Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced legislation that is his idea for how the state can make money off of the carbon trading market. Senate Bill (SB) 48, SB 49, House Bill (HB) 49, and HB 50, the Dunleavy Carbon Management and Monetization Bill Package, creates statutory and regulatory framework needed so the State can take advantage of this growing sector. The package consists of two bills that would create a carbon offset program; and a carbon capture, utilization, and storage program.
Carbon Offset Program
SB 48 and HB 49 establish a statewide carbon offset program through forest sequestration within the Department of Natural Resources. Many of the forested lands in Alaska are not even commercially viable because of their size or location, but through a carbon offset program, they have the potential to generate additional revenue for the State of Alaska through biologic carbon storage projects that can mitigate a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.
Current statutes do not allow for carbon offset projects. The carbon offset program bill seeks to grant DNR the ability to establish a carbon offset program and enable carbon offset projects on state lands. The carbon offset program would allow private entities to lease state land to undertake carbon offset programs to meet their company goals of becoming net-zero for carbon emissions.
Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage
SB 49 and HB 50 are part of the State’s efforts to get revenue from vast underground storage it has for carbon dioxide that is a byproduct of oil and gas project. The carbon dioxide can be injected into underground caverns and geologic formation and can be used to force out more oil, or just store the carbon dioxide.
Alaska’s older oil and gas basins, particularly in Cook Inlet, have the right geology to sequester carbon underground. Cook Inlet has been identified as one of the top spots on earth with the ability to sequester carbon underground — with at least 50 gigatons of capacity, the governor’s office said.
This bill specifically creates new authorities for State agencies to license, lease, and administer the State’s pore space for geological storage; administer pipeline infrastructure for transportation of captured carbon to geological storage facilities and administer injection wells and carbon storage facilities; and protect correlative rights of all subsurface owners.
Alaska Native corporations are already making money on carbon trading. “They’ve realized about $350 million on 350,000 acres of land. So that’s a small example, and there’s projects such as this ongoing in the Lower 48 with private landowners as well,” Dunleavy said earlier this month.
“Carbon management will complement—and in some cases enhance—Alaska’s existing industries like forestry, oil and gas, mining, tourism, and outdoor recreation,” said DNR Commissioner John Boyle. “These bills do not lock up State land, rather, they unleash new opportunities. Carbon offset projects will not prevent mineral development, timber harvests, new oil and gas exploration, or infrastructure development. Land within the carbon offset program area will still be available for hunting, fishing, camping and recreational activities for Alaskans and visitors.”Conventional resource development companies operating in Alaska stand to benefit in multiple ways from a strong State carbon management regulatory framework. These companies can use carbon credits to offset their carbon emissions, creating new opportunities.”
“In Alaska, we are blessed with the resources of today, but we’re also blessed with the resources of tomorrow,” Dunleavy said. “With support from the Legislature for our carbon management bill package, we’ll change the conversation about new revenue. We’ve been told by some that we can generate revenue in the billions over 20 years just from our forest lands. This represents the means to fund services, lower the cost of living and improve our quality of life, to create wealth and billions of dollars in economic activity without taxing Alaskans or eliminating the PFD.”
Environmentalists are not on board. Many of them see it as a way of delaying the conversion to renewable energy, and they don’t want to monetize nature.
But for the State of Alaska, getting Alaska’s natural gas to a market like Japan may depend on being able to show the Japan government, which is very sensitive to lowering the nation’s carbon footprint, that Alaska can sell space to store the natural gas byproducts like carbon dioxide, making Alaska a more attractive supplier. Such a framework for carbon storage may be the key to being able to build the Alaska gasline, supporters say, if Alaska can demonstrate that it can also provide the means to mitigate the carbon from natural gas.
So, I’m a bit lost here. Where does all this money come from? Are certain corporations being extorted because they deal in supposed greenhouse gases that contribute to the climate change hoax? Those costs do get forwarded to the consumer. What would happen if the markets shift and this money were to dry up? Alaska would have nothing as oil production, fishing, and mining would be a distant memory.
Yes is the answer to your fist question not certain corporations all corporations will be extorted once this is running nation wide but it a bit more complicated then that because this wont be just normal currency and credit swaps it has a great deal of control baked into it its hybrid in nature the money itself will come from you because corporations dont pay tax consumers do tax to a corporation is not obly passed on to the consumer but a write off also
This has nothing to do with protecting the environment because its an off set program that is to say pollute all you want just buy the credits at the cost of the consumer what ever the consumer cant afford the government will eventually start to subsidies in comes the control sovereignty exit stage right this is as i said a hybrid from of currency call it money 2.0 in a state where the citizens need energy in large amounts due to the weather for – months out of the year this is a very bad idea unless you hate keeping what you earn building wealth for your family amd you enjoy your rights as a fee citizen i encourage you to go read the state bills your self and if not i encourage you to go find a working model any where in the world for ESG and CARBON CREDITS that have not sacrificed the citizen to become successful
Forest sequestration may be a trade off for the use of Methane (CH4) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR )on the North Slope, my opinion.
Methane (Carbon plus Hydrogen) has shown to be beneficial to oil recovery in existing wells provided temperatures are correct and permafrost collapse are negated, plus other factors.
