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Shadowy group mimicking ‘Americans for Prosperity’ emerges as political player

Suzanne Downing
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Shadowy group mimicking ‘Americans for Prosperity’ emerges as political player

Three attorneys from an Outside law firm along with three Alaska residents have created a group called “Alaskans for Posterity,” a name that is meant to confuse voters in Alaska with another well-known group operating in the state for many years: “Americans for Prosperity Alaska.”

Alaskans for Posterity is a partisan political group organized as a 501(c)4 nonprofit in 2020 that has recently been running radio ads against Gov. Mike Dunleavy. By doing so, it has broken campaign laws, because the group has not disclosed its top three donors. No complaint is known to have been filed against the group, which has been attacking the governor with a major media buy.

A 501(c)4 can run issue ads, but once they identify an actual candidate, they must be transparent about the source of their funds.

The group also put out a mailer to all Anchorage residents earlier this month, attacking the Save Anchorage group and also attacking those who oppose the compulsory mask ordinance just passed by the Assembly. On that mailer, the group didn’t identify itself, which is legal because it appeared to be talking about issues only, rather than specific candidates. But it is also an illegal mailer, because Assemblywoman Jamie Allard is mentioned in it, and she is a declared candidate for reelection to the Assembly.

The group also paid for a letter sent by Providence Alaska Medical Center encouraging Anchorage residents to support the mask ordinance:

It’s apparent that Alaskans for Posterity has money to burn in Alaska politics but isn’t telling people who it is, where the money comes from, and who is pulling the strings.

And, what’s more, the group is trying to trick voters by posing as Americans for Prosperity, an action that also may run afoul of campaign laws, should a complaint be filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Alaskans for Posterity’s incorporators are attorneys from Wisconsin Kieran Coe, Zach Bemis and Mike Wittenwyler, all heavily involved in Democrat-style smash-mouth politics. They are experts on concealing the identities of donors to such 501(c)4s, according to their biographies.

The Alaskans for Posterity legal officers are Nathan Ord, a young and newly minted medical doctor in Juneau, Reid Magdanz, a former legislative aide to Democrats from Kotzebue, and Elizabeth Johnson of Anchorage, who serves as the group’d president.

The group’s address is a home on 22nd Avenue near downtown Anchorage.

The incorporation papers show that the address is the same location where people associated with the Ship Creek Group, a political consultancy in Anchorage, have lived. Ship Creek Group is run by John Henry Heckendorn, the former campaign manager for former Gov. Bill Walker.

Those residents who have recently lived at the address include current Ship Creek Group partner Ira Slomski Pritz, and immediate past managing partner Allie Banwell. Pritz joined Ship Creek Group after working for former Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz. Banwell ran Ship Creek Group while Heckendorn was running the Walker campaign for reelection, and then when he moved out of state to work for the CEO of AirBnB.

Other persons who recently used that home as their address include another alum of the Ship Creek Group, Jennifer Marie Stryker, who now works at the Alaska Center (for the Environment), and Alex di Suvero, who is associated with the Alaska Public Interest Research Group.

As for Magdanz, he worked as an aide to Democrat Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins, one of Ship Creek Group’s close political allies.

Ord, the Juneau doctor, and Henry-Heckendorn were classmates at Whitman College.

Americans for Prosperity, the conservative group, formed in Alaska in 2014 and has been active in Alaska politics since. Recently, Bernadette Wilson was named the state director for the group.

Alexander Dolitsky: Alaska Day remembrance of Russia’s expansion into Siberia and Alaska

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Alexander Dolitsky: Alaska Day remembrance of Russia’s expansion into Siberia and Alaska

By ALEXANDER DOLITSKY

Russia, Alaska’s nearest neighbor, is the largest country on Earth, occupying a considerable portion of Eurasia, including almost all natural–extratropical climatic belts. Russia is 6.612 million square miles (11 percent of the Earth’s land area) compared to U.S. 3.797 million square miles and Alaska’s 663,300 square miles.

The northern region, extending from Kola Peninsula in the west to the Chukchi Peninsula and Komondorskiye Islands in the east, covers 4.4 million square miles. Russia’s Arctic population counts approximately 2 million people, about half of the people living in the Arctic worldwide. 

