Over a million cruise ship visitors are projected to land in Juneau this year. And the summer cruising season is a big boost for coastal retailers. But, it also brings all of the noisy traffic, haze and water quality issues of big cities — to small towns in Alaska.

Alaska's cruise ship monitoring program shielded from budget cuts by tourists

The state’s gasline corporation has a transparency problem.  It’s either being forced to give up too much information, hurting its chances of being competitive in the global liquefied natural gas market. Or, the corporation with the highest paid state employee at its helm, isn’t disclosing enough about what it’s doing with the state’s money.

As Alaska’s gasline corporation pushes for Asia deal, legislators push for more information

If there were a popularity contest for rivers in Alaska, judging by the thousands of people who visit the Kenai River every year — it would win.
Anglers zip around in motorboats, looking for the perfect fishing holes. They wriggle into their waders and cast from the shoreline. Or, they just stand in the river mouth holding these long-poled nets, shoulder-to-shoulder by the hundreds.

Alaska's latest water quality report has bad news for popular Kenai River

In late November, one of the world’s largest credit rating agencies announced that climbing global temperatures and rising sea levels would have an economic impact on the U.S. In short, climate change could become a credit rating problem for some U.S. cities and states.

But even though Alaska is warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the United States and dozens of towns and villages are at risk of destruction — the state’s credit might not be affected.

Is Alaska’s climate risk, a credit risk?

Late last year one of the world’s largest credit rating agencies announced that climate change would have an economic impact on the U.S.

Moody’s suggested that climate risks could become credit risks for some U.S. states.

Even though Alaska is warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the U.S., its credit rating doesn’t seem to be in danger. But take a closer look at some of the state’s coastal communities and the story changes, especially when Alaska’s fishing towns consider adding climate risks to their balance sheets.

To get good credit, Alaska’s fishing towns may have to factor in climate change

Alaska owns a massive investment account, and lately, it has been growing rapidly.

In the last fiscal year, Permanent Fund Corporation Chief Executive Officer Angela Rodell said the corporation is up 12.5 percent.

“We made $7 billion dollars,” she said.

Right after the last big global financial crisis in 2008, Alaska’s sovereign wealth fund had about $25 billion dollars in it.  And today, Alaska’s Permanent Fund has $63 billion in it. It doubled in size in less than a decade.

$63 billion and counting: How long can Alaska’s Permanent Fund keep growing so fast?

ach year, Alaska’s Permanent Fund Corporation invests billions in private companies and risky startups and digs into venture capital. It’s a relatively new and, so far, really successful strategy for making money for Alaska. 
But, how do they pick the next big winner out of a sea of potential companies?

Five rules for investment from Alaska’s Permanent Fund Corporation

Alaska’s trade delegation to China is headed home. The trip, called Opportunity Alaska, put several companies selling Alaska’s goods and services in front of Chinese investors and consumers.

Gov. Walker and state gasline corporation head Keith Meyer also pushed for support for the $45 billion Alaska LNG project.

Alaska’s China trade mission wraps up with no big gasline news

When a home heating oil tank leaks, costs can add up quickly.  
Depending on the size of the spill, everything from hiring contractors to buying cleanup supplies and even calling the state to report the spill — gets billed.

State wants to stop billing homeowners for tech support after spills

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Alaska’s budget is a mess. After three years of fighting it off, the legislature seems to have finally agreed to tap into the state’s Permanent Fund.

Breaking into the state’s biggest piggy bank carries a lot of political and financial risk. But, it turns out that maybe lawmakers have more control over the outcome than they thought.

Lawmakers might have more control over the Permanent Fund than they think

Earlier this year, the state’s gasline corporation got a letter from the federal agency leading the permitting process for the AlaskaLNG project.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says the state agency isn’t answering a lot of its questions. Regulators wrote that the state hasn’t sent information that is crucial for analyzing the $43 billion project.

Federal regulators push for more information on Alaska’s gasline project

Multimedia Reporter for Alaska's Energy Desk and KTOO.

Rashah McChesney

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