Summarize, Governor Dunleavy has been in communication with oil company’s and University of AK Fairbanks study’s on oil recovery technology in my opinion.
One drawback may be the release of of methane and global warming.
This Carbon (C) and Carbon Dioxide (C0 2) is very complicated scientific stuff, hard to digest all the info for the common man and even scientists.
The money may come from more oil 😉
The taxpayer and end user pays for this including you.
Apparently he knows to subcontract with Peltola Solutions LLC. ?
Apparently Peltola Solutions LLC knows to subcontract with the former Chief Tax Economist for the state DOR and advisor to a very prominent Russian mobster, oops, I mean oligarch, who himself is very familiar to the AK political elites….on both sides. She truly is following in the footsteps of Don Young.
This is a way of threading the needle between today’s politics and tomorrow’s reality, whatever that is. Very shrewd. Since it makes sense, will produce revenue, and has the added benefit of having whacko environmentalists and whacko luddites against it…it must be a good idea.
This guy is a Democrat in disguise, just like most of the Alaska GOP.
Hahahah they have to pay us to keep us from destroying the planet. And we are thinking about it.
After reading this twice I’m reminded of a trip I took to Whitehorse some years ago.
It was during the elk migration. Poop everywhere. The Alcan was covered in elk droppings. Same with this stupid idea.
The Elk migration eh. Figured that would have been Caribou, No?
So Conservatives generally dispute the idea of human-induced global warming, yet are keen to cash in on it as soon as they find a way to do so? Such hypocrisy.
Whidbey,
The word you are looking for is pragmatic. What is hypocritical is demanding others pay money to offset their consumption so that a small subset of people can feel good about themselves and their consumption practices.
Nice spin Steve o.
Lucinda,
The word you are looking for is factual. It must be hard to have to look in the mirror on the occasional times when catch a glimpse of reality.
“Ad hominem is a notoriously weak logical argument. And is usually used to distract the focus of a discussion – to move it from an indefensible point and to attack the opponent.
~ Lord Aquitainus Attis ~ Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher”
Hahahaha, you think that’s an ad hominem attack? Hahahaha!
Well if you can’t fix stupid then take their money. Good idea to me we can take the money and laugh all the way to the bank.
Color me skeptical, as I really don’t understand how all this works. Worse, I can’t understand how this can’t be eventually used by the greens to shut down oil, natural gas, coal and logging in AK.
Perhaps it is time to take a second look at in-state gambling Dunleavy proposed a few years ago. Cheers –
For one, tree’s provide oxygen not carbon. Two, pumping carbon back into Cook Inlet gas and oil wells sounds expensive and risky, Salmon, Beluga Whales live there and other marine life.
Who gave the Native corporations 350 million for carbon? I know AHTNAs chip logging near Glennallen lost money, thousands of acres clear cut, what a mess that was. Go up Klutina Lake Trail and see what I mean.
Another grift to funnel State resources to Dunleavy’s corporate donors.
Carbon Management and Monetization, or carbon M&Ms. “I’ll trade you 15 carbon M&Ms for….” Sounds silly until you read Steve-O’s comments, then you realize that this scam is becoming reality whether we like it or not. Actually, it is the Feds who are extorting carbon taxes, and Dunleavy’s idea actually diverts those dollars to keep them in the State. It would have been helpful for this article to mention who the top CO2 producers are in Alaska, my first guess is the state and federal governments. Also wonder how many years it took the natives to earn $1000 per acre by selling tax credits? I want to cash in on this also using the forested land I own, so don’t try to make only certain types of land eligible based only on who owns it, because lawsuits will come. Let’s create a carbon exchange where the public can participate. “Let’s see, I’ll need 3250 carbon M&Ms for my company’s vehicles this year.” If I run my truck on wood gas from my own land, will I get a carbon tax exemption? Lots of ideas here.
It feels WEF-ie to me…No red carpets for those guys.
What a scam! Quite literally a sucker is born every minute!
I did not think I would see the gov. bend to the fanatics of the left, but the gov. just stooped lower than I thought possible. CARBON is needed for life, not sequestration. I could not afford my gas bill, so it was turned off. My electric bill jumped from 160 to 600 just to keep it at 50 degrees. Give me a break gov. carbon sequestration? No wonder we the shareholders are still owed thousands of dollars, You put it in the ground as you are planning sequestration
Kerry, water is also need for life. It’s a matter of quantity.
Cash in on scamming the scammers, how elegant.
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On a cautionary note, Guv, may we respectfully request assurance that the cost of running the scam won’t exceed what the scam rakes in.
“ PEOPLE ARE CARRRRBON!”
Dunleavy is a globalist,look who he surrounds himself with.
OK, so people are carbon. So are most all creatures. So what do you environmentalists suggest? Eradicating all people? If the Biden Administration and the State of California keep taking away food that is good for us, it won’t be long. Get ready for more nation-wide tax increases on such things as meat. Look to California to see what is coming down the pike next. There are now laws in California that will outlaw the use of independent contractors. And those caught hiring them face a fine. Alaskans can be thankful they still have some remaining freedoms and a governor that wants to protect them.
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