Native Movement Blog
Response to the Inflation Reduction Act
Holding Climate Gains Hostage to the Fossil Fuel Industry is NOT Climate Justice
Last week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin reached a deal on long-sought climate legislation by releasing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). While the bill contains some energy production and carbon emissions reforms for which frontline communities have worked and organized, it holds much-needed measures hostage to continued subsidization of extractive industries.
The Inflation Reduction Act is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It masquerades as a win for the climate while perpetuating the oil and gas industry and other corporate-supported false solutions to the climate crisis like carbon capture and storage, biofuels, nuclear energy, and blue or gray hydrogen. Among the most insidious provisions is a requirement that all new solar and wind energy development on federal lands and waters must have a prerequisite oil and gas lease sale. The bill also mandates oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Cook Inlet, Alaska, where the federal lease sale was canceled earlier this year because of lack of industry interest. Mandated drilling in these special places perpetuates the treatment of them as sacrifice zones. Sacrifice zones are incompatible with a Just Transition, period. We cannot support the continued destruction of Alaskan ways of life in exchange for promises of lower emissions elsewhere.
Frontline communities fought for and won many historic investments in this bill. These include dozens of environmental justice programs, support for community-led efforts to clean up toxic pollution and adapt to climate change, and justice and labor standards. But these communities did not fight so hard only to trade these gains for giveaways to the fossil fuel industry that will continue to cause them harm.
We call on Congress to remove all harmful provisions in the bill, and we call on President Biden to utilize every tool available to him to mobilize the federal government to respond to the climate crisis in ways that invest in communities and do not perpetuate environmental racism.
2022 Post-Legislative Debrief
2021 was a big year for Native Movement, as our team welcomed many new staff members on board–including Rebecca Noblin, Policy Justice Lead, and David Clark, Gender Justice Policy Communications Specialist, who were hired on because of their passions for systems change work, as well as their knack for understanding how political and governmental decisions affect the outcomes and decisions of communities across Alaska. Rebecca and David both had a big year in building out relationships with partner organizations and supporting their grassroots efforts, in addition to helping shape the organization’s systems engagement work. They’re excited to share some highlights from the year below!
Gender Justice and Healing
Native Movement’s Gender Justice and Healing Program focused largely on three main areas of policy: 2S/LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights/MMIWG2, and police accountability and reform.
While we engaged with our partners at Identity Alaska and Freedom For All Americans on H.R. 5, the national Equality Act - which unfortunately stalled in Congress and will likely have to be reintroduced - we were also engaging at the state level on HB 17: The Alaska Equality Act, which would have updated Alaska’s statutory Code of Civil Rights to include gender expression and sexual orientation. We also paid attention to HB 8: Banning Conversion Therapy, which would have outlawed the practice of conversion therapy for Alaskan health care providers, and held strategy conversations with our partners at The Trevor Project on how to best help advance those bills. Native Movement was also successful in helping Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates effectively hinder SB 140: Sex-designated School Sports Teams, which would have effectively banned transgender students from joining the appropriate team for sports; this bill was narrowly defeated on the Senate floor before the Legislature officially adjourned. We also followed and supported partner work, where appropriate, on SJR 4, which if passed would have allowed Alaskan voters to decide whether or not our constitutional right to privacy included the very personal and inalienable right to abortion - an essential reproductive right.
In the arena of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people (MMIWG2), we worked with partners to ensure the passage of the Violence Against Women Act 2022. We were disappointed in the lack of support from Senator Sullivan but appreciated Senator Murkowski’s support. We participated in our MMIWG2 working group’s policy forum in February.
Native Movement is one of the prime sponsors of the Alaska Coalition for Justice (ACJ), a statewide grassroots group that advocates for better police accountability and reform throughout the state of Alaska, which first convened in the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by police. Through policy working group meetings at ACJ, we partnered with ACLU of Alaska, Alaska Black Caucus, and Fairbanks NAACP on spreading the word about the 8 Can’t Wait Legislative Package. This package - a series of Senate bills carried by Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, which later saw companion legislation introduced by Rep. Geran Tarr in the House - followed Campaign Zero’s 8 Can’t Wait policy recommendations, which aim to drastically improve police accountability and reduce instances of police violence. One bill out of the package - SB 7: Public Access to State Trooper Policies - successfully passed the Legislature.
Climate and Environmental Justice
In the 2022 legislative session, Native Movement worked with partners and allies on legislation that has implications for Native rights, climate and environmental justice, democracy, and economic justice. We are happy to report that we made some progress toward building the good, and for the most part we stopped the bad. Here’s how the bills we worked on fared in the 2022 Alaska legislative session.