There are 26 ethnic minorities indigenous to the Russian north, ranging from Aleuts (300) to the Nenets (30,000). These groups consist of less than 30,000 members each, and they perpetuate some aspects of their traditional ways of life and inhabiting the northern and Asian parts of the country.

Together, they number about 260,000 individuals, or less than 0.2 percent of Russia’s population of about 146 million. Ethnic minorities of the Russian north do not include Buryats, Yakuts and Altaians.

Taking these figures into account, it appears obvious that the northern territories play an important role in the Russian socio-economy. In order to understand economic and cultural significance of the contemporary Russian north, the process of its exploration and colonization by the Russian Empire should be known.

The most important aspect of the ethnohistory of the people of the high north was the process of exploration and colonization of Siberia and Alaska by the Russian Empire’s officials. The process of exploration of the northern territories in the seventeenth century caused a significant transformation of population, strengthened conflicts between local ethnic groups, and changed modes of production and material culture of the aboriginal population, among other effects.

Russian officials did not wish to exterminate the aboriginal northern population, but rather, in cooperation with local native leaders, to reform them into good and meticulous suppliers of valuable furs.

From the point of view of Russian officialdom, the process of exploring the North American territories presumably had the same rationale as in Siberia; the Russians viewed North America as a geographical continuation of their politics (Alekseev, [Explorations of the Far East and Russian America by the Russian People]. Moscow: Nauka, 1982, p. 86). The Russians used a socioeconomic and political strategy in North America similar to that used in Siberia, imposing the local head tax (yasak) and strengthening their influence.

The process of colonization of the eastern territories was quite elaborate. One of the peculiarities of the aboriginal populations of Siberia, the Far East, and northwestern North America was the absence of any State organization. Lacking an institutional defense against the sophisticated social organization and military superiority of Russians, the native population had to accept Russian dominion and consequently agreed to pay them yasak.

Another peculiarity in the Russian population of the eastern territories was the absence of serfdom. Oppressed Russian peasants who had escaped from their landlords in the European part of Russia often fled to Siberia or the Far East in order to attain freedom.

The Russian authorities, surprisingly, instead of having them prosecuted, had promoted them into government jobs. When the government had thus established its control over the northeastern territories, the commercial people (promyshlenniki and kuptsy) began organizing commercial companies (artels) and markets (yarmarkas and bazaars), and the Russian Orthodox Church began sending missionaries to the East.

Thus, in contrast to peasant movements, which had a spontaneous character, the organized government expeditions to the East already had in place a colonial system, i.e. the imposition of regular yasak and the extension of State territories.

After discovery of the Aleutian Islands and southern Alaska by Europeans, series of commercial expeditions to North America from Siberian and Far Eastern Pacific ports (Okhotsk and Nizhne-Kamchatsk) took place. Between 1743 and 1786, Russian Government Treasury received from North America commercial products (primarily fur and sea mammals) worth 193,798 rubbles (100 paper ruble in 1792 was equal U.S. 72.00 dollars. Then, it could purchase 10 medium–size Russian log houses). 

In addition, they collected products worth 42,394 rubbles in yasak (Makarova, [Russians in the Pacific Ocean in the middle of the eighteenth century]. Moscow: Nauka, 1968, pp. 55, 81). One effect of these enterprises was a significant increase in the Russian population in North America.

In 1794, the Russian population in Alaska was over 800, compared to 500 in 1788 (Alekseev 1982: 38-39. In 1799, the population in Russian America controlled by Russians was about 8,000, which included only 225 Russians (Fedorova, [Russian Population of Alaska and California]. Moscow: Nauka, 1971, pp. 140–141).

Russians in North America hunted sea mammals, fished, built ships, and attempted to cultivate some crops. Several Russian settlements were established in the Aleutian Islands, on Kodiak Island, on the Kenai Peninsula, and southeastern Alaska.

By the end of the eighteenth century the Russian-American Company was founded in Alaska. The company monopolized all commercial enterprises in Russian North America and held almost all political power in the region. Until the U.S. government purchased Alaska in 1867, Siberian-North American contact was very close. The Russians’ management of Alaska always represented the interests of the tsarist government and was carried out in cooperation with their Siberian partners and supporters.

