Following a truck rollover earlier this summer, emails show state regulators raised concerns about how the Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue is cleaning up after spills on the sensitive tundra.

It’s the earliest walrus haulout since it began happening in 2007, according to the federal agency. The haulouts are associated with declining sea ice due to climate change.

It’s still too early to know if petroleum even exists in the refuge in commercially-viable quantities. But if it’s found, Kaktovik’s residents are simultaneously positioned to be among the biggest beneficiaries, and to experience some of the biggest disruptions.

Richard Glenn is an inconvenient truth for opponents of drilling in the Arctic Refuge. He presents a challenge to a prevalent narrative in Washington, D.C., that Native people oppose development in the Arctic.

The University of Alaska system is known as a leader in climate change research, studying melting permafrost to shrinking glaciers. But there’s growing uncertainty about the future of such projects with steep cuts to state funding. 

Sarah James’ desire to preserve the Neetsa’ii Gwich’in way of life drove her into the thick of the battle over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

It’s 3,200 miles from Joe Balash’s office in Washington, D.C., to the Neets’aii Gwich’in community of Arctic Village. But Arctic Village is barely 200 miles from North Pole, the Alaska town where Balash grew up.

As legislative gridlock continues over funds included in an annual sweep into state savings, rural Alaskans soon could see more expensive electricity bills.

One of the biggest ideological fractures complicating this year’s legislative session is within the Alaska Republican Party. And that’s creating some strange bedfellows.

Alaskans are approaching their legislators in person. They’re holding rallies and sleepovers. And they’re barraging lawmakers with phone calls, text messages and emails by the hundreds.