Today’s Key Takeaway: As Alaskans, you will have the opportunity to access numerous jobs created by the Alaska LNG (AKLNG) project. To make the most of this opportunity, it’s essential to research the skilled labor required for these positions. Identify the specific skills in demand and explore local institutions or training programs that offer the necessary education or certifications. Additionally, it’s important to be aware that passing a drug test may be a prerequisite for employment in many of these high-paying positions.
Estimates say Alaska LNG would create thousands of jobs. Would locals get them?
Patrick Gilchrist, KUAC, September 21, 2025
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan stopped in Fairbanks Friday with the U.S. Secretary of Labor, the officials billing the trip as a chance to tour a local training center and meet with labor leaders.
The visit from Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer comes amid the Trump administration’s continued support for the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, an undertaking that would require significant skilled labor, and the stop at the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center raises a question that’s recurred over the years.
If the gasline is going to get built, where will the workers come from to construct, operate and maintain it?
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Jacob Howdeshell, the business manager for Laborers’ Local 942 and the chairman of the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center Trust, said in an interview.
Alaska Creek Impacted by Historic Mining Restored to Support Salmon and Local Communities
NOAA Fisheries, September 18, 2025
Just outside the small town of Hope, Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula, a salmon stream scarred by more than a century of gold mining is coming back to life. This large-scale river restoration project was funded by NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation. The aptly named Resurrection Creek once again offers spawning and rearing habitat for all five species of Pacific salmon—Chinook, coho, pink, chum, and sockeye.
Through the combined efforts of our partners, restoration crews are reshaping the creek’s channel, rebuilding gravel beds, and reconnecting the stream to its natural floodplain. These changes are already boosting salmon populations in an area where recreational salmon fishing supports both culture and the economy. The project also reduces flood risks in Hope and provides local workers with jobs.
NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation awarded the National Forest Foundation $3.9 million for this project. Additional major project partners include:
- Trout Unlimited
- U.S. Forest Service
- Kinross Gold Corporation
- Hope Mining Company
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Trump Calls on World Bank To Reconsider Oil and Gas Financing
Michael Kern, OilPrice.Com, September 22, 2025
- The Trump Administration is advocating for the World Bank to increase its financing for oil and gas projects, a reversal of its previous policy to cease funding new fossil fuel ventures after 2019.
- This push prioritizes energy security, especially for upstream gas developments, and also extends to other development banks to finance fossil fuel projects.
- The article notes a trend of North American banks and asset managers withdrawing from net-zero alliances following President Trump’s election, indicating a shift away from climate-focused lending in some sectors.
The Trump Administration is pushing the World Bank to boost funding for oil and gas in what would be a U-turn in the lender’s policy not to finance new fossil fuel projects.
Back in 2017, the World Bank Group said it would no longer finance upstream oil and gas after 2019. But the group noted that “In exceptional circumstances, consideration will be given to financing upstream gas in the poorest countries where there is a clear benefit in terms of energy access for the poor and the project fits within the countries’ Paris Agreement commitments.”
The U.S. Administration is now pushing for more developments, especially upstream gas, prioritizing energy security to any concerns about climate change, development officials have told the Financial Times.
The U.S. is also pushing other development banks to finance fossil fuels, including gas pipeline projects, according to FT’s sources.
Exxon says it will invest in oil and gas for decades to come
(Bloomberg; Sept. 18) – ExxonMobil will pursue fossil fuel growth long into the future to meet demand that it says will “not materially change” between now and 2050. The oil major is not concerned with “chasing the narrative of the week” but will invest in oil and gas projects that it believes will be needed for decades to come, Dan Ammann, president of the company’s upstream division, said at the BloombergNEF Barrel of Tomorrow in the Age of AI summit in Houston on Sept. 18.
Exxon plans to double its sales of liquefied natural gas by 2030 and is investing heavily in oil growth in Guyana and the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico. “We take a long-term view based on the fundamentals, and we invest behind that,” Ammann said. “Our long-term view of the global energy equation is that the demand for energy is going to continue to grow.” Exxon has not deviated from its fossil fuel focused strategy despite global climate goals, he said.