The Good News
One big victory is that the legislature passed the Tribal Recognition bill (HB123/SB108), and it will now go to the Governor for his signature. This bill requires the State of Alaska to formally recognize all 229 federally-recognized Alaska Native Tribes. It does not grant or expand sovereignty, because sovereignty is inherent and pre-existing, but it codifies a government-to-government relationship between Tribes and the State. It is similar to and consistent with the ballot measure. If the Governor signs the bill or allows it to pass without signature, the ballot measure will be canceled under a provision of the Alaska Constitution that nullifies ballot measures if the Legislature passes a substantially similar law. If Governor Dunleavy vetoes the bill, the measure will remain on the ballot in November.
We also saw the passage of the Broadband bill (HB363). If signed into law by the Governor, this bill will allow Alaska to take advantage of federal infrastructure money coming to the state to improve broadband. The bill that will create a broadband office and advisory board to implement the build-out of broadband in Alaska. For all Alaskans, especially rural Alaskans, broadband can help every facet of life, especially during a pandemic, where we rely on remote connections to sustain ourselves without being at risk. Adequate accessible broadband improves health outcomes, increases educational opportunities, increases public safety, supports economic innovation and infrastructure, and improves civic engagement.
Another victory is stopping legislation that would have housed a green bank at AIDEA. The AIDEA Green Bank bill (HB170/SB123 aka Dunleavy’s greenwashed bank) would have created an entity within the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) that would finance energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy installations. This entity, or green bank, is a model for leveraging state funds with private sector capital. While we theoretically support the idea of a green bank, we are highly distrustful of AIDEA’s ability to properly manage such a fund. Thankfully, the AIDEA green bank did not pass, and supporters of the measure acknowledged at the end of the session that AIDEA is not the appropriate entity to house Alaska’s green bank. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that Alaska gets the green bank it deserves, one that is transparent, accountable, and prioritizes community-driven projects in rural Alaska, which is not possible to do within AIDEA as it currently exists.
In addition to the AIDEA greenwashed bank, there is a whole slew of bad Dunleavy bills that we helped stop. These include:
Repeal of salmon stream protections (SB97) – This Dunleavy bill sought to give the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) the power to authorize commercial development on any state land regardless of its status—refuge or park or otherwise. It also sought to repeal the Recreational River statutes that protect six popular and anadromous Mat-Su rivers: the Little Susitna River, the Deshka River, the Talkeetna River, Lake Creek, Alexander Creek, and the Talachulitna River.
Directional drilling into Kachemak Bay (HB82) – This Dunleavy bill would have authorized subsurface natural gas drilling and development in Kachemak Bay, which is currently off-limits to oil and gas development.
Increased timber sales on state lands (HB98) – This Dunleavy bill would have increased DNR’s power to offer state forest land for timber harvest. The state canceled a large timber sale due to an appeal to a Forest Land Use Plan in 2017 - Forest land use plans, also known as FLUPs, are one of the final steps before a harvest moves forward. FLUPs provide guidelines like harvest methods and mitigation measures and serve as a last opportunity for public comment and agency consultation. HB 98 would have made FLUPs non-appealable or subject to reconsideration.
We also helped beat back the Dunleavy administration’s push to take over wetlands development permitting from the federal government. The proposed allocation of 4.9 million dollars in the Governor’s budget would initiate a process where the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) would assume “primacy” from the federal Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) over permitting development activities that impact wetlands protected under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. This would have led to less Tribal consultation, less analysis and public participation, reduced ability to litigate bad wetlands decisions, and a high cost to the state. Thanks to the hard work of our partners and the public, we were able to reduce the budget allocation to 1 million dollars to fund a study, with no allocation for permanent employees.
The Not-So-Good News
Unfortunately, one of Dunleavy’s bad bills did get through–the Microreactors bill (HB299/SB177). This bill will encourage nuclear energy development in Alaska by eliminating the current statutory requirement that the legislature be involved in designating land for nuclear microreactors. The entire nuclear fuel chain is destructive, dirty, and dangerous. Nuclear energy, even in the form of microreactors, is a false solution to climate change, and it has no place in Alaska. We are disappointed this bill passed, but the good news is that nuclear microreactors remain very costly and there are none currently in existence. We will continue to fight false solutions like nuclear energy in Alaska.
Additionally, several bills we supported did not get passed in this session.
Our partners at Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) worked very hard to pass the PFAS Use and Remediation bill (HB171/SB121), and we were there to support this important work. HB 171 and SB 121 would have required greater protections for communities by preventing and addressing PFAS contamination, including setting of enforceable drinking water standards for a number of PFAS as well as requirements for polluters to pay for safe drinking water and blood tests for people affected by PFAS contamination. As our friends at ACAT reported, “In total, HB 171 and SB 121 had nine full hearings, which included hours of public and invited testimony. . . . We saw a lot of action and interest from legislators from all political leanings, and they worked together to come to an agreement by making amendments. We held rallies and press conferences, released scientific and community reports, and folks gained a greater understanding of PFAS as a public health crisis in Alaska. What’s more, our good trouble did not go unnoticed, as several articles were published in news sources across the state and on television.” While we were disappointed this important legislation did not pass in 2022, we will continue to work with ACAT to address PFAS pollution in Alaska.
