The new party platform of the Alaska Democratic Party is a lot like the old one — it supports voting rights for felons, climate change dogma, and LGBTQIA+ obsessions.
But a number of important changes are in the new party guidance document that relate to the environment, energy, and climate change. One of the key changes has to do with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where the 1002 Area is set aside for oil and gas energy development. That oil and gas needs to end immediately, if Democrats in Alaska have their say.
Oil and gas are the state’s economic backbone and also fund the Alaska Permanent Fund, from which Alaskans get a dividend each year as their share of oil royalties.
The Democrats’ platform was published on the party’s website after the state convention was held in Juneau in late May.
These changes that abandon Alaska energy workers came out of the party’s Climate Caucus, as revealed first here at Must Read Alaska earlier this year.
While the Alaska Democrats have not broadcast the drastic changes in any publicly facing statement, the party platform posted after the convention shows that the Democrats have finally withdrawn their reluctant and qualified support for fossil fuels and now they oppose all fossil fuel development in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, even in the long-permitted 1002 Area of the North Slope, a slap in the face of the North Slope Borough.
The new platform sets the party agenda for a “rapid transition to renewable energy sources,” and supports “carbon pricing,” to lower the demand for petroleum and make it more expensive, so that the costly green energy can then compete. The party platform says climate change is an “emergency of the highest order.” This is in line with the national Democratic Party platform.
The changes come at a time when a petition has been filed by a consortium of environmental litigation groups with the Department of Interior, calling for the Trans Alaska Pipeline to be dismantled.
According to the new mandate from the Alaska Democratic Party: “Although the Alaska oil and gas industry historically has made, and continues to make, vital contributions to Alaska’s economy, the currently advanced state of climate disruption requires that the world transition away from fossil fuel use as soon as possible,” the new platform states. “We support a rapid transition to renewable energy sources, which are now cheaper than fossil fuels.”
The platform also says, perhaps observantly, that those with mental health issues are most impacted by climate change.
The party platform is the one that Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola must adhere to, as Democrats do not allow their lawmakers to stray from the party line. So, while Peltola may occasionally vote in support of Alaska’s economic well-being, she will also continue to work to elect Democrats who oppose Alaska’s economy, such as voting for Russian conspiracy theorist Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for House Speaker 19 times and having anti-oil Rep. Eric Swalwell from California as her special guest for her campaign fundraiser in Juneau.
The Alaska Democrats’ platform changes in the energy, climate portions of the document are excerpted below:
Because Alaska’s quality of life and robust economy depend on our natural environment, clean air, and clean water it is critical that we eliminate or minimize all forms of pollution through:
● green technologies and infrastructure
● energy efficiency in buildings and transportation
● waste reduction, especially single-use plastics
● recycling that truly achieves a circular economy for the materials involved ● proper management and cleanup of hazardous and solid waste
● strict enforcement of environmental laws
In an effort to enact measures to protect the land and water of Alaska and the Earth, we support legislation limiting the sale and production of single use plastics and support the search for environmentally safe alternatives.
We support the protection of Bristol Bay watersheds and oppose the proposed Pebble mine given the danger it poses to the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery.
We support protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain and oppose oil and gas exploration, leasing, and development as it jeopardizes the human rights of the Gwich’in Nation who depend on the health of the Porcupine caribou herd and its habitats for their subsistence and cultural survival. In addition, the coastal plain is a critical, intact ecosystem supporting polar bears, hundreds of species of birds, and other wildlife.
We support enactment and strict enforcement of regulations that protect workers and the environment. This is particularly important for resource extraction industries, which have the potential for significant environmental damage. We support restoration of Alaska’s Coastal Zone Management program.
Climate Change
Climate change and ocean acidification are caused by human emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHG), particularly CO2, and require human solutions. This is an emergency of the highest order that requires immediate, substantial mitigating choices and actions by all levels of government as well as by industry, private entities and individuals.
Climate Change has significant health impacts that are of special concern to Alaskans. The Alaskans most vulnerable to these climate-related changes are those who are most dependent on subsistence foods, the poor, the very young, the elderly, and those with mental and physical health conditions. Alaska Native communities are particularly vulnerable.
The situation is urgent. Alaska is on the frontline of climate impacts, warming 2 to 3 times faster than the global average. 2023 was the hottest year on record. World leaders at COP28 called for a transition away from fossil fuel use.
We support immediate and effective action at the international, national, state and local levels to address the climate emergency. We support the goal of keeping global average temperature less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, through timely reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The State of Alaska must make research, mitigation, and adaptation to climate change, and transitioning away from fossil fuels, top priorities when allocating resources to communities, agencies and the University.
We support carbon pricing, implemented at either the state or the federal level, preferably in a revenue-neutral format wherein the funds collected are returned to households as dividends. The price must steadily increase to the point that demand for fossil fuels is strongly suppressed. Carbon pricing is the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because carbon pricing can touch every part of the economy, from electricity to manufacturing to transportation, and because it rewards any behavior that reduces emissions. Rather than regulating exactly where and how emissions should be reduced, carbon pricing gives markets the flexibility to find the cheapest ways to lower emissions.
Energy Policy
Alaska has the opportunity to lead in the development of environmentally responsible energy technologies, efficient use of Alaska’s conventional and renewable energy resources, and enhanced energy efficiency and conservation. Alaskans deserve access to affordable, sustainable energy.
Although the Alaska oil and gas industry historically has made, and continues to make, vital contributions to Alaska’s economy, the currently advanced state of climate disruption requires that the world transition away from fossil fuel use as soon as possible. “Continuing investments in carbon-intensive activities at scale will heighten the multitude of risks associated with climate change and impede societal and industrial transformation towards low-carbon development. Meeting the long-term temperature objective in the Paris Agreement therefore implies a rapid turn to an accelerating decline of GHG emissions towards ‘net zero’, which is implausible without urgent and ambitious action.”
We support President Biden’s commitments and actions to address climate change, including rejoining the Paris Agreement, making the commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, investing in clean energy infrastructure, creating jobs in the clean energy sector, regulating methane emissions, and pausing all pending export permits for liquified natural gas (LNG) until updated criteria that consider the impact of climate change have been adopted.
We support an orderly transition away from fossil fuels, with a transition to renewable energy sources for in-state use as soon as possible
Renewable Energy
We support a rapid transition to renewable energy sources, which are now cheaper than fossil fuels. We support:
- ● Onshore and offshore wind, solar, geothermal and salmon friendly hydroelectric projects that minimize environmental impacts
- ● Research and development of renewable energy technologies, which Alaska is particularly well suited to develop, including wave and tidal power and geothermal energy
- ● Cold climate housing research that results in more design and construction of such housing in Alaska
- ● A tax credit structure that encourages renewable energy development by small energy companies and Independent Power Producers, particularly in communities and villages off the road system
- ● Funding for renewable energy including energy storage and transmission across the state● Fair market compensation of homeowners and businesses who produce and contribute renewable energy to the electric grid.We call for immediate creation of a roadmap for the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies and programs, to move Alaska toward an efficient, renewable energy-based economy as rapidly and cost effectively as possible.
The complete 2024 platform can be read at the party’s website at this link. The 2022 platform can be found in the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive, at this link.
