Exposing Alaska’s Green New Deal (Part I)

Ed. Note: Alaska policymakers are selling out the state’s hydrocarbon abundance for a Green New Deal foisted by special interests that do not have consumers, taxpayers, or prosperity in mind. Trump Administration Officials visiting Alaska in two weeks are warned by energy expert Kassie Andrews in two parts (Part II tomorrow).

“… this isn’t about affordability or ‘sustainability’- it’s about control, green grift, and forcing Alaska into a ‘transition’ nobody voted for.”

The political class in Alaska is trying to sell the public on “cheap” renewables as the centerpiece of the state’s energy policy. We’ve all heard the line: Solar and wind are the cheapest sources of electricity on Earth. It’s the Green New Deal gospel repeated ad nauseam, designed to steamroll dissent and shut down debate. But like most things parroted by lobbyists, bureaucrats, and captured politicians, it falls apart under basic scrutiny.

The Anchorage Daily News op-ed, “Energy Opportunities for Alaska,” is the latest propaganda. It sounds exactly like something written by people who stand to make money off government subsidies, without addressing the inconvenient truths: that solar and wind are only “cheap” after billions in taxpayer subsidies and magical thinking about reliability.

Are Alaskans buying it? Not really, as public testimony on the state’s proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard made clear. People are waking up to the fact that this isn’t about affordability or “sustainability”- it’s about control, green grift, and forcing Alaska into a “transition” nobody voted for.

And now, we’re watching something even more dangerous unfold: elected officials using their official titles to boost political allies running for co-op boards – candidates who back this green charade. That’s not public service—it’s political warfare; it’s being waged against, and paid for by, the very people they claim to represent.

Representative Ky Holland and I have gone back and forth on this issue, but based on the moves I’m seeing, it’s obvious they’ve made their decision. They’re doubling down—regardless of the public’s will, regardless of economic sanity, and most certainly regardless of the damage this agenda will do to our energy security.

Testimony re HB 153

Here is my testimony to the House Energy Committee of the Alaskan Legislature challenging the political grab of the Green New Dealers, aka HB 153. Part II tomorrow will share my subsequent communications with the dark side of Alaska energy policy. I report; you decide.

Members of the House Energy Committee,

I am writing today to strongly urge you to oppose HB 153. This bill would force our cooperatives into unreliable and unstable energy sources like wind and solar. The State of Alaska should not be taking on the liability of mandating these sources, especially given the increasing concerns over grid stability and ratepayer costs.

Over the last few years, we have witnessed a steady erosion of accountability from our co-op boards. HB 153 would seal that erosion into law. It hands the boards yet another excuse to deflect responsibility when rates inevitably rise or when we experience blackouts and brownouts. The response will be simple: “It’s the state’s mandate.”

This is yet another example of government interference undermining the authority and responsibility of our publicly owned cooperatives. Ratepayers are not asking for higher electric bills. Ratepayers are not asking for more reliability problems. Yet that is exactly what this bill invites. If this continues, our co-ops will soon be reduced to nothing more than glorified billing departments.

We don’t have to imagine where this leads — just look to Texas. They implemented a renewable portfolio standard and now operate under ERCOT, their reliability council. During Winter Storm Uri, over 70 people died, and economic damages soared into the hundreds of billions. ERCOT, once claiming immunity, is now facing class action lawsuits. Some cases have been dismissed, but many are on-going.

The legal and financial fallout is far from over. We should be learning from these disasters of centralized planning and mandates — not racing to repeat them here in Alaska.

Furthermore, just days ago, President Trump issued executive orders aimed at restoring energy freedom and specifically pushing back on state mandates like the one proposed in HB 153. In the order titled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach,” it states:

“State-imposed mandates and restrictions that limit the type, quantity, or method of energy production or delivery within a State or region pose a threat to national energy security, public welfare, and the resilience of the electrical grid.”

This is exactly what HB 153 represents. It limits energy choices, it undermines grid reliability, and it puts both ratepayers and taxpayers on the hook for an unreliable, high-risk experiment. The federal government has recognized the danger in these state-level mandates — and so should we.

The responsibility for affordable, reliable power belongs with our co-op boards. If these technologies were truly viable, the boards already have the authority to adopt them voluntarily. But they haven’t, because they know the liability and risk.

Instead, they are looking for the state to hand them a mandate, giving them someone else to blame when — not if, but when — the consequences arrive.

For all of these reasons, I respectfully urge you: do not advance HB 153.

Thank you for your consideration. Kassie Andrews

The post Exposing Alaska’s Green New Deal (Part I) appeared first on Master Resource.

Source: https://www.masterresource.org/alaska-policy/alaska-green-new-deal-exposed-i/