Alaska Representative Mary Peltola has been making her rounds to Alaska communities before this year’s election. Currently, the incumbent Democrat is one of 12 candidates competing for Alaska’s singular seat. She visited Wrangell on Friday during her Southeast Alaska tour and stopped by KSTK. News Director Colette Czarnecki got a chance to have a brief chat.
Registered Wrangell voters can vote early on August 15th to the 19th at Wrangell’s City Hall. In-person voting is August 20th at The Nolan Center.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
There’s such a good reception here in Southeast. People are very welcoming, and it’s always refreshing to be here.
It’s great having you here, thank you. So what’s been on your agenda here in Wrangell?
Well, I wanted to meet with the different entities. I met with the school district and the city and borough. I met with the tribe, and just been visiting with people around town as well.
Recently, you filed a resolution to honor the Northwest Coast Arts. Were you able to see any art here, like the carving of the totem poles?
I did see some pictures that the tribe showed of totem poles that are very aged that they would like to have updated and refreshed and renewed. So the resolution that I introduced is a result of a request from Sealaska Heritage Institute, and there is a real push in Southeast Alaska to revitalize the formline art and the carvings, and it’s been really neat to see just the interest and the resurgence of this type of artwork.
Let’s move on to transboundary mining. What do you think about it as it affects our watersheds here?
Well, of course there’s concern, and it’s a universal concern in Southeast. This is not a divisive issue. This is one that everyone in Southeast has concerns about, especially the older projects and older dams. I know that Mount Polley was a huge disaster and that was a newer design dam. The reason that failed was because of unusually high rainfall, which we are seeing more and more. I’m looking forward to making progress and communicating with people on the Canadian side to make sure that our permitting aligns and our reclamation standards align and that we’re not going to suffer literally downstream.
What is going on with the bycatch reduction and mitigation act?
I want to just kind of do a mini victory lap. Just the fact that Alaskans elected a pro-fish candidate in 2022 really caught the attention of the industry. They on their own, without a single ordinance or regulation or law, restricted their own bycatch of chum by 50% just because we Alaskans are now very clear that we want to have a more robust discussion on trawling and the effects of trawling. We know, because of camera evidence, that 40% to 80% of the time those midwater trawls are actually bottom trawling. So that’s one thing.
We also introduced a bill to give fishermen, who may not have the resources, the tools to have better escapement and have better bycatch reduction. We don’t want an unfunded mandate and we want to help people have the resources that they need to meet these goals. But Alaskans as a whole, and especially in Southeast Alaska, are very concerned about this and I’ve had universal feedback that they’re very thankful that these discussions are taking place.
What can you do to ensure Alaska energy is sustainable for communities?
Sustainable energy and affordable energy quickly becomes the number one concern of any Alaskan elected official. I appreciate the role that gas and oil plays in our economy. I’m really proud of the work and the accomplishments that we made on Willow. That was a project that they worked on for 30 years and we were able to convince the Biden administration to do the right thing and open up that project. I’m also proud of the work that I did to secure the $206.5 million from the Department of Energy and competitive grants in the largest grant ever awarded in the history of the United States for renewable energy. This is along the road system. The goal is by 2040, 75% of Alaska, the people who live on the road system would be 85% renewable, because as households we cannot afford to be on gas and oil forever. So I think as Alaskans, it’s really important to also be pursuing renewable energy that will be more cost effective.
You said on the road system? What about communities that are not on the road system?
I’m always thinking about that as well because I’m from a community off the road system, and the communities that I represented long ago-16 years ago-when I was in the State House, every one of them was off of the road system. So I am acutely aware of the struggles of those of us who are not tied in by road. We’re always looking for wind, solar, geothermal, just anything that is an off the shelf technology where we can get people trained and get those projects going. In the meantime, power cost equalization should be helpful for rural communities because it is based on the road system. The cheapest energy and that formula is based on energy provided on the rail belt, so there will be small gains, but we’re always working on this.
Do you have anything to say on what the Capitol Christmas Tree means for the Tongass?
I just want to put a plug in for Senator Murkowski. She has worked on this for a long time and I think it’s a reflection of her commitment to seeing this through. I think it’s a wonderful nod to Tongass and the important role that the Tongass plays in Alaska and our nation,
And when you’re in D.C. in December and November, you’ll see a little bit of home.
Exactly and the Capitol Christmas Tree is a very big deal. People from around the country and in fact, around the world, visit the Capitol Christmas Tree and look at the ornaments and everything. So this is really exciting.
