Latest news with #AlaskaSustainableEnergyConference
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Alaska Governor Weighs in Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has expressed to Newsweek his hopes for "a just peace" to emerge from the upcoming summit his state will host between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with positive outcomes that could arise from improving ties between Washington and Moscow. The interview came just hours after Trump wouldn't rule out reports that he was considering striking a deal with his Russian counterpart that would include offer Russia access to Alaska's wealth of rare earth minerals. Dunleavy, a Republican, noted that both nations have access to rare earths and that, "we have a lot of investors looking at Alaska," home to "a robust and growing mining sector we've had for some time." "With regard to a better relationship with Russia, obviously a better relationship means that the rhetoric has ratcheted down, we can get back to cooperating on the Arctic through the Arctic Council and other groups that look at the future, what the Arctic is going to look like, its politics, its resources, et cetera," Dunleavy told Newsweek. "Also, they're two-and-a-half miles away from us," Dunleavy noted. "They're very close to us. So anytime that you can have decent relationships with a neighbor that close bodes well for everyone." Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy speaks during the annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference on June 3, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy speaks during the annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference on June 3, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. Jenny Kane/AP 'The Center of the World' The decision to hold the summit at Anchorage's Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson surprised many observers as previous suggestions indicated a third country, such as the United Arab Emirates, would host the two leaders' first meeting in six years. Since then, U.S.-Russia relations have deteriorated significantly as a result of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Cooperation has frozen on a number of fronts, with the eight-member Arctic Council being one of the few institutions in which Washington and Moscow mutually participate. The symbolism is not lost on Dunleavy, who feels the only U.S. state within the Arctic Circle was the natural choice to host the historic summit. "If you look at a map, if you just tilt the globe slightly to its proper position, you'll see Alaska is the center of the world," Dunleavy said. "We're nine hours by flight every industrialized place in the northern hemisphere. We're closer to Moscow than Washington, D.C. is." "And our position in the Arctic, our position the North Pacific, our position in the western Pacific, people don't understand how geographically, strategically we are located," he added. The state's strategic location also serves as the effective front line between the U.S. and Russia at a time where major powers were increasingly scrambling to bolster their Arctic presence. This year alone, the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has intercepted Russian warplanes operations within Alaska's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), most recently just weeks ago on July 22. A view of an entrance to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on August 13, 2025, ahead of the August 15 scheduled meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. A view of an entrance to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on August 13, 2025, ahead of the August 15 scheduled meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. DREW ANGERER/AFP/Getty Images 'Guardians of the Frontier' Dunleavy touted what he called his state's "incredible, robust military presence," which includes the very state-of-the-art fighter jets assembled at the very base where Trump and Putin are set to meet on Friday. "We take great pride in that. We also take great pride that we are the guardians of the frontier, up here in the Arctic, in the Pacific," Dunleavy said. "And so if you can ratchet down the tension, that's great, but we've lived with the situation prior to statehood. And so, I think we deal with as well." Prior to becoming the 49th state in 1959, Alaska was overseen by the U.S. as a territory, district and department, the designation for Alaska when it was first purchased by the U.S. in 1867—from Russia. During World War II, Alaska was the sight of the only military campaign fought on North American soil after Japan seized two of the Aleutian Islands, prompting a year-long battle in one of the most remote theaters of the conflict. Alaska would go on to serve a key position in the Cold War that followed and remains poised to handle future conflicts. Now, as Europe faces its deadliest conflict since World War II, Dunleavy felt Alaska could also be the site for peace, one that could ultimately bring Ukrainian President Zelensky to the table. "Our proximity has pressed us into a dangerous neighborhood, but Alaska is designed to meet the challenges up here," Dunleavy said. "So, from a military perspective, geopolitical perspective, and just simply we are in the middle of the world for the president of the United States to get to, and for the Russian president to get to, and hopefully the Ukrainian president to get to, this is the place to do it." