The state is still finalizing its climate strategy. In addressing climate change, Alaska will have to grapple with its own deep contradictions. Both Governor Walker and Lieutenant Governor Mallott supported the recent decision by Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, a move opposed by environmentalists. The draft also proposed cutting statewide greenhouse gas emissions one-third below 2005 levels by 2025, tackling sectors like transportation and “natural resource development,” which includes oil drilling operations. The state’s main climate impact, however, is through the oil that it exports to the rest of the country, where it is burned in cars and trucks.

Source: New York Times May 15, 2018 17:41 UTC