Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young held a brief press conference Monday afternoon at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport before they caught a flight to Kotzebue. At the press conference, Murkowski started things off by outlining some of the bills that have been passed so far this session, including ones related to suicide and terrorism. The topics of climate change and the Keystone XL Pipeline soon came to the forefront of the conversation.
When asked for Alaska’s tie to the Keystone pipeline – one that Murkowski has been pushing for – she answered that approving a cross-border pipeline will set a precedent to permit Alaska its own gasline when that time comes.
Young, meanwhile, expressed his dissatisfaction over Obama’s link between the use of fossil fuels and climate change. He says villages like Kivalina need to adapt, as erosion threatens the town. “We are the only thing that God ever created that doesn’t want to adapt,” said Young. “We can, we’ve done it – it’s happened 11 times before on this globe.”
Murkowski, Sullivan and Young will join Gov. Bill Walker and other Alaska legislative leaders in Kotzebue to discuss Arctic policy with Alaska Native leaders.
Via ktva.com