It is also important to stress that many historic material and textbooks published prior to the 1990s describe the Russian period of Alaska’s history as a bloody and ruthless colonization of northern territories. Russia’s Eastward expansion into Siberia, the Far East, and Alaska was motivated by exploration of new hunting territories. Often Russian explorers were ruthless toward an aboriginal population, but overall this movement was much more humane than colonization of Australia or colonization of North American territories in the Lower 48. The aboriginal population in Siberia and Alaska had not been placed on reservations or dislocated from their homeland as they were in the Lower 48.

Alexander B. Dolitsky was born and raised in Kiev in the former Soviet Union. He received an M.A. in history from Kiev Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine, in 1976; an M.A. in anthropology and archaeology from Brown University in 1983; and was enroled in the Ph.D. program in Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College from 1983 to 1985, where he was also a lecturer in the Russian Center. In the U.S.S.R., he was a social studies teacher for three years, and an archaeologist for five years for the Ukranian Academy of Sciences. In 1978, he settled in the United States. Dolitsky visited Alaska for the first time in 1981, while conducting field research for graduate school at Brown. He lived first in Sitka in 1985 and then settled in Juneau in 1986. From 1985 to 1987, he was a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and social scientist. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Alaska Southeast from 1985 to 1999; Social Studies Instructor at the Alyeska Central School, Alaska Department of Education from 1988 to 2006; and has been the Director of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center (see www.aksrc.homestead.com) from 1990 to present. He has conducted about 30 field studies in various areas of the former Soviet Union (including Siberia), Central Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and the United States (including Alaska). Dolitsky has been a lecturer on the World Discoverer, Spirit of Oceanus, andClipper Odyssey vessels in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. He was the Project Manager for the WWII Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease Memorial, which was erected in Fairbanks in 2006. He has published extensively in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology, and ethnography. His more recent publications include Fairy Tales and Myths of the Bering Strait Chukchi, Ancient Tales of Kamchatka; Tales and Legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia; Old Russia in Modern America: Russian Old Believers in Alaska; Allies in Wartime: The Alaska-Siberia Airway During WWII; Spirit of the Siberian Tiger: Folktales of the Russian Far East; Living Wisdom of the Far North: Tales and Legends from Chukotka and Alaska; Pipeline to Russia; The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in WWII; and Old Russia in Modern America: Living Traditions of the Russian Old Believers; Ancient Tales of Chukotka, and Ancient Tales of Kamchatka.

Read: Neo-Marxism and utopian Socialism in America

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Sen. Sullivan asks Attorney General Garland to apologize to Homer couple who were wrongly detained for theft of Pelosi laptop

Suzanne Downing
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Sen. Sullivan asks Attorney General Garland to apologize to Homer couple who were wrongly detained for theft of Pelosi laptop

Sen. Dan Sullivan has written a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for an apology to a Homer, Alaska couple who were wrongly detained after FBI agents busted through their door on April 28, 2021, handcuffed them and their guests, and told them they believed one of them had stolen House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop on Jan. 6.

The Huepers deserve an apology. I hope responsible officials in the Department of Justice and the FBI will provide one to them.

– Sen. Dan Sullivan

Paul and Marilyn Hueper, of Homer, Alaska, and two of their guests were handcuffed and interrogated by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and other law enforcement personnel who forcefully entered their home and searched it. The agents did not produce a warrant for several hours.

The Huepers’ front door was damaged and several personal items were taken from them, including their pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution, which was seized as “evidence” that they had acted unlawfully in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, when thousands of Americans swarmed the U.S. Capitol in protest of the confirmation of the Electoral College.

Sullivan wrote: “An affidavit filed in support of the search warrant states that the FBI received a tip about the Huepers. This person, and later another person, told the FBI that, based on released pictures of the event, Marilyn Hueper looked like a woman who had entered the Capitol Building on January 6, entered the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and took a laptop.

“According to the affidavit, the FBI used the picture on Marilyn Hueper’s driver’s license which ‘confirmed’ that Marilyn was the woman suspected of entering the Capitol and stealing the laptop and whose image was captured in video footage.

