Sports fans who turned on SportsCenter, the MLB Network or the Golf Channel during pre-Covid-19 programming were sure to see ads selling copper-infused socks, t-shirts, wristbands and headwear. The ads make claims that copper helps with natural healing, reduced swelling and even decreases fatigue among users. Recently, an article on VICE.com reported that copper kills bacteria and viruses, including strains similar to Covid-19, and wondered why copper isn’t used more around the house, in businesses, and especially in health facilities and high-traffic locations? The article postulated that Americans had grown too comfortable with plastics and steel as prices for those…

The COVID-19 situation is dominating nearly every mainstream media discussion, with politicians at local, state and federal levels scrambling to enact policies to “flatten the curve” and limit the spread of the virus. One group that can’t be “social distanced” without a dire impact to the national economy is America’s energy workers. Facebook comments suggested shutting down Alaska’s man-camps because they were dangerous to workers.  A well-intentioned idea, but impractical if we are going to continue to produce energy.   In Alaska, man-camps – whether on the North Slope, at a rural mine-site or on a rig in Cook Inlet…

Power The Future’s staff has spent many days these past two years on job sites across America, learning about the projects, meeting workers and educating ourselves about many items, including the impressive safety precautions and practices each of the sites maintains.    Once again, Alaska’s North Slope producers are taking action to protect their workers and job sites from potential harm – and we salute them for doing so. Even though Alaska currently has zero confirmed Coronavirus cases, ConocoPhillips Alaska and BP Alaska have moved ahead with screening their North Slope-bound hands prior to boarding planes for their shifts. With…

Sunday’s announcement that Saudi Arabia and Russia’s fragile OPEC relationship had deteriorated, with the Russians refusing to go along with production cuts, led the world markets to react aggressively.  By pushing the futures price for oil below $30 – before settling back in the mid-$30s (it sits between $33 and $36 as of Tuesday morning) – billions of dollars of oil across the world will sit in the ground, as the price to produce many fields exceeds those numbers. Alaska’s Arctic North Slope crude pricing (ANS) still hovered just under $50 per barrel on Friday, but it was down from…

Yesterday, Power The Future Alaska State Director Rick Whitbeck guest-lectured at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). Whitbeck’s lectures focused on the importance of energy and resource development projects to the economy, as well as the massive impact of those projects on Alaska’s job market. As such, the Green New Deal (GND), a policy proposal that would ban fracking, was a major topic of discussion. It is important for students at UAA, particularly those studying business, to understand the energy industry’s impact on Alaska. Nearly half of all full-time, private-sector jobs in Alaska are either directly or indirectly tied to…

Last week, a joint venture was established between Trilogy Metals, Inc. and South32, Ltd.  The JV, calling itself Ambler Metals, will work to develop the Bornite and Arctic prospects in the area commonly known as the “Ambler Road Mining District” in Northwest, Alaska. The two prospects are believed to hold world-class deposits of minerals and elements necessary for green energy projects.  According to Trilogy’s website, the Arctic deposit “is one of the highest-grade copper deposits known in the world with an average grade of 5% copper equivalent.”  It also contains zinc, lead, gold and silver.  The Bornite deposit has copper…

Despite the ever-present pressure from the environmental Left, Alaska’s energy workers continue to produce world-class, safe and responsibly-undertaken oil, gas, minerals and rare earth materials from across our vast state. They toil in temperatures that may vary by more than 150 degrees throughout the year.  They work in 24 hours of darkness or 24 hours of daylight, depending on the season.  They work in 100-mile-per-hour winds, and in clouds of mosquitos that would make most of us run inside and hide. Thankfully, amid the drone of “leave it in the ground”, “no blood for oil”, “climate change will destroy our…

Jobs in energy and responsible resource development are once again under attack in Alaska, as radical environmentalists have pulled out one of their ‘tried and true’ gimmicks in recent actions against the federal government: the Endangered Species Act.  Two have caught our eye.  Yesterday, we focused on actions in Cook Inlet.  Today, we’ll cover the suit focused on southwest Alaska. For nearly two decades, environmental extremism has run amok when it comes to disrupting the permitting process for the proposed Pebble Mine outside of Iliamna, Alaska.  Radicalized organizations – and their minions from the lower 48 that support and exhort…

It’s difficult to ignore the ultra-left tendencies of Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.  Whether it be his San Francisco upbringing, Ivy League education, radical support of sanctuary cities or lack of concern for the taxpayer, there’s no denying Mayor Ethan’s liberal agenda. But, this past week, just in case there was any doubt about his political views, Mayor Ethan took another step way out to the left – he endorsed Michael Bloomberg’s campaign for President. This endorsement may be in line with Berkowitz’s political views, but it certainly isn’t in line with the best interest of Alaska. During Berkowitz’s time as…

Yesterday, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) held a public hearing on the ownership of the all-important Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Before Hilcorp’s potential acquisition of BP could be discussed, the hearing was disrupted by protesters. This disruption by the eco-left only sent one message – they lack a fact-based argument and are relying on theatrics to make their case. Power The Future’s Alaska State Director Rick Whitbeck, who testified during the hearing, warned the regulatory commissioners that there would be pressure from radical environmentalists. He implored the commissioners to stay objective and focus on their jobs, noting that the facts and…