We also did not see the passage of the AIDEA Reform bill (HB271) - HB 271 would have added public accountability reforms to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. It would have increased the terms of board members; required that the board pass legislative confirmation; increased public notice and testimony opportunities; and required additional reporting and accountability. We always knew that getting this bill passed would be a long-shot, but it provided a great opportunity to highlight how problematic AIDEA is.
Another bill that did not pass that we would have liked to see pass with amendments was the Renewable Portfolio Standards for Utilities bill (SB179/HB301). This legislation would have established a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in Alaska’s Railbelt region, the interconnected power grid from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula. The legislation proposed that electric utilities on the railbelt generate energy from renewable resources following a timeline that would get us to 80 percent renewables by 2040. It would have supported solar and wind energy to transition away from fossil fuels. Unfortunately, it also allowed for large hydropower projects such as the Susitna-Wantana Dam, which can have serious consequences for fish passage and other wildlife. We would like to see renewable portfolio standards that do not promote large-scale hydropower, and we will continue to work for a transition to energy that is truly renewable and just.
Finally, the Bill to limit governor’s appropriation power (HB177) had a mixed outcome. House Bill 177 sought to uphold the legislature’s Constitutional power of appropriation by limiting the authority granted to the governor in statute to amend the budget by receiving and expending additional money that becomes available after the budget has been passed by the legislature. This bill would have ensured that federal funds that come in through such federal legislation as the infrastructure bill would not go directly to the governor and instead go through the legislature for appropriation. Although this bill did not pass, through the budget process the legislature ensured that it retains the right to appropriate any such funds that come in before the 2023 legislative session.
Thank you to all our partners and supporters who worked alongside
us to build the good and stop the bad.
What will Native Movement’s policy team be up to over the summer? We will be working with our partners at the AKCES Table, Native People’s Action, and other organizations to ensure that our communities have as much information as possible about this fall’s primary and general elections, which will employ the ranked choice voting method that was approved by Alaskan voters during the 2020 general election. We will also be working with partners to dream up the proactive legislation we want to see in the next legislative session. Want to stay up-to-date on what we’re up to and how you can get involved? Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media!
STATEMENT ON THE LEAKED DRAFT SUPREME COURT DECISION
Native Movement is grieved and outraged by governmental moves to eliminate essential human rights regarding citizen’s decision making agency over our own individual bodies.
The draft Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is clearly reflected in a history of relentless attacks from governmental agencies and industries on Indigenous lands, waters, and bodies from the onset of colonization. The absence of free, prior, and informed consent perpetuates many forms of violence, from Indigenous Nations to individual persons, the undermining of sovereignty and self-determination has always been and continues to be about control, abuse of power, and profit.
The draft supreme court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is a direct attack on our ability to exercise inherent human rights including body sovereignty – the right to choose what happens to our own sacred being. Accessible, safe, and affordable reproductive health care, including abortion, must be available to everyone. Eliminating safe access to abortion is as much political as it is economic, keeping people with uteruses in lower wage earning jobs and ensuring future generations remain chained to the system of economic disenfranchisement. This Supreme Court decision removes the agency and autonomy of already strained and stressed people from marginalized communities, furthering inequities in a country that does not provide universal healthcare, living wages, and paid parental leave. The impacts of the Court’s decision will continue the perpetuation of systemic racism that disproportionately funnels people of color through state agencies and the prison industrial complex.
In Alaska the news of the draft Supreme Court decision is compounded by local state proposed legislation (SB140) to ban transgender youth from school sports, furthering once again the removal of body autonomy. This bill specifically aims to regulate the bodies of K-12 girls who wish to participate in sports. Policies that seek to control, erase, and eradicate trans people are entirely inhumane and utterly cruel. Trans, two-spirit, and gender expansive individuals are valuable contributing members of our communities, they have the right to childhoods free of trauma and erasure.
Native Movement sees both the Supreme Court draft decision and the Alaska State legislature’s proposed Anti-Trans Sport bill (SB140) as acts of great violence. Additionally, in the week of National Awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (May 5) these acts are particularly heinous. These collective acts of violence further underscore the deep systemic inequities disproportionately impacting women, trans and non-binary relatives, and people of color. The crisis of MMIWG2S is the criminal result of the U.S. justice systems which control and dismember Indigenous Nations by intentionally failing to protect Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people.
Native Movement believes in the power of collective organizing – people power. We reclaim agency as we seek community protection and demand our voices be heard, rising together, voting, and mobilizing to fight for justice.