Among items up for public testimony this week in Juneau is the governor’s bill on carbon credits.
SB 48, subject to public testimony at 9 am on May 8 in Senate Finance, would allow the state to negotiate and lease land for “carbon management” and establish a carbon offset program for state land, authorizing the sale of carbon credits. Some people object to the plan because it is not actually developing natural resources. Others object because it allows the state to enter into no-bid contracts.
The British newspaper The Guardian has reported that more than 90% the forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading certifier, Verra, “are largely worthless and could make global heating worse.”
Another bill of interest to Alaskans is HB 4, a repeal of the ranked-choice general election and open primary. It would have Alaska go back to its previous election system before 2020’s Ballot Measure 2 passed narrowly. Recent polls show that the majority of Alaskans want to go back to the simple system they had before.
A bill sponsored by Sen. Scott Kawasaki changes election law by establishing a ballot tracking system and a ballot curing process. With SB 138, the ballot curing process requires the Division to notify voters if the signature on their ballot does not match the one on their registration. Other updates to the election system include tightening and clarifying residency requirements for voting in order to clean Alaska’s voter rolls and replacing the witness signature requirement with a signature verification system. The bill would also have the State of Alaska pre-pay postage on ballots that are mailed in.
Those and other bills subject to public hearings this week:
| HB 169 | FISHERIES REHABILITATION PERMIT/PROJECT | H FISHERIES | May 8 9 am |
| SB 140 | INTERNET FOR SCHOOLS | S FINANCE | May 8 9 am |
| SB 48 | CARBON OFFSET PROGRAM ON STATE LAND | S FINANCE | May 8 9 am |
| SB 138 | ELECTIONS; VOTER REG.; CAMPAIGNS | S FINANCE | May 9 1:30 pm |
| HB 4 | ELECTIONS:REPEAL RANK CHOICE/OPEN PRIMARY | H STATE AFFAIRS | May 9 3 pm |
| SB 95 | LICENSE PLATES: SPECIALTY ORGANIZATIONS | S FINANCE | May 10 9 am |
| SB 125 | AK HOUSING FINANCE CORP: SUSTAIN ENERGY | S FINANCE | May 11 9 am |
| HB 121 | UTILITIES: RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD | H ENERGY | May 11 10:15 am |
| SB 141 | NAMING RAYMOND & ESTHER CONQUEST BRIDGE | S TRANSPORTATION | May 11 1:30 pm |
| SB 129 | MATT GLOVER BIKE PATH | S TRANSPORTATION | May 11 1:30 pm |
YOUR OVERTIME IS STEALING. Unauthorized.
The sale of carbon credits is just another form of extortion and money laundering. Corporations can buy credits to offset their pollution (this cost gets passed to consumers). The money travels around with skims taking place with the usual people getting rich. There is this thought that Alaska can abandon all resource utilization and live off the carbon credits. Sadly, not much may be left after the skim.
The peltolas stand to earn millions with this scheme
Any word on Mr Peltola’s involvement?
It’s legit now – he has a Facebook and a website! Alaska Carbon Solutions. What a scam. Please call in at 9 am tomorrow and testify. We cannot do this.
HAS ANYONE TRIED TO GET IN ON PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR DNR, AOGCC AND RCA? IT WAS VERY HARD, RIGHT? NO CITIZENS SHOWED UP IN THE HOUSE OR SENATE WITH THESE THREE AGENCY APPOINTMENTS.
You cannot be heard if they take the phone off the hook….
No on SB48 please call tomorrow this is what every one calling in to do our part besides voting this is how we protect our selfs please call 9am tomorrow 907-563-9085 #thinkforyourself #fightthenarrative
Thank you again for publishing these! I wrote to my reps to vote HECK NO on SB 48!
Why do they bother? They are gonna do what they damn well want, regardless of what we serfs think.
Public testimony in Juneau is a farce. The legislative trolls control who gets to call in, and the local population who can attend in person are almost all supporters of socialism.
If they actually gave a damn, they would
1-get their work done on time
2-take this farce to the road system
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