Alaska and Hawaii

"Steve Perrins didn’t see the lightning, but he couldn’t miss the smoke that followed. It was around dinnertime on July 23 at Alaska’s oldest hunting lodge, nestled in the wilderness more than 100 miles northwest of Anchorage. What began as a quiet evening at the Rainy Pass Lodge soon turned frantic as Alaska’s latest wildfire spread fast."

"Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden (D) declared today he will block the confirmation of Daniel Jorjani to become the Interior Department's solicitor over concerns about how the agency handles Freedom of Information Act requests."

"EPA has lifted the Obama-era proposed 'veto' of the Pebble mine, reversing a decision last year not to scrap the pending mining restrictions on the massive copper and gold project upstream from Alaska's Bristol Bay."

"Every year, hundreds of petroleum industry executives gather in Anchorage for the annual conference of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, where they discuss policy and celebrate their achievements with the state’s political establishment. In May 2018, they again filed into the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, but they had a new reason to celebrate."

"An EPA memo that could alter the fate of the Pebble mine caught many of its foes off guard last month. But not investors."

"More than 100 intense wildfires have ravaged the Arctic since June, with scientists describing the blazes as 'unprecedented.'"

"Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has once again revived a proposed land exchange that would clear the way for a controversial gravel road to be built through wilderness within Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge."

"The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a hub for Arctic climate research, and a magnet for top scientists and international collaborations—and it's in trouble. Alaska Gov. Michael Dunleavy has slashed the university system's state funding by more than 40 percent, and efforts in the legislature to restore the money have so far failed."

"Alaska’s heat wave is driving wildfires and melting glaciers, choking the state’s biggest cities with smoke and bloating rivers with meltwater."

"Exceptionally warm ocean temperatures have melted sea ice off Alaska’s coasts far earlier than normal this year, alarming scientists and rural residents worried about the impacts to seals, seabirds and fish they hunt."