Power The Future Energy Hour Recap: Andrew Jensen and Jason Brune

May 20, 2020

Every Tuesday night from 5:00-6:00 PM local time, Alaska State Director Rick Whitbeck hosts the “Power The Future Energy Hour” on KNVT (92.5 FM, 1020 AM and online at 1020KVNT.com).  The show (also replayed during the same hour on Saturday night) is heard throughout Southcentral Alaska communities, and acts as a recap of Power The Future activities in Alaska, as well as an opportunity to hear from various members of Alaska’s energy community.

Since the show’s inception in January 2018, it has had dozens of guests, including members of Congress, Alaska’s Governor, Lt. Governor, State Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, members of the Governor’s leadership team, executives from organizations throughout Alaska who fight for jobs, opportunities and progress alongside us (The Alaska Support Industry Alliance, Resource Development Council, Alaska Oil & Gas Association, Alaska Miners Association and others), state legislators from both parties who have a role in energy policy as part of their legislative duties and executives from many of Alaska’s leading resource development projects (both current and potential).

Last night, the Managing Editor of the Alaska Journal of Commerce, Andrew Jensen joined the show.  He and Rick spoke about Jensen’s recent article that focused on the damage to the environment that a homeless camp near Jensen’s home had inflicted.  As Jensen was cleaning it up, he came across plastics, pharmaceuticals, human waste and other pollutants, in and near Chester Creek, an anadromous (fish-rearing) stream.  Whitbeck wrote about the silence from the eco-extremist movement from this type of waste, wondering why they seemed not to care, asking Jensen about it.  His reply last night was was incredibly insightful and poignant: “I think that’s because what you find with a lot of these groups is that they’re not pro-habitat, first and foremost, they’re anti-development.” 

The last segment welcomed back Alaska DEC Commissioner Jason Brune to the show.  Brune is a rockstar in state government.  He understands the role of his team in the overall gameplan for continuing to balance environmental stewardship across Alaska with responsible development.  During his appearance, he and Whitbeck had a great discussion on many topics.  Speaking about Pebble Mine, Brune echoed a comment of Jensen’s, noting that “more damage to the environment was done by the homeless people there (in Jensen’s neighborhood) than by the project proponents for that (Pebble) project.”

Guests in upcoming weeks will include lawmakers, industry executives and senior-level government officials, as well as experts on Alaska’s resource economy and our budget.

If you’re not listening to the show live, feel free to catch the replay on SoundCloud here.