An Alaskan has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve on the national board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Biden administration has introduced an offshore oil lease sale program that includes a new site in the Cook Inlet. The plan scales back an ambitious expansion under the Trump administration.
As European countries seek alternative sources to Russian LNG, the Canadian government is declining to fund new projects and encouraging developers to seek investors.
There’s more news in “Five Things to Know.”
Alaskan tapped for national PBS board
President Joe Biden has nominated Alaskan Diane Kaplan to serve on the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an appointment supported by U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
The White House, in making the announcement, described Kaplan’s approach to philanthropy as raising “the bar for funder partnership with business, government and other nonprofits.”
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a publicly funded nonprofit that represents the federal government’s investment in public radio, television and related mobile services. The corporation funds more than 15 percent of PBS, which also relies on donations and contributions.
The senators initially recommended Kaplan in a letter to the president. Kaplan is president and chief executive officer of the Rasmuson Foundation, Alaska’s largest private grantmaker.
The Rasmuson Foundation funds a swath of areas that include the arts, culture, education, healthcare, housing and social services.
The Anchorage-based foundation awarded more than 250 grants directly in 2021, with an impact on almost every Alaska community.
Kaplan, who joined the nonprofit in 1995 as its first employee, announced earlier this year that she will leave the foundation in 2023. Prior to joining the Rasmuson Foundation, she served as CEO of Alaska Public Radio Network.
“Diane Kaplan’s work in Alaska has touched all sectors — business, government, nonprofit, philanthropy and so much more,” Murkowski said. “I am pleased that an Alaskan will be stepping into a role on the CPB Board.”
“Public media offers an invaluable service in a state like Alaska, particularly for our rural communities, which Diane understands well, given her deep roots and many years leading Alaska’s public radio network,” Sullivan said.
The costs of city living in Alaska
Living in Fairbanks, Juneau and Anchorage used to be more costly than city living in most other U.S. states — but not anymore.
Alaska Economic Trends Magazine is reporting that Alaska cities have fallen in the rankings by several notches when compared to large urban areas such as Seattle, where housing prices are among the highest in the nation.
Alaska’s metropolitan areas are still expensive. In 2022, Fairbanks placed 22nd among U.S. cities, Juneau 19th and Anchorage 18th. Alaska has high housing costs, but they are less expensive compared to several other more populated metro areas.
All spending categories in Alaska’s cities are above the national average in 2022.
Housing costs in Fairbanks, Juneau and Anchorage move Alaska higher in the rankings than any other index value.
Because most of Alaska’s food is shipped in, grocery prices are higher than in the Lower 48.
Grocery prices in Juneau, for example, are the third-highest in the nation, Alaska Economic Trends reported. Grocery prices were only higher in Honolulu and Manhattan.
The magazine also reported that Fairbanks tops the national list for utility costs. Fairbanks also has among the highest costs for healthcare in the nation, along with Juneau and Anchorage.
Biden’s offshore lease oil plan includes new drilling in Cook Inlet
The Biden Administration has released a draft of its offshore plan for oil and gas lease sales that includes one new site in the Cook Inlet off the Alaska coast. The draft also includes 10 new leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
The plan is a scaled-back version of the offshore lease plan under former President Donald Trump, which had 47 new drilling leases in the Atlantic and Pacific.
Trump’s plan represented a vast expansion of drilling sites, including in the Arctic region, which is counter to the Biden administration’s push for alternative energy sources to counter global warming and climate change.
Canadian LNG seeks private investors
The Canadian government announced that it will not fund a pair of new natural gas export projects but will assist in negotiations with outside investors, OilPrice.com reported.
Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is increasing since Russia invaded Ukraine, and European countries seek alternatives to Russian energy sources. The European Union is the largest purchaser of LNG in the U.S.
Leaders in Alaska are working to advance a major LNG project on the North Slope that would include an 800-mile pipeline and an export facility in Nikiski.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who has advocated natural gas as a cleaner burning substitute to traditional fuel, said: “We have been working for this for a very long time. We have a window of opportunity now.”
Russia’s Arctic quest for more energy resources
Russia, which sees its economic future tied to energy exports, has announced an 82-million-ton oil discovery in the Arctic region.
The Russian company Rosneft made the discovery of “significant oil potential” during exploration drilling in the Medynsko-Varandeysky region, according to Russian media.
Meanwhile, Igor Sechin, who heads Rosneft, accused the U.S. of engaging in illegal sanctions against Russia for its ban on the country’s energy exports.
Rosneft has controlling interest in 28 offshore drilling licenses in the Arctic region, including in the Pechora Sea.
The company is projecting that it will produce 115 million tons of oil per year in the Arctic by 2033, which would be 20 percent of Russia’s total oil production, OilPrice.com reported.
