Fall 2009
Activist Diary
Cultivating Grassroots under the Midnight Sun
| In this issue of Catalyst:
> In the Footsteps of Thoreau |
Last spring, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski represented a key vote on a national renewable electricity standard (RES), which would help shift our country away from fossil fuels and their heat-trapping emissions. Despite Alaska's ample potential for developing wind, biomass, geothermal, and wave energy, the senator had previously criticized the RES. This uncertain support for clean energy is not in the best interests of her state, which has experienced some of the clearest effects of climate change: Arctic temperatures have risen more than 3°F during the last 50 years and sea ice has retreated about 20 percent.
To help put pressure on Senator Murkowski to support the RES, UCS decided to bring our case to her constituents, many of whom have an acute interest in reducing their dependence on oil. Alaska has about 250 remote native villages that rely on diesel generators for electricity and fuel oil for heat. High fuel prices hit these villages especially hard last year, when residents spent 40 percent of their incomes on energy needs, causing what is widely known in Alaska as the "village energy crisis."
Knowing UCS could not reach out to all of these villages by itself, I looked to a local expert for help in mobilizing them. Andrea Sanders was the perfect person for the job.
Our Partner on the Last Frontier
Having grown up in Quinhagak, a village of 450 near the Bering Sea, Andrea understands firsthand why a transition to renewable energy is so important to native Alaskans. As Andrea explains, "Our entire Yupik culture is being affected by the current energy crisis. Families that can't afford to heat and power their homes are forced to consider moving to bigger towns or faraway cities." She adds that climate change is also threatening the hunting and gathering that form the basis of long-standing native cultures and economies.
Andrea and I worked together to prepare information about the benefits of a national RES, which, for example, would create a market for renewable energy that Alaskan villages—and other communities around the country—could sell to utilities. Furthermore, by shifting away from fossil fuels, villagers would save money on electricity and heating costs and reduce the threat of global warming.
A Long-Distance Call for Help
As a result of our work with Andrea, 85 villages have supported resolutions endorsing the RES—far surpassing our goal of 50. We also succeeded in arranging a meeting in Washington, DC, between Senator Murkowski, Andrea, and an elected village leader, Olga Malutin, and helped persuade Alaska newspapers and radio and TV stations to describe the benefits of an RES in their stories about the village energy crisis. Andrea and Olga are now working with native communities to introduce pro-RES resolutions to the Alaska Federation of Natives, the largest native organization in the state.
While Senator Murkowski voted in June to support the final Senate Energy Committee bill that included the RES, she also supported amendments that weakened the standard. We hope she will support a stronger RES when comprehensive climate and energy legislation is considered by the full Senate. Thanks to our work with Alaskan villages, the senator is beginning to feel the heat.
—Ben Larson, energy advocate and field manager, Clean Energy Program
