Alaska Requests Limits on US Offshore Drilling
Alaska Governor Bill Walker said on Tuesday he has asked U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to pare back a Trump administration plan for oil and gas leasing off the state's coast. While Walker supports offshore oil development, he said the Interior Department should focus on the most prospective areas off Alaska – the Beaufort and Chukchi seas in the Arctic and Cook Inlet in southern Alaska – and drop all others from the leasing plan. In asking for proposed lease sales to be dropped, Walker, an independent, joins governors of several other coastal states after Zinke's
US Senators from 12 States Seek Offshore Drilling Exemptions like Florida's
take a year. Democrats are not alone in pressuring Zinke to exempt their states from drilling. South Carolina's Republican Governor Henry McMaster asked Zinke for an exemption, citing the value of his state's coastal tourist economy. Maine Governor Paul LePage and Alaska Governor Bill Walker are the only coastal state governors who support the expansion of offshore drilling, with many of the rest seeking exemptions in the wake of the Florida decision. Zinke's abrupt announcement on Florida also took industry groups by surprise. National Ocean Industries Association
Alaska Awards Fugro for Ice Management
Alaska Governor Bill Walker announced Fugro as winner of the 2015 Governor’s North Star Award for International Excellence in the category of scientific exchange. The accolade follows the ‘Spotlight on Arctic Technology’ award announced during the annual Arctic Technology Conference last year. Fugro was honored for its development of an airborne sea-ice management capability that enables ice thickness mapping, characterization and monitoring over large geographic areas. Utilizing a unique radar mapping system known as GeoSAR, the ice management capability is designed to
Seattle Protesters Seek to Block Access to Shell Arctic Rig
it hits the broader Puget Sound on its way to Alaska. On Monday, Seattle police dismantled but did not seize a large tent used by demonstrators to organize the launch of a planned rig-stopping flotilla, law-enforcement officials and activists said. Late last month, Alaska Governor Bill Walker toured the rig, saying Shell's resumption of drilling in the Arctic will bring jobs and money to his state. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Cynthia Johnston
February 2024