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured) speaks during a joint press conference at the Chancellery following a virtual meeting hosted by Merz between European leaders and U.S. President Donald... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured) speaks during a joint press conference at the Chancellery following a virtual meeting hosted by Merz between European leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump on August 13, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. More'All Wars Eventually End' Zelensky is not expected to attend the U.S.-Russia summit, though Trump once again teased the idea on Thursday, saying that remaining in Alaska "would be by far the easiest" way for a trilateral meeting between the U.S., Russian and Ukrainian leaders. "I think most people agree that a just peace regarding the great country of Ukraine also needs to occur," Dunleavy said. "And we're going to watch what transpires from what could be an initial discussion to some extent that starts out pretty well, that President Zelensky may also be invited to come over quickly and maybe get to a place where there is a just peace." This would entail "the Ukrainians and the Ukrainian people feel just" from any emerging settlement, according to Dunleavy. As Putin prepares to make his first trip to U.S. soil in six years, his first meeting with a U.S. leader since the war in Ukraine erupted in 2022 and the first-ever visit of a Russian leader to Alaska, Dunleavy hoped both sides could agree to put "this war behind us sooner than later." "Growing economies, growing relationships, all bodes well for mankind," Dunleavy said. "Wars don't usually end well for anybody, they're very expensive and very costly in terms of loss of life, and quite frankly, the relationship damaged here between the Russians and Ukrainians and could last for generations, which is unfortunate." "So, the sooner we get this thing taken care on terms that people can live with, the better off the entire world is," he added. After all, he said, "all wars eventually end, the vast majority of wars probably shouldn't even be started." U.S. President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putin during their last meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putin during their last meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images 'The Best President in Alaska's History' Dunleavy is set to meet Friday with Trump ahead of the U.S.-Russia summit. The governor said the discussion will largely focus on the state itself, praising Trump's record as "the best president in Alaska's history," owing to his policies that have been "terrific" for the state. At the same time, Dunleavy said he planned to "wish him well in the discussions he's going to have with President Putin." "You've got to meet with folks involved in these wars, and that's the only way you're going to settle these wars and end these wars," Dunleavy said. "So, we're honored that the president chose Alaska." "We plan on being the best host possible."
Cision Canada
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- Cision Canada
Graphite One Joins Lucid and Domestic Battery Materials Developers Pledging Strategic Collaboration to Promote Domestic Critical Minerals in the U.S. Automotive Supply Chain
Companies Form "Minerals For National Automotive Competitiveness ("MINAC") Uniting Select Group of Miners and Processors" Initiative Aligns with G1's 100% U.S.-Based Advanced Graphite Materials Supply Chain Strategy and White House Executive Orders on Critical Minerals VANCOUVER, BC, July 23, 2025 /CNW/ - Graphite One Inc. (TSXV: GPH) (OTCQX: GPHOF) (" Graphite One", the " Company", or "G1"), is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (" MoU") with Lucid Group, Inc (" Lucid"), maker of the world's most advanced electric vehicles. This agreement has been signed as part of the formation of MINAC -- Minerals for National Automotive Competitiveness -- a collaborative aimed at fostering economic growth while reducing U.S. over-reliance on foreign supplies of critical minerals within the automotive supply chain. MINAC formally launched today during a Capitol Hill event featuring a roundtable discussion and remarks by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, Alaska Representative Nick Begich and Arizona Representative Andy Biggs in Washington, D.C. "Graphite One is pleased to be partnered with Lucid via supply chain offtake agreements for both synthetic and natural graphite," said Anthony Huston, CEO of Graphite One. "With MINAC representing domestic developers of the essential rechargeable battery materials and Lucid as an end-user, this agreement marks a significant step towards creating the fully U.S.-based supply chain that is an indispensable element of U.S. energy dominance." The formation of the MINAC U.S. battery materials collaborative follows G1 and Lucid's natural graphite supply agreement, announced in Anchorage, Alaska at Governor Mike Dunleavy's Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in June here, and Graphite One's listing of Graphite Creek as Alaska's first mining project on the FAST-41 Federal Permitting Dashboard here and fifth mining project overall at the time of listing. Graphite One's Supply Chain Strategy With the United States currently 100 percent import dependent for synthetic and natural graphite, Graphite One is developing a complete U.S.