State’s response on climate is disappointing

I've been working on the challenge of climate change for more than a decade and the most progress Alaska has made on this issue is with former Gov. Sarah Palin.  What does that say for advancement? So if Gov. Palin is the high point, DEC Commissioner Larry Hartig's response to a petition by Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) and Our Children's Trust is the low point.

In denying their petition to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions toward meeting emission reduction goals, Commissioner Hartig lays out a litany of process problems with the petition. While this may be the case, what is most disturbing to me are the these two underlining messages contained in the rejection: 1) that changes required to cut greenhouse gas pollution could hurt the state's economy, and 2) that Alaska's contribution to national and global emission is so small that it won't achieve the goals cited in the petition.

Hartig's attempt to pit responsible environmental action as a trade-off for jobs is so old school, it ages me and I'm already 65 years old. If Commissioner Hartig would take the time to look at current independent economic analysis, he would find there is absolutely no evidence that reducing emissions hurts the economy; in fact it's the opposite. To understand this we need look no further than to our neighboring regions and states. For Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and California, all part of the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, the clean energy component of their economies is outpacing other sectors. In fact, an independent analysis by the Delphi Group found that from 2010 to 2014, the clean economy growth rate was more than twice as fast as the region's overall job growth.

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Looking nationally we see the same trend. According to CNN Money, the number of solar jobs in the U.S. has more than doubled in five years. More people now work in the solar industry than at oil rigs and in gas fields. The solar industry added 35,000 jobs in 2015, up 20 percent  from the previous year. By contrast, oil and gas firms slashed nearly 17,000 extraction jobs in 2015 as energy prices continue to plummet. The reason given for this decline in resource development jobs is the low price of oil, not environmental regulations or "putting environmental interest groups ahead of the economy."

Globally the same trend is occurring. According to the International Energy Agency, 2016 marked the second year in a row where global emissions of carbon dioxide have remained essentially flat yet the global economy continued to grow by more than 3 percent.

All this is evidence that we can still be respectful of the oil and gas industry's presence in Alaska, yet join the movement toward a low-carbon economy. Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott acknowledged this in an Alaska Public Media interview (February 2015),  saying "the state needs to plan not only for environmental change, but for changes in international policy and the markets, which are likely moving toward a low-carbon future whether Alaska likes it or not." If Norway and Saudi Arabia, both oil-dominated countries, can move to a low-carbon future and commit to reduce emissions, so can we.

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His second underlying message, that Alaska's greenhouse gas contribution to the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted nationally is too small to bother with, ignores the fact Alaska is number three in the nation for carbon emissions on a per capita basis. The additional reference of Alaska's emissions relative to global reduction needs overlooks the fact that the Paris Climate Agreement is built on a strong recognition that success will be borne out by individual and community actions across the globe. Most disturbing about Commissioner Hartig playing the "we're too small to bother" card is the overall moral responsibility we all have to "to be an effective contributor to the solution of climate change" as called for by ministers and bishops across the state.

Alaska Youth for Environmental Action has been asking for responsible state action on climate change as long as I've been engaged in the challenge myself.  Now some of these youths are starting families of their own. Through the years, I've listened to Alaska Native leaders speak eloquently and passionately  about the seven generation approach to decision making — to think seven generations ahead and decide whether the decisions they make today would benefit their children seven generations into the future. How many generations must Alaska youth wait for substantive action on climate change?

Hopefully an Oct. 4 meeting with Gov. Bill Walker's new climate adviser (referenced by Commissioner Hartig in his response) will be the turning point for Alaska finally becoming more that just the poster state for impacts.

Kate Troll is the author of "The Great Unconformity: Reflections on Hope in an Imperiled World." She has over 22 years' experience in Alaska fisheries, coastal management and energy policy. She lives in Douglas.

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