On The Road with Will Steger

April 14, 2010
By: Nicole Rom, Former Executive Director

From Anchorage to Fairbanks

blog04_eWill and I had a successful day in Anchorage; we met with Alaska Public Radio Network and he gave two public presentations thanks to the support of our local partners, the National Wildlife Federation, Catholic Social Services, and Repower Alaska. (Listen to the audio on Alaska Public Radio Network (Listen Here MP3).  Alaskans signed postcards for Senators Murkowski and Begich urging them to support federal climate and clean energy legislation and chatted with Will after his presentation about his thoughts on how Alaska, an oil dependent state, can both use oil more efficiently, but also transition to more renewable fuels.

We woke up to fresh snow in Anchorage and then headed to Fairbanks for our final stop of our tour. Mary Walker, Project Coordinator for Alaska Interfaith Power and Light, a faith-based coalition advocating environmental stewardship, has organized our visit in this remote dog musher and academic community. We spent today focusing on the arctic – no surprise since Fairbanks is the gateway to the interior of Alaska, including the Brooks Range and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We met the Director of the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) who shared up to date research on what is happening on the arctic ocean floor as well as ocean currents in the circumpolar region. We discussed changes in the permafrost in northern Alaska in preparation for our permafrost tour tomorrow. We then got a behind the sciences tour of the archives of the Museum of the North at UAF and met with local TV stations to build interest in our events here.

Our day closed with a public presentation to over 300 people! We are looking forward to a full day tomorrow, complete with a permafrost tunnel tour, visits to the Cold Climate Housing Research Center and Alaska Center for Energy and Power. We will finish off our visit with a reception and a final presentation at the Alaska Dog Musher’s Association, a great opportunity to engage the dog mushing community here in the climate issue.

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