“None of this was true. Recently, New York resident Maryann Mooney-Rondon confessed to being the person who assisted in stealing Speaker Pelosi’s laptop. She and her son, who was also complicit, were arrested on October 1.

“Those are the facts. What’s left out of the FBI’s factual account is the personal suffering that the Huepers endured at the hands of the agency. According to them, their door was smashed down. Guns were drawn. They were handcuffed. Their faces were plastered across the media, while other federal agencies further scrutinized their activities,” Sullivan’s letter said.

“I am a strong supporter of America’s frontline law enforcement personnel and the tough, and sometimes thankless, job they do each and every day to keep our citizens safe,” Sullivan wrote. But he said that Alaska has a history of overzealous federal law enforcement actions.

“For example, the illegal and corrupt prosecution of the late U.S. Senator Ted Stevens remains a source of distrust between federal agents and Alaskans.

“There are times, too frequently in my view, that the federal government—particularly people in agencies with so much power—forget that they derive their power from the consent of the governed. There’s no mention of the FBI or the Department of Justice or any other agency in the Constitution. However, ‘the people’ are mentioned repeatedly, as is the Senate,” Sullivan wrote.

Sullivan said that, as a representative of the people, he provides oversight of federal agencies, and sees it his duty to call out and check unfettered powers, or to help agencies recognize when they have made mistakes.

“In discussions with senior FBI officials regarding this matter, I have tried to respectfully point out these types of mistakes and have encouraged an acknowledgement of them. I believe such an action, along with an apology, to the Huepers will help build trust and respect among the FBI, the Department of Justice and Alaskans.

“The Huepers deserve an apology. I hope responsible officials in the Department of Justice and the FBI will provide one to them,” Sullivan said. He sent a copy of the letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Breaking: FBI breaks into Homer, Alaska house, looking for Nancy Pelosi’s laptop
Homer couple sets up website to tell their story of shocking FBI raid on their home

Only in Alaska: Sen. Revak, speeding, was cited for Sen. Kawasaki’s beer by a trooper who was then cited for molesting minors

Suzanne Downing
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Only in Alaska: Sen. Revak, speeding, was cited for Sen. Kawasaki’s beer by a trooper who was then cited for molesting minors

Sen. Josh Revak of Anchorage was cited for having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in his vehicle, which was stopped by Alaska State Troopers on the Sterling Highway.

The official statement from Alaska State Troopers is as follows:

“On August 18, 2021 at approximately 1322 hours, an Alaska State Trooper initiated a traffic stop on a Ford SUV near mile 76.5 of the Sterling Highway after radar detected the vehicle traveling 66 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone. The Ford SUV was occupied by two adult males, including the driver 40-year-old Anchorage resident Joshua Revak. During the course of the traffic stop an open container of beer was located in the center console of the SUV between the two occupants. Troopers observed no signs of impairment from the driver. The driver was issued a single citation without incident under AS28.35.029, Open Container Of Alcoholic Beverage, with an optional court date in Kenai Traffic Court. At no point during the traffic stop did the driver identify himself as a legislator, and the Soldotna-based Troopers were not aware that he was an elected official. It is not uncommon for a Trooper to issue only one citation during a traffic stop, and the citations issued depend on a variety of circumstances including the Troopers’ discretion.”

Revak has a DUI on his record from many years go, but has said in public he does not drink any longer. The court date has been set for Oct. 27 in Kenai. The offense carries a $200 fine.

Sources say that in the vehicle with him was Sen. Scott Kawasaki, and that the two were ride-sharing to the education day event at the fundraiser that helps preserve the Kenai River for future generations of fishers. The beer belonged to Kawasaki, and Revak said he did not know it was a beer in the container.

“It could have been an energy drink,” Revak said. “I haven’t drank in over seven years,” he said, when reached after this story was posted. “He never took a drink the whole way down. He had it when he got in the car, and there wasn’t a trash container, so he put it in the console.”

Other people who attended the event said the troopers pulled a lot of people over that day.

In a strange twist, the trooper who pulled Revak over was arrested last week for sexual abuse of minors.

