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 by the Trump...
Weaker Oil Spill Rules Dovetail with the Need for Stronger Dispersants Safeguards
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...
Living, Working, & Farming in a Salmon Landscape: Embracing an Alaskan Land Ethic
Conservationist and ecologist Aldo Leopold published his pivotal essay Land Ethic in 1949. Central to this essay is a call for honoring our moral responsibility to the natural world, by caring not only about ourselves, but also the land, and the inseparable relationships between them. Land Ethic demands thinking and action beyond our own...
New Report Shows Mining Not Alaska’s Next Golden Goose
As Alaska girds for a future without the wave of petrodollars that fueled our early years, it’s 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 and gas production and revenues. The...
On the Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Disaster, Complacency & Neglect Are Roaring Back
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, it’s important to recognize what led to...
Dunleavy Launches Yet Another Assault on Wild Alaskan Salmon
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 April...
Inletkeeper Applauds Halt to Cook Inlet Oil & Gas Lease Sale Process
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. BOEM’s move comes in the wake of President Biden’s January 27 Executive Order placing a pause on all oil and gas leasing on federal...
Take Action to Protect Lower Cook Inlet from Oil & Gas Pollution
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 is a damning indictment of...
Trump Throws Lifeline to Big Oil With Last-Second Inlet Lease Sale
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 rich and productive waters...
Imagining the Future We Want into Being
What is the common thread between Concord, NH; Denton, TX; Norman, OK and a growing number of American cities? They all have a commitment to 100% clean energy within the next 30 years. The transition from fossil fuels to renewables is inevitable. What’s not inevitable is that this transition is just and, in the words of Bill McKibben, “people...