-based, advanced graphite supply chain solution anchored by the Graphite Creek deposit, recognized by the US Geological Survey as the largest graphite deposit in the U.S. "and among the largest in the world." The Graphite One Project plan includes building an advanced graphite material and battery anode material manufacturing plant located in Warren, Ohio. The plan also includes a recycling facility to reclaim graphite and the other battery materials, to be co-located at the Ohio site, the third link in Graphite One's circular economy strategy. About MINAC MINAC is a partnership among U.S. mineral and automotive producers to develop the domestic supply chains that will support national security and enable American energy leadership. The collaboration promotes the use of the United States' vast mineral resources to create jobs, fuel prosperity, and significantly reduce reliance on foreign nations within the automotive supply chain; potentially unlocking billions in investment in mining, minerals processing, and derivative products manufacturing. About Graphite One Inc. GRAPHITE ONE INC. continues to develop its Graphite One Project (the " Project"), with the goal of becoming an American producer of high grade anode materials that is integrated with a domestic graphite resource. The Project is proposed as a vertically integrated enterprise to mine, process and manufacture high grade anode materials primarily for the lithium‐ion electric vehicle battery market. On Behalf of the Board of Directors "Anthony Huston" (signed) For more information on Graphite One Inc., please visit the Company's website, On X @Graphite One Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, including those related to entering MINAC, the anticipated benefits of MINAC in fostering economic growth, future production, establishment of a processing plant and a graphite manufacturing plant, completion of project financing, establishment of a battery materials recycling facility, and events or developments that the Company intends, expects, plans, or proposes are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward‐looking information can be identified by the use of forward‐looking terminology such as "proposes", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "projects", "plans", "is planning", "intends", "assumes", "believes", "indicates", "to be" or variations of such words and phrases that state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The Company cautions that there is no certainty that the Company will enter into a definitive agreement with Lucid and even if the Company does enter into such arrangement, that the anticipated outcomes will result. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable securities laws. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Praise but no firm promises, as Trump administration officials talk Alaska oil and gas
The trans-Alaska pipeline is seen on Sept. 19, 2022, in Fairbanks. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) Gov. Mike Dunleavy's annual energy conference included visits from three of the Trump administration's top officials, but it didn't include any major developments on the financing of the proposed 800-mile trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Lee Zeldin, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, traveled to the North Slope and to Anchorage this week during a visit that coincided with the fourth annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. Despite the conference's name, oil and gas development took top billing, with all three officials saying that they hope to increase oil and gas production in Alaska under the direction of President Donald Trump. 'President Trump wants to see the flows through (the trans-Alaska Pipeline System) doubled,' Wright said during a speech on the North Slope this week. 'The oil is here. The discoveries are here. If we free Alaska and the people here (from regulation), we're going to more than double the oil flow through the pipeline and build the big, beautiful twin, the natural gas pipeline, from the North Slope.' Despite the week's enthusiasm for the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas pipeline, better known as AKLNG, it still isn't clear who will pay for it to get built. The natural gas pipeline and associated processing plants are expected to cost $38.7 billion, but that estimate was published in 2020, and it predates inflation-driven and tariff-driven cost increases under the Biden and Trump presidencies. Energy developer Glenfarne, which is pursuing AKLNG on behalf of the state, announced this week that 50 firms had formally expressed interest in AKLNG contracts worth more than $115 billion. Those contracts include possible supply agreements — people interested in selling things to AKLNG for construction — as well as possible investors. An expression of interest isn't a firm commitment, and no investors said this week that they will back the project. Officials from Japan, Korea and other nations — possible customers for Alaska gas — visited the state this week but made no announcements. Taiwan's state-run energy company, CPC, signed a non-binding agreement in March stating that it would buy liquefied natural gas from Alaska and invest in the project. As currently envisioned, AKLNG would be constructed in two phases — the first would be a pipeline from the North Slope to Fairbanks and Southcentral Alaska for domestic, in-Alaska gas customers. The second phase would involve facilities and equipment needed to export gas overseas. Glenfarne is expected to announce a go/no-go final investment decision on the first phase by the end of the year. Speaking to NBC reporters in Prudhoe Bay, Burgum said that the U.S. military could be a key customer for the first phase of the project. 