Gen. Colin Powell, and his remarkable friendship with Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens

Suzanne Downing
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Gen. Colin Powell, and his remarkable friendship with Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens

Colin Powell has died from complications of Covid-19 at the age of 84. His family wrote on Facebook, “We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American.” They noted he was fully vaccinated.

He had a close relationship with Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. In 1988, Stevens suggested Colin Powell should be the vice presidential candidate with George H. W. Bush. Stevens was the first person to ever suggest to Powell that he should have presidential aspirations.

That was back when Vice President Bush was running for president after the Reagan era; he chose Dan Quayle as his running mate, rather than Powell, who was Reagan’s National Security Adviser.

Later, in 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush asked Powell to become his running mate, but Powell was not interested. G.W. Bush ultimately chose Dick Cheney.

Powell, who became the first black Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, showed such wisdom and leadership during his time in Republican Administrations, that many people were on board with the idea of him running for president. He was popular with Republicans and Democrats alike.

Prior to Barack Obama’s election as president in 2008, Powell and his Secretary of State successor, Condoleezza Rice, were the highest-ranking blacks in the history of the federal executive branch, according to Wikipedia.

The Powell-Stevens friendship endured for decades. When Stevens was investigated for corruption in 2008, Powell testified as his trial, saying he knew Stevens “extremely” well and describing Stevens’ character as “sterling.”

Prosecutors from the Department of Justice, who were later found to be corrupt, accused Stevens of lying on Senate financial disclosures about renovations to a cabin he owned in Girdwood.

Powell testified that he had known Stevens well for 25 years.

“As we say in the infantry, this is a guy you take on a long patrol,” the retired four-star Army general told the court.

“There was never any suggestion that he would do anything that was improper,” Powell said. The two had worked on military appropriation issues for many decades.

Stevens has always been honest and upfront — “someone whose word you can rely on” — when he worked with him on Capitol Hill, Powell said.

In Stevens Powell explained that “I had a guy who would tell me when I was off base. I had a guy who would tell me when I had no clothes on. Figuratively.”

Powell told the court that Stevens has always put country first. When Powell once told Stevens the military needed to reduce forces in Alaska, Stevens didn’t like it but listened and agreed to support the draw-down for the good of the country.

“He fights for his state, he fights for his people but he always has the interests of his country at heart,” Powell said.

In 1999, when Stevens was awarded the Eisenhower Leadership Award, he said, “I am filled with awe and trepidation when the list of past recipients of this award is read. I was a foot soldier in Ike’s battle to “Wage Peace.” To follow President Bush, Colin Powell, Bob Dole, Lloyd Bentsen, and Brent Scowcroft is an honor that takes my breath away.”

For some Republicans, Powell was too moderate to become the presidential nominee for their party. He was not as conservative as Reagan. Some called him a “Rockefeller Republican.” He had come out in favor of gun control, some abortions, and banning prayer in school.

But in 2016, even though he was not a candidate, he received three electoral votes from faithless Democrat Party electors from Washington state who did not want to cast their votes for Hillary Clinton.

Born in New York City in 1937 to Jamaican immigrants and raised in Brooklyn, Powell had attended public schools in New York and City College of New York. A member of ROTC, he received a commission as an Army second lieutenant in 1958. He served two tours in Vietnam and rose through the ranks until being named Commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command in 1989.

During this time as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he oversaw the the invasion of Panama in 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq in 1990–1991.

He was known for the Powell Doctrine: The military should be used only if the condition met three criteria that included national security interests, the willingness to use overwhelming force, and widespread public support.

His work after retirement in 2004 was as an author, public speaker, and chair of America’s Promise, a nonprofit organization to build the character of America’s youth. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and honorary degrees from universities and colleges throughout the country. His autobiography, “My American Journey” was a best-seller.

Nebraska AG won’t prosecute doctors for prescribing ivermectin for Covid

Suzanne Downing
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Nebraska AG won’t prosecute doctors for prescribing ivermectin for Covid

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said on Thursday he will take no legal action against doctors who prescribe two off-label drugs to treat or prevent Covid-19, as long as doctors get patients to sign an informed consent release and don’t also break any laws while in the process of treating patients for Covid.

Ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasites, is now being used increasingly for Covid, and hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, have become a flashpoint of controversy, with some calling the drugs helpful, while others mocking their use. Many doctors will not prescribe the drugs, while many people who have recovered from Covid credit the medications for their ability to overcome the virus.

Ivermectin is used worldwide for humans, but the liberal intelligensia has branded it “horse medicine,” as it is used widely in the U.S. to treat horses that have parasites. Conservatives have been more open to the use of the medications, and former President Donald Trump was treated with hydroxychloroquine when he got Covid-19 last year.

In a memo to Nebraska’s Health and Human Services chief executive, Peterson wrote that consumers and health care providers continue to be inundated with information and opinions regarding Covid-19 treatment and prevention. He noted that the sheer volume of conflicting information and demands from the public informed the need to make a decision about whether doctors could prescribe these repurposed uses for the two medications.

“After receiving your question and conducting our investigation, we have found significant controversy and suspect information about potential COVID-19 treatments. A striking example features one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals—the Lancet. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lancet published a paper denoun- cing hydroxychloroquine as dangerous? Yet the reported statistics were so flawed that journalists and outside researchers immediately began raising concerns. Then after one of the authors refused to provide the analyzed data, the paper was retracted, but not before many countries stopped using hydroxychloroquine and trials were cancelled or interrupted. The Lancet’s own editor in chief admitted that the paper was a ‘fabrication,’ ‘a monumental fraud,’ and ‘a shocking example’ of research misconduct in the middle of a global health emergency,” Peterson wrote in his advisory opinion to the State.

Peterson noted that his opinion applies only to repurposing of ivermectin and hydroxycholorquine for unconventional uses for Covid treatment, but he also said other drugs might prove to show promise for treating Covid, and he might rule on those at another time.

“But in doing so, we do not mean to rule out the possibility that other off-label drugs might show promise—either now or in the future—as a prophylaxis or treatment against COVID-19. Also, because our investigation has revealed that physicians who currently use hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 do so as either a prophylaxis or an early treatment for outpatients (as opposed to a late treatment in hospitalized patients), we will confine our consideration of hydroxychloroquine to those two uses.

“In addition, we note that there are treatment options the FDA has approved, either through an Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) or through the regular FDA drug—approval process, for COVID-19 prophylaxis or treatment. These include monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and remdesivir. We do not take any position on those options because they are outside the scope of the question asked,” Peterson wrote.

“In the end, as we explain below, we find that the available data does not justify filing disciplinary actions against physicians simply because they prescribe ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine to prevent or treat COVID-19. If, on the other hand, healthcare pro- viders neglect to obtain informed consent, deceive their patients, prescribe excessively high doses, fail to check for contraindications, or engage in other misconduct, they might be subject to discipline. But based on the evidence that currently exists, the mere fact of prescribing ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 will not result in our office filing disciplinary actions. While ourterminology throughout this opinion focuses on physi- cians prescribing these medicines, what we conclude necessarily applies to other licen-
sed healthcare professionals who prescribe, participate in, or othewvise assist with a treat- ment plan utilizing these medications,” Peterson wrote.

Hundreds of Alaskans are now ordering these drugs through doctors providing telemedicine services at Frontline Covid Critical Care Alliance in Florida, a group offering off-label use of these medications and a pantry of supplements, such as quercetin, zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin C, in an effort to help people boost their immunity.

Read the attorney general’s opinion below:

21-017_0Download

Kathleen Sgamma: If we don’t drill for oil on federal lands, we’ll have to buy it from Russia

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Kathleen Sgamma: If we don’t drill for oil on federal lands, we’ll have to buy it from Russia

By KATHLEEN SGAMMA / WESTERN ENERGY ALLIANCE

The budget reconciliation bill before Congress would, if passed with all the public lands provisions, drive oil and natural gas producers off federal lands in Colorado and across the West to other areas of the country or overseas. If passed as-is, it would achieve the President’s goal of “no federal oil.”

The dozens of policies put forward in the name of climate change may sound good to some. But does anyone think for a moment that reducing oil and natural gas produced in America is going to reduce their use overall?

