In the first piece in our series on mining in Alaska, we talked about how the push for green energy mining could replace one catastrophe with another.

The Ambler road project is the poster child. The project is being promoted by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state agency with little to no legislative oversight, an insulting lack of public transparency, and a rigid agenda impervious to good sense.… Read More

Marybeth Holleman’s first book of poetry, “tender gravity,” came out this month, and we’re excited to host an in person reading on Sept. 8 so she can share it with you. We hope you can make it. (If you can’t … Read More

It doesn’t take long spending time with dogs, bears, birds and bees to know they communicate. Some animals even manipulate. Only human animals uniquely share knowledge, wisdom, tall tales and lies through stories. The writer Margaret Atwood describes the origin of storytelling as the coupling of language with concepts of the past, present, and future to help people learn about what happened before—to teach people things to avoid having to learn by trial and error every time.… Read More

We often hear from Alaska’s political players about the need to extract more oil in Alaska, but it’s reached a crescendo in recent weeks. They’re now taking advantage of the suffering of Ukrainians to use the mantras of “national defense” and “energy independence” to promote fossil fuel interests.… Read More

The thick sludge of winter can get to me sometimes. The dark, the cold, the cycling from snow to slush to ice to snow to—you get the picture. All of it gets old. I suppose that’s how cycles feel sometimes. That’s why we have to break out of them—at least in terms of our emotions and perspectives.… Read More

I want to tell you about a podcast that gets real about the climate crisis. You might say, “Great, another post about climate change telling me about a podcast about climate change. I’ve had enough of the doom and gloom!” I hear you. The Repair does talk about how we got here, and also how we as humans can take responsibility and make changes that make a meaningful difference in our future.… Read More

It’s hard for me to understand why we can’t look directly at the insurrection, or climate chaos, or the way technology has undermined social connections and democratic principles, and then have the hard, necessary conversations to get back to our common constitutional values. When you really listen to people, you hear the same claims of feeling left out, of feeling demeaned or without opportunities—and the same fears, resentments, anger, and other dangerous emotions—no matter their political perspectives.

There is common ground, even if it’s lost in the chaos and sound bites.… Read More

What happens when a mom takes a college climate class with her son? Let’s just say she sharpened her pencils and jumped right into the virtual learning sphere, the first time in college since the 1980s. … Read More

In our work, we sometimes talk about going on the defensive. For us, that means doing everything we can to hold the line in court when those with power make decisions and take actions that put the health of Alaska’s lands and communities, water and air at risk. Defensive work requires focusing on stopping harmful things and sometimes forgetting to shine the light on what we can build together. So today, I want to shine that light again on who we are and what we stand for.… Read More