'They're ready to sign on to take an offtake agreement from this pipeline to get gas to our super strategic, important bases across Alaska,' he said on CNBC. Actually signing a customer agreement could make financing easier to come by. 'If you get the commercial offtakers for the gas, financing is pretty straightforward,' Wright told CNBC. Legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden allows $30 billion in federally guaranteed loans for the project. This week, Wright told reporters in Anchorage that the U.S. Energy Department could make additional loans available. 'They're going to get details of the project to come together, but I think it's quite likely that you will see loan guarantees provided by the loan program office at the Department of Energy to build the pipeline part of that project,' he said. Under the Biden administration, the DOE's Loan Programs Office grew into a major financier for green-energy projects. The Trump Administration has halted most of that work, and Wright suggested that it could be redirected to the natural gas pipeline. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Nahar Net
04-06-2025
- Business
- Nahar Net
Environmentalists criticize Trump push for new oil and gas drilling in Alaska
by Naharnet Newsdesk 04 June 2025, 15:04 Top Trump administration officials — fresh off touring one of the country's largest oil fields in the Alaska Arctic — headlined an energy conference led by the state's Republican governor on Tuesday that environmentalists criticized as promoting new oil and gas drilling and turning away from the climate crisis. Several dozen protesters were outside Gov. Mike Dunleavy's annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage, where U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin were featured speakers. The federal officials were continuing a multiday trip aimed at highlighting President Donald Trump's push to expand oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in the state. The trip has included meetings with pro-drilling groups and officials, including some Alaska Native leaders on the petroleum-rich North Slope, and a visit to the Prudhoe Bay oil field near the Arctic Ocean that featured selfies near the 800-mile (1,287-kilometer) trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Calls for additional oil and gas drilling — including Trump's renewed focus on getting a massive liquefied natural gas project built — are "false solutions" to energy needs and climate concerns, protester Sarah Furman said outside the Anchorage convention hall, as people carried signs with slogans such as "Alaska is Not for Sale" and "Protect our Public Lands." "We find it really disingenuous that they're hosting this conference and not talking about real solutions," she said. Topics at the conference, which runs through Thursday, also include mining, carbon management, nuclear energy, renewables and hydrogen. Oil has been Alaska's economic lifeblood for decades, and Dunleavy has continued to embrace fossil fuels even as he has touted other energy opportunities in the state. Another protester, Rochelle Adams, who is Gwich'in, raised concerns about the ongoing push to allow oil and gas drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Gwich'in leaders have said they consider the coastal plain sacred, as caribou they rely on calve there. Leaders of the Iñupiaq community of Kaktovik, which is within the refuge, support drilling as economically vital and have joined Alaska political leaders in welcoming Trump's interest in reviving a leasing program there. "When these people come from outside to take and take and take, we are going to be left with the aftereffects," Adams said, adding later: "It's our health that will be impacted. It's our wellness, our ways of life." Zeldin, during a friendly question-and-answer period led by Dunleavy, said wildlife he saw while on the North Slope didn't appear "to be victims of their surroundings" and seemed "happy." Burgum, addressing a move toward additional drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, said wildlife and development can coexist. His agency during the Alaska trip announced plans to repeal Biden-era restrictions on future leasing and industrial development in portions of the petroleum preserve that are designated as special for their wildlife, subsistence or other values. Wright bristled at the idea of policy "in the name of climate change" that he said would have no impact on climate change. Stopping oil production in Alaska doesn't change demand for oil, he said. "You know, we hear terms like clean energy and renewable energy. These are inaccurate marketing terms," he said. "There is no energy source that does not take significant materials, land and impact on the environment to produce. Zero." Officials court Asian countries to support gas project Joining for part of the U.S. officials' trip were representatives from Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates. Asian countries are being courted to sign onto the Alaska gas project, which has floundered for years to gain traction amid cost and other concerns. The project, as proposed, would include a nearly 810-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline that would funnel gas from the North Slope to port, with an eye largely on exports of liquefied natural gas. Wright told reporters a goal in inviting them to the Prudhoe Bay stop was for them to see the oil pipeline infrastructure and environment and meet with residents and business leaders. Glenfarne Alaska LNG LLC, which has taken a lead in advancing the project, on Tuesday announced expressions of interest from a number of "potential partners." Costs surrounding the project — which have been pegged around $44 billion for the pipeline and other infrastructure — are in the process of being refined before a decision is made on whether to move forward.