2012 Session Underway in Juneau!
Posted in: Anchorage Issues, Budget, Energy, General | Comments Off
Hi neighbors,
The legislative session is in full swing now in Juneau. While everyone expects oil taxes to dominate the session, we are working on several bills involving energy, commercial fishing, outlawing dangerous recreational drugs and veterans benefits.
Legislation
Renewable Energy Grant Fund – House Bill 250 extends the fund to 2023. This fund provides revenue to make renewable energy projects viable and result in lower energy costs in rural Alaska. This program is in round six of projects to fund. It has proven to be a way to help rural Alaska develop more affordable energy.
Nenana Basin Gas Exploration – Tax credits for oil and gas exploration in the Nenana Basin could lead to a new petroleum region in the interior and help the Fairbanks area lower its energy costs. The bill number is HB 276.
Legacy Wells – From 1944 to 1981 the federal government drilled about 137 oil and gas wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Believe it or not, only seven have been correctly plugged and cleaned up. The remaining wells, known as legacy wells, are a threat to the arctic ecosystem and for the past 30 years the federal Bureau of Land Management has dodged its responsibility to take care of the problem.
House Joint Resolution 19 to urges the BLM to live up to its mission and be a responsible steward of the environment by cleaning up the sites before ground water contamination takes place. Four of my colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors.
Click here to see a copy of the resolution: HJR029A
Click here to photos of the drill sites: BLM Legacy Well Photos
Banning Designer Drugs – A new type of toxic designer drug known as bath salts are being sold legally under names like “Ivory Wave” and “Bliss.” Trust me; these are not the salts that go in a bathtub.
House Bill 253 will put a stop to it. Alaskans are taking these synthetic stimulants without any knowledge of the incredible danger involved. My colleague Senator Kevin Meyer is sponsoring the senate version of the bill.
WebMD has a good article on the mental and physical risks of bath salts. Click here to read it: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/bath-salts-drug-dangers
Veterans Benefits – This legislation waives the fees for an occupational license issued by the state to give returning veterans a little help in reestablishing their civilian life. The bill number is HB 277.
Commercial Fishing – House Bill 261 makes changes to the limited entry commercial fishing loan program and has been referred to the House Special Committee on Fisheries.
There is a great way to track the progress of these or any other bills by subscribing to the legislature’s Bill Management Tracking Facility. It sends you an email each time a bill you are interested in moves through the legislative process.
Click here to subscribe: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/btmf_login.asp?session=27
Capital Budget
Our office and Senator Meyer’s office are busy preparing the capital budget requests for District 30 and we can use your help. Do you have a street or sidewalk that needs to be repaired? Does your neighborhood park need playground equipment replaced? Call my office or send me an email and let us know what your neighborhood needs and we will get to work on it.
Anchorage Caucus
Anchorage legislators are coming home for a town hall meeting Saturday, February 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library. We will take public testimony and hear from the Anchorage Municipality, the Alaska Department of Transportation and the Anchorage School District about their legislative priorities.
Internships
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation is seeking college students for its summer internship program. If you know a young person interested in finance, economics, and business have them check out the APFC webpage at www.apfc.org Applications are being accepted now.
And finally, if you plan on coming down to Juneau during the session we are here to help you. We can assist with scheduling meetings with other legislators and answer your questions about the legislative process.
Here is our contact information in Juneau. The toll free number is 1-888-269-3879 and my email address is representative_charisse_millett@legis.state.ak.us and if you are in Juneau drop by our office, room 13 in the capitol building. Constituents are always welcome!
Warmly,
Charisse
admin @ January 24, 2012
Federal Government Dodges Responsibility to Protect Arctic Ecosystem
Posted in: General | Comments Off
For Immediate Release: January 19, 2012(JUNEAU) – For more than 30 years the federal Bureau of Land Management has ignored its responsibility to clean up approximately 130 abandoned exploratory oil and gas wells drilled by the federal government in the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska. Representative Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage, introduced House Joint Resolution 29 on the first day of the 2012 session to bring attention to the problem and encourage BLM to finally be accountable for this travesty.
“If a private company left this mess behind it would be slapped with fines in the billions of dollars and demonized by media outlets and environmental organizations,” said Representative Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage. “Because the state can’t fine the federal government we can’t force it to take action. Federal agencies like the BLM stonewall private sector oil and gas exploration in the name of protecting the environment – but ignore its own wells that pose an immediate threat to the arctic ecosystem. This is really a disgrace. It is outrageous that we allow our own government to pollute our state. The hypocrisy of these violations is blatantly obvious when responsible developers are constantly waylaid by environmental groups and the federal government claiming to want to protect Alaska but turning a blind eye to these flagrant violations.”
Known as legacy wells, the U.S. Geological Service and the U.S. Navy drilled about 137 wells in NPR-A between 1944 and 1981. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission reports only seven have been property plugged and cleaned up. The remaining sites are littered with scrap metal and wood, rotting buildings and rusting barrels. The unplugged wells also threaten to contaminate ground water. Three wells can no longer be found.
BLM claims it does not have any money to clean up its mess. Rep. Millett’s resolution points out that BLM received more than nine billion dollars from oil and gas lease sales in NPR-A and Alaska’s outer continental shelf.
Environmental groups and the news media wouldn’t hesitate to pounce on a private oil and gas company for the same behavior. It is time to bring public pressure on the federal government and get the well sites cleaned up before any more environmental damage is done.
Four representatives have already signed on as co-sponsors of HJR 29 and it has been referred to the House Resources Committee.
Click here to view photos of the abandoned wells: Legacy Pictures – BLM
Click here to read a copy of HJR 29: HJR029A
For more information, contact Rep. Millett at (907) 465-3879.
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admin @ January 20, 2012
Senator Meyer and Representative Millett Applaud Cook Inlet Gas Discovery
Posted in: Anchorage Issues, Announcements, Energy, Press Releases | Comments Off
Sen. Meyer and Rep. Millett sponsored a Legislative Memorium to honor John Herda, a longtime District 30 constituent and community volunteer. The memorium was presented to his son Jay during a special ceremony at the Abbott Loop Community Council meeting in September.
For Immediate Release: November 7, 2010
(ANCHORAGE) – Escopeda Oil Company’s announcement that it discovered
46.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas from a single well and the possibility
of 3.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in its Cook Inlet leases was welcomed by Rep.
Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage.
“This new gas deposit could be heating our homes and businesses in
Southcentral within two years,” said Rep. Millett. “I want to congratulate
Escopeda Oil for their hard work and perseverance in getting a jack rig to Cook
Inlet and discovering the largest new gas field in the inlet in the past 25
years.”
Senator Kevin Meyer stated, “The Escopeda discovery shows that providing incentives for
exploration works. I applaud their work in developing the inlet’s gas
reserves.”
“As far as first wells go this is a barn burner,” said Bruce Webb, Vice
President of Escopeda Oil. “This is only the top half of the first well and we
have four more to drill.”
Escopeda shipped a jack up drilling rig to the inlet this summer to
explore for new gas deposits. Drilling got underway in the Kitchen Lights Unit
about a month later. It was the first jack up rig in Cook Inlet in about 20
years.
Drilling stopped on October 28th due to restrictions from the state and
will resume next spring.
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admin @ November 7, 2011
Anchorage Road Plan Update
Posted in: General | Comments (0)
The Anchorage Metropolitian Transportation Plan lays out what roads and trails will be built or upgraded between now and 2035. It was presented to Anchorage legislators earlier this week.Click on this link to view the PowerPoint: AMATS 2035 112011
if you have any questions call (907) 269-0222.
admin @ November 4, 2011
