Business of Clean Energy in Alaska Conference 2011 - Murkowski

 I'm at the Business of Clean Energy in Alaska conference at the Denaina Center. 


Lisa Murkowski just spoke following welcome comments from  Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell and Renewable Energy Alaska Project executive director. 

She began by saying the key is to both more energy production and reduction of energy use.  There are more than 27,000 homes that need weatherization upgrades and sorry that this wasn't funded again.  Better in helping homeowners affording jumps in energy prices.  Live heat did relatively well in the budget.  The debate going ahead in Congress will be with critical eye to the budget, it will be tough for us here in the state.  Whether weatherization, live heat or federal money to advance our clean energy technologies.  We need to be independent to futher build out our renewable energy technologies.  It's not a shortage of resources.  Was in Chevak and Hooper Bay to see the wind turbines beginning to offset those energy prices - not there yet, but will be.  We have best hydro electric potential in the nation.  Already 28 projects in state which provide about 24% of our energy.  Ocean potential.  These could potentially produce 3 times more than we currently consume.  We have 33,000 miles of coastline.  We need to learn to tie into it.  No shortage of resources, but turning them into energy.  We've seen CIRI's frustration with getting energy companies to sign on on Fire Island.  Red tape by NEPA for Naknek projects. 


Three hydro bills - last one calls all environmentally acceptable?? projects as renewable energy. 


We're onto the first panel now. 

Delta Junction and Tok, Nome and Kotzebue, Unalaska and Cold Bay - Your Turn with Redistricting Board Today, Tuesday

The Board members are headed out in pairs Tuesday, April 26 and altogether they'll visit 6 locations.  They've completed two options for the draft plan.  Now they have until June 14 to submit a final plan.  So now is your chance to tell them what's good and bad about what they've done with your districts.

The board will have statewide maps to hand out at the meetings and lots of maps on the wall, but if you want the detailed maps of your own districts go to their website where you can download pdf files and print them out.  Click for the option 1 maps and the option 2 maps. 
You  can get maps of the current districts here.

According to staff, board chair, John Torgerson, former legislator from Fairbanks, and board member Bob Brody, a Kodiak Realtor, will be in Delta Junction and Tok.

Delta Junction folks - Your meeting is 10 - 12 noon at the Delta Junction City Council Chambers.   In Option 1 you are in District 2 and in Option 2 you are in District 12.

The proposed districts go from almost Fairbanks along the mainly on the east of the Richardson Highway to Valdez and most of Prince William Sound except for Whittier. 

BrdOp1Dist2

The only difference I can tell is that Option 2 includes a lot of land with few if any people - much of it around the Denali Highway almost to Cantwell. You can get a pdf of District 12 here.


Tok folks - Your meeting is from 3pm - 5pm at the Tok Legislative Information Office.  Your district 6 is the super district.  It goes from Southwest Alaska (Holy Cross, Anvik) up north (Wiseman, Venetie) over and around Fairbanks (Nenana, Manley Hot Springs, Ester) and then down along the Canadian Border (Eagle) south Chitina and McCarthy.)

AK Redistricting Board Op1Dist6


Board members Marie Greene, CEO of Nana Regional Corporation from Kotzebue, and PeggyAnn McConnochie, a realtor from Juneau, will be visiting Nome and Kotzebue.

Nome Folks - 10am - 12 noon at the Nome City Council Chambers.   Nome is in District 39 in both options and in both looks to be pretty much the same.  The district is the far West including Shishmaref, Wales, Diomede, Nome, down to Hooper Bay and Russian Mission.

AK Redistricting Board Option 1 - Dist39



Kotzebue folks - You're scheduled for 3pm to 5pm at the NW Arctic Borough Assembly Chambers.  You're in District 40 which looks pretty much like your old district.  It includes the far North from Buckland and Kotzebue, Point Hope, to Kaktovik.

 AK Redistricting Brd Op1Dist40



The last team consists of Board Member Jim Holms, former legislator from Fairbanks and  Board executive direction Ron Miller.  They're scheduled for Unalaska and Cold  Bay.


Unalaska folks - You're on from 1pm to 3pm at the Unalaska City Council Chambers.  You are in District 37 which looks the same in both options.  You're gaining a chunk of the old District 38 which includes Quinhagak, Goodnews Bay, and Platinum from the 2001 Districts and part of the old 36 on the west which includes: Port Alsworth, Nondalton, Newhalen,  Iliamna,  Igiugig, and Pedro Bay.

Cold Bay folks - Your meeting is 7pm - 9pm at the City of Cold Bay Community Center.  You are in the same district as Unalaska - 37 - so the map above applies to you too.

So, what should you do at these meetings?  The Board hasn't given out a lot of information, but you can check out the criteria they are using on their website and see if the maps meet the redistricting guidelines.  These are things like:  socio-economic cohesion, compactness, and equal sizes for all districts with minimum deviation. 

The Alaska Redistricting Board tab above lists all the other posts I've done on the board with short descriptions.

Hooper Bay Student's Job Shadowing Trip to Juneau

Now, if I had a degree in journalism I'd have gotten her name spelled out and a little more information about the program she's on.  But I don't and I didn't.  I'm not proud of this, but it's how it is and so I'm posting this as is.  She does tell us her name in the video, but I'm sure I'll mangle the spelling.  And I didn't see Rena Delbridge, the reporter she was shadowing when I met her, of the Alaska Dispatch today.  And I'm trying to get my stuff up reasonably close to when I shot it.  But isn't she great?

She'll tell you who she is and what she's doing in Juneau on the video.








[Thursday afternoon: I ran into her again today when I stopped by Gavel to Gavel to check out there place and some questions I had. She's shadowing their producer today. And we decided that she really didn't need to have her name up beyond what is in the video.]

Sen Coghill Helping Reporter Chris Eshleman on Trauma Bill

[The video is taking forever to load, so I'm going to post this and add the video when it's done, probably within the hour.  Consider this a preview.  The video is ... well I describe it below.]

I've got a whole slew of posts to do, but I was too busy being there to get anything up until now, but there's more on the Iran divestment bill (HB 241) which did NOT pass out of committee today on a 3-3 vote, 4H'ers in town learning about the legislature, the Alaska Farm Bureau's lunch for legislators, Rep. Harris' mandatory winter tire bill (HB 322) and Rep. Doogan's ban on cell phones while driving, plus Hooper Bay student in town for the week shadowing different folks each day.  Not sure how many of these I'll get up, but here's an interesting bit of tape. 

Fairbanks News-Miner reporter Chris Eshleman invited me into the empty Ramona Barnes Conference room as he went in with Senator John Coghill who was explaining to him the intricacies of Senate Bill (SB) 168.  So this video is essentially a behind the scenes recording of a news reporter working on his story with a Senator who wants to get his story out.  





Basically the bill is to set up a fund which will help hospital with their
I'd note that after I turned off the video, Sen. Coghill told us that a big motivation for him on this is the fact that his two year old grandson died of a head trauma in part because it took four hours to get the appropriate doctor to the emergency room in Anchorage.  He assured us that this is not out of bitterness or anger, he understands that they did all they possibly could, but he doesn't want it to happen to others. 




Update Friday:  Here's the article Chris wrote from these sessions.  It begins this way:  

Alaska bill to aid trauma care moves ahead

by Chris Eshleman / ceshleman@newsminer.com 

 

JUNEAU — A House committee Tuesday advanced plans to create a public account to aid trauma care and, supporters hope, steer major emergency rooms toward better funding for trauma services. . . (click on link above for the rest.)