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Banyan Infrastructure and Coalition for Green Capital Announce Partnership at Alaska Energy Conference
Will accelerate lending, enhance transparency, and standardize financial data collection for CGC's Network ANCHORAGE, Alaska, June 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Banyan Infrastructure (Banyan), a leading project finance software provider, is excited to announce a partnership with the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC). As America's national green bank, CGC is continuing to develop and expand a network of self-sustaining state and local green banks that invest in projects that transform the US energy system and reduce costs for consumers and businesses. Banyan supports CGC's work by providing a digital platform and advisory services to streamline the management of deal pipelines, originations, portfolio management reporting, and regulatory compliance. The announcement comes as representatives of both Banyan and CGC participate in the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage. Among CGC's network partners that will benefit from the new relationship with Banyan is Spruce Root, a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution that serves the southeastern part of the state. Additionally, Banyan will help CGC ensure that, along with its network, it can deliver clear, accurate data on the deployment of federal funding. This includes incorporating the Environmental Protection Agency's unique requirements into its software, with the goal of creating audibility, transparency, and the ability to formalize complex reporting across the country's clean lending ecosystem. This robust digital infrastructure will support CGC in establishing operational and reporting standards that facilitate the effective deployment of catalytic capital across its national network of green banks. Combining CGC's innovative approach to project financing with Banyan's cutting-edge software solutions will lay the groundwork for a long-term and viable energy market needed to scale green lending nationwide and attract private investment. CGC's investment and lending network provides a vision of what the larger clean infrastructure market can accomplish, proving that technology and stakeholder collaboration can build a framework to unleash catalytic capital from both the private and public sectors. "Banyan Infrastructure has always been at the forefront of project finance software, but to truly create impact, we need an innovator who is willing to prove out the value of digital tools at scale," says Will Greene, CEO at Banyan Infrastructure. "CGC is the perfect combination of practical and visionary, and its work will help lay the foundation for project finance capital mobilization in the years to come. We're honored to be a part of this historic mission." "Technology is a critical piece of the reporting puzzle, especially as CGC scales its operations. Clear, timely, and accurate data will demonstrate the significant impact of catalytic capital," says Jeff Diehl, Chief Operating and Compliance Officer at CGC. "Our partnership will ensure that all Americans will have the abundant, clean energy they need and deserve, at a lower cost." About Banyan InfrastructureBanyan Infrastructure is a project finance software designed to simplify, accelerate, and optimize infrastructure financing across the entire deal life cycle. The Banyan Infrastructure solution oversees and automates the complex and time-consuming processes in origination, portfolio management, and regulatory compliance of these assets. Boosting profits per investment, increasing deal velocity, saving thousands of hours at every stage, and providing the underlying technology and community to connect capital markets and decision-making for all infrastructure assets. Visit or follow us on LinkedIn for more information. Media contact: Katie O'Leary, Head of Marketing, Banyan Infrastructure, About Coalition for Green CapitalThe Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) uses public-private investing to unlock clean air, clean water, clean jobs, and affordable power for all Americans. Green banks are a proven finance model that uses public capital to mobilize private investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other decarbonization technologies. For over a decade, the Coalition for Green Capital has led the Green Bank movement, working at the federal, state, and local levels in the U.S. and countries around the world. For more information, visit: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Banyan Infrastructure Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
