Midsummer Energy updates
Howdy peoples! Welcome to a special summer edition of the FCAC Energy Newsletter. This covers some of the highlights from the recent Alaska “Sustainable” Energy Conference and a number of related stories.
There’s a lot to look at, so we’ve provided brief summaries to many of the stories. If there’s something you think we’ve missed, please let us know! Send us an email at connect@fbxclimateaction.org.
“Environmentalists criticize Trump administration push for new oil and gas drilling in Alaska.”
-Becky Bohrer and Mark Thiessen for AP News
You’ll see some familiar faces here! This story covers protestors (which included members of FCAC) at the Energy Conference. We’ve also attached a press release from FCAC and Native Movement (who made FCAC possible!) and some video of the rallies!
"Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference 2025 left unspoken what Alaskans truly value"
-Ariel Hasse-Zamudio for Alaska Beacon
Ariel Hasse-Zamudio wrote this incredibly detailed piece critiquing the fact that the AK LNG project doesn’t help Alaskans, but there are plenty of projects that we could invest in that would! Below is a preview of Ariel’s piece. She has also provided background material on the speakers and their problematic histories and conflicts of interest.
From the Article: At the conclusion of the 2025 Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference much attention was given to profitability of fossil fuels, while far less was said about the meaning of “sustainability” itself. In fact, both Alaskans and the principles of sustainability were notably absent from the conference’s central themes and many of its attendees. From the outset, the federal government’s priority appeared to be reassuring foreign interests of the United States’ continued ability to sell off Alaska piece by piece.
Conference organizers, led by Gov. Mike Dunleavy appeared eager as regulatory protections continue to be rolled back by the Trump administration(e.g., the rescission of the roadless rule). Federal officials, including U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, expressed strong support for the further weakening of environmental safeguards to unilaterally advance long-contested development projects across Alaska.
Opinion: Dunleavy’s energy conference is an insult to Alaskans. We know what real sustainability looks like.
-ADN Editorial from Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Native Movement and Stand Up Alaska
This editorial from several Alaskan groups highlights that fossil fuels are inherently unsustainable and points to examples of what real sustainability looks like.
Japan must reject investment in the risky and uneconomic Alaska LNG project
-FoE Japan
This is a story direct from Japan, pointing out that AK LNG is simply not economical. Japan has more than enough natural gas. They simply don’t need it, making it extremely unlikely for them to invest in it or ever buy it from us. These are the very people Dunleavy is courting to buy AK LNG and they are organizing against it.
Grandmothers Growing Goodness, Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic Respond to Trump Proposing to Strike Down Protections for Western Arctic, Starting 60-Day Comment Period on Proposal
This brief posting shares how the removal of protections will hurt Arctic Indigenous communities and the caribou populations upon which they depend.
Tony Seba vs. Dumbleavy
This is a bit of a throwback! Back at the 2022 Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference, keynote speaker Tony Seba called Dunleavy out when asked what role natural gas will play in a sustainable future, succinctly answering “none.” Yet still - Dunleavy keeps pushing for it. It’s hard to imagine that the campaign contributions he receives from the fossil fuel industry, not to mention his own investments, don’t have something to do with it…
If the above stories weren’t enough to drive home the point, we’ve got another 7 from sources all across the country (and one from Japan) pointing out the AK LNG is simply not economically viable, not wanted by Alaskans, and just a plain bad deal.
In the May edition we forgot to include a citation for the Alaska Energy Transparency Project’s fourth edition that we used the electric utilities executive session table from. Let us know at connect@fbxclimateaction.org if you see a correction that needs to be made. Thank you!