Oil and natural gas account for about 70% of Americans’ total energy use. People aren’t going to stop driving their cars, charging their cellphones, or heating their homes. And the many so-called clean-energy policies in the bill won’t replace that energy overnight, if ever. Just look at California or Germany, which have had to increase their reliance on fossil fuels to avoid blackouts after years of policies favoring weather-dependent renewable energy. 

Indeed, the White House admits that oil and natural gas are critical as officials continue to ask Russia and OPEC to increase production to alleviate high prices. If that energy is imported from overseas, the greenhouse gas emissions will be generated regardless — and at higher levels because Russia and OPEC don’t have the strict environmental standards we have in the United States. Stopping the 20% of American production that takes place on federal lands and waters isn’t going to reduce energy prices or greenhouse-gas emissions. 

Some don’t want any production on federal lands, arguing that all public lands must be set aside. But development is not done in Rocky Mountain National Park, the Great Sand Dunes, or any other park or wilderness areas. It’s conducted on working landscapes suitable for energy development. Most of the federal development in Colorado is on the West Slope in areas that have been designated for multiple uses, not in areas set aside for preservation. 

Federal land management agencies, in cooperation with states, counties, tribes, conservation groups, and other stakeholders, determine which lands are appropriate for energy with input from the public over many years. These multiple-use lands sustain communities on the West Slope and across the West, including historically marginalized communities such as Indian tribes.

The Southern Ute Tribe in southwestern Colorado is one of the nation’s preeminent energy tribes that balance stewardship of their lands with economic growth. Although the bill applies only to federal lands, putting lands adjacent to the reservation off limits negatively impacts economic and job opportunities for the Tribe, an outcome that is neither environmental nor social justice. 

Production from public lands is some of the most sustainable in the world. Environmental standards are strict across the country, but even more so on public lands. Extra controls and protections are appropriate, since public lands and the energy beneath them belong to all Americans. We all have an interest in protecting these lands, and we in the industry take our stewardship very seriously. Companies often commit to even more restrictions and constantly innovate to reduce impacts, while voluntarily supporting conservation. 

For example, advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have reduced the footprint on the land by nearly 70% over the last decade. We produce more energy with less impact on the land than ever before. Less than 0.1% of all public lands have any oil and natural gas activity on them. Leased acreage remains at historic lows since 2018. We have achieved a balance on public lands that meets Americans’ energy needs while protecting the environment. 

Even better, federal oil and natural gas provide nearly all the conservation funding for national parks and other public lands. With the Great American Outdoors Act passed last year by Congress, $2.8 billion is available for conservation and infrastructure in our national parks and other public lands, including $32 million this year for Rocky Mountain National Park. The reconciliation bill before Congress would ensure that funding dries up. 

Why would members of Congress and the Biden Administration wish to drive production off federal lands and waters and send it to Russia and OPEC? Misguided ideology has gotten the country to the brink of putting the American oil producer out of business even as the White House asks unfriendly nations to increase production. 

We ask instead for a truce with the American producer. We call on practical members of Congress to recognize the madness of sending billions of dollars and millions of jobs overseas and reconsider the reconciliation bill. It makes no sense to disadvantage Colorado producers while propping up foreign adversaries. 

Kathleen Sgamma, of Denver, is president of Western Energy Alliance. She was the keynote speaker at last week’s Alaska Support Industry Alliance dinner.

Eni suspends mandatory vaccine directive, while Hilcorp still has no vaccine mandate

Suzanne Downing
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Eni suspends mandatory vaccine directive, while Hilcorp still has no vaccine mandate

One of the oil companies working in Alaska has suspended its requirement that employees must be vaccinated for Covid-19.

Because Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order that prevents companies or other entities from forcing vaccinations on their workforce, Eni suspended the directive that required workers in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s North Slope to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1, unless granted an exemption by the company.

In a memo to employees, the company said it ended its Sept. 13 shot mandate for its employees and contractors, but called the situation dynamic, and expects it will change again.

“Getting fully vaccinated is the best thing that we can do to protect ourselves, as well as our families and co-workers. I would like to thank all employees who have responded to the National appeal for vaccination, and your personal support in helping to keep our workplace safe,” wrote Luca Pellicciotta, president and chief executive officer.

