President Obama picked up a silver salmon on the beach in Dillingham. Photo: Hannah Colton/KDLG.
In the wake of President Obama’s visit, Alaskans are still sorting out the significance of new climate initiatives, cultural recognition, and more. But there’s lingering frustration among journalists, who found that the President was so shielded from scrutiny that the public was left poorly informed on what the trip will really mean for Alaskans.
Obama was in Alaska for two-and-a-half days. In that time he made an important speech on the imminent threats of climate change, announced new programs on Arctic research and community relocation, and sped up the timeline for a new ice breaker. During that same stretch of time he did not take a single question from the press.
President Barack Obama meets with Kotzebue residents during his three-day tour of Alaska. (Photo by Eric Keto/Alaska Public Media)
Throughout President Obama’s tour of Alaska last week, he spoke at length about efforts to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. He spoke very little about his support for drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean.
The drilling policy could affect the global climate much more than any of Obama’s climate-friendly initiatives.
The president wrapped up his climate-change tour of Alaska in Kotzebue, just above the Arctic Circle.
The Chinese Navy's Honzehu destroyer at Pearl Harbor in 2006. US Navy photo.
As President Obama tours northwest Alaska, five Chinese navy ships have been spotted in the Bering Sea off southwest Alaska.
Three of China’s surface-warfare ships, a resupply vessel and a landing craft were seen in international waters off the Aleutian Islands, according to Pentagon officials.
“This is the first time we’ve observed People’s Liberation Army navy ships in the Bering Sea,” Commander Bill Urban, spokesperson for Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, said. “We do respect the freedom of all nations to operate military vessels in international waters in accordance with international law. So, no reason why they shouldn’t be there.”
President Obama wants to beef up America’s fleet of ice-breaking ships.
He made the announcement Tuesday before stepping on a non-ice-breaking tour boat to see the glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park.
Obama proposed to speed up construction of a heavy icebreaker by two years. He wants the new ship to be polar-ready by the year 2020, rather than 2022.
Obama also said he plans on working with Congress to expand the nation’s fleet of icebreakers.
President Barack Obama’s visit to Alaska this week, aimed at highlighting his push to fight climate change, comes just two weeks after his administration approved drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean. Some Alaskan environmentalists see a disconnect between the president's rhetoric and his actions on climate change.
The Obama administration hopes the Alaska trip—Obama arrives in Anchorage Monday afternoon—will help sell the president’s proposals to rein in America’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Northern fur seal pups on St. Paul Island, Alaska. NOAA photo.
Northern fur seals have been declining for decades in their stronghold on St. Paul Island in Alaska’s Pribilof Islands, but their numbers are taking off on Bogoslof Island, a couple hundred miles to the south.
A team of scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service has been camped out on isolated, mile-long Bogoslof, just north of the Aleutian chain, trying to piece together why.
The USS Seawolf in Unalaska Bay on Aug. 14, 2015. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
A US Navy submarine pulled into Unalaska Bay near the town landfill Friday morning. The sub made no contact with the Port of Dutch Harbor, according to Harbor Master John Days.
It did communicate with the Royal Pacific, a boat hauling wastewater from the Unisea fish-processing plant, as they were crossing paths.
As is usual for Navy subs, the boat did not identify itself by name over the radio.
The Polar Pioneer rig in the Chukchi Sea on Aug. 5. Shell Oil photo.
The Obama administration has approved drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean.
On Monday the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement gave final approval to Shell Oil to drill into oil-bearing rocks in the Chukchi Sea about 70 miles northwest of the village of Wainwright, Alaska. The decision gives the company until late September—about six weeks—to complete this summer’s exploratory drilling.
President Barack Obama is coming to Alaska later this month.
The White House released a video Thursday morning to explain why he will be the first sitting president to visit Alaska’s Arctic.
The folksy video (it starts with the President of the United States saying, “Hi, everybody”) features dripping glaciers, raging wildfires and Alaska Natives hanging salmon to dry.
