis and other personal watercraft in the Kachemak Bay Critical Habitat Area. The deadline for comments has been extended to no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 21, 2020 The Substance Problem: The Alaska Legislature created […]
Itâs safe to say Mike Dunleavy is the least popular governor in state history, and for good reason. He ran for office on a wave of dark money, with the phony promise every Alaskan would get a $6,700 PFD check. Then he locked arms with the billionaire Koch Brothers and their front group Americans for […]
Local businesses, voters and property owners around Lower Cook Inlet responded recently to the Dunleavy Administrationâs abrupt decision last week to unravel safeguards to Kachemak Bay. On November 19, ADFG staff notified its planning team the âgovernorâs office decided to repeal the PWC [Personal Watercraft] prohibitionâ for the Kachemak Bay Critical Habitat Area. The notice […]
In the 1960âs and 1970âs, Americans joined together to secure some of the best air, land and water protections in the world. Then the pendulum started to swing back, with billions of dollars from corporations, think tanks and phony âastroturfâ groups pushing an aggressive anti-consumer, anti-environment agenda. Today, from Koch Industries to Exxon, and from […]
Hilcorpâs seismic air gun blasting program started in full force this past weekend, with the seismic vessel Polarcus Alima running transects across some of the most important fish and whale habitat in Lower Cook Inlet. You can get an update on Hilcorp’s daily seismic blasting plans here, and you can call-in every morning at 10:00 […]
As fishermen left the Homer Harbor Monday morning (September 9) to longline halibut in Lower Cook Inlet, the 273â seismic vessel Polarcus Alima darkened the horizon in Kachemak Bay. The vessel had turned off its AIS vessel tracking system after leaving Japan last week, but local fishermen and whale scientists quickly spotted the giant vessel […]