“Meanwhile, we are continuing with our current workplace COVID-19 protocols at this time. Thank you for your continued cooperation as we navigate this ever-changing landscape, while doing all that we can to maintain a safe workplace for each of us, Pellicciotta wrote.

Eni is the sole owner and operator of the Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk fields on the North Slope, producing more than 30,000 barrels of oil per day from three drill sites it operates. Eni has over 700 direct and contract employees in Alaska. The company bought Oooguruk assets in January 2019 from Caelus Energy, which exited the state in frustration with

Hilcorp Alaska, which took over BP Alaska operations, has made a decision to not mandate vaccines for employees. As of Oct. 15, the company is encouraging vaccinations and monitoring “for various federal agencies in case government mandates are issued. If we are subject to any federal mandates, we will communicate those requirements to our employees and contractors.”

Hilcorp Alaska sees two of President Biden’s executive orders as impacting it: The company has government contracts, and it also has more than 100 employees.

“OSHA recently proposed an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to the Office of Budget & Management. We expect to see the ETS issued within the next month,” Hilcorp wrote to employees.

Hilcorp has about 400 employees in Alaska, 88 percent of which are Alaska residents.

Hilcorp employees who are unvaccinated or vaccinated must be tested for Covid within 24 hours of flying to the North Slope or Cook Inlet platform. Hilcorp is also paying for the testing for both unvaccinated and vaccinated contractors, and will cover the cost of isolation for any vaccinated employee or vaccinated contractor who tests positive in Anchorage but does not live in the Anchorage area.     

Hilcorp’s Covid-19 remote Field Location Travel Protocol (Rev 5.1)

Delta variant: Airline goes its own way, won’t mandate vaccines in employees

Suzanne Downing
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Delta variant: Airline goes its own way, won’t mandate vaccines in employees

Using a carrot-and-stick approach, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said that more than 90 percent of the airlines’ staff is vaccinated, and so the company will continue to encourage, but not mandate Covid-19 vaccines.

It’s the only U.S.-based airlines to not require the Covid vaccine in its workforce, and Bastian says it’s a better way to earn the loyalty of employees.

Bastian expects that within a month, the vaccination rate will increase by another 5 percent.

“The reason the mandate was put in by president, I believe, was because they wanted to make sure companies had a plan to get their employees vaccinated,” he told The Claman Countdown on Fox News. “A month before the president came out with the mandate, we had already announced our plan to get all of our people vaccinated. And the good news is the plan is working.”

“By the time we’re done, we’ll be pretty close to fully vaccinated as a company without going through all the divisiveness of a mandate. We’re proving that you can work collaboratively with your people, trusting your people to make the right decisions, respecting their decisions and not forcing them over the loss of their jobs.”

– Ed Bastian, Delta Airlines

Bastian said the airlines is allowing medical and religious exemptions. But since September, any employee not fully vaccinated will need to take a Covid test weekly, as long as community case rates are high, and beginning in November, unvaccinated employees in the company’s healthcare plan will be subject to a $200 monthly surcharge because the average hospital stay for Covid-19 has cost the company $50,000 per person.

“This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company. In recent weeks since the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant, all Delta employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated,” Delta wrote.

Also, as of Sept. 30, Covid pay protection is no longer provided to those who are unvaccinated.

“I can’t give enough thanks to the Delta team, providing a great product for our customers and it’s one of the reasons we were profitable this quarter,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Bastian told a Reuters reporter that a “mandate is only one way to get people vaccinated. It’s a very blunt instrument.”

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott banned Covid-19 vaccine mandates by any entity headquartered in the state, including private employers, as he called for an end of the Biden Administration’s bullying tactics, which have caused employees to walk out at a time when it’s hard to find Americans to fill jobs.

Southwest Airlines and American Airlines, which are based in Texas, are mandating the vaccine, as is Alaska Airlines, headquartered in Seattle. United Airlines, based out of Chicago, also has mandated vaccines, and is now fighting in court with six employees who have challenged the mandate.

Delta, based in Atlanta, has decided to respect its employees’ personal health decisions, although it may cost those employees more in their health insurance premiums.

“It’s better if you can work collaboratively with your employees,” Bastian told Reuters. “You can trust your employees to make the right decisions and respect their decisions.”

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