Juneau high schoolers, residents chalk up the LNG pipeline to be against the best interests of Alaskans and the Earth
- Jasz Garrett
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
About 40 gather to oppose the proposed natural gas pipeline project after developer makes major announcement about advancing it
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
A Saturday protest organized by Juneau high schoolers at the Alaska State Capitol against the proposed Alaska LNG pipeline project followed the toppling of a massive drilling rig on the North Slope on Friday.
“That’s exactly what we’re afraid of,” said Paige Kirsch, a senior member of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé chapter of Alaska Youth for Environmental Action.
While there was minimal damage to the environment and no injuries reported, according to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Kirsch said the incident highlights the immense risks the new pipeline could bring.
In a speech, Zoe Lessard, AYEA’s senior involvement chair, declared, “Pipelines are infamous for breaking and contaminating.”
“Your LNG pipeline will not be the exception,” she said. “Do not twist your words, for we see your actions. This pipeline is not made in the best interest of Alaskans or our future generations.”
AYEA gathered in conjunction with 350 Juneau, which is part of an international grassroots climate movement. About 40 people participated in opposition to the pipeline, 10 of whom were members of the high school club. The event had been organized at the beginning of the year, according to Kirsch.
Glenfarne Group LLC, majority owner and developer of the Alaska LNG Project, announced the project was advancing from the planning to building phase on Thursday. It is targeting mechanical completion in 2028 and the first delivery of gas in 2029, according to a press release.
While the pipeline has moved into the early execution stage of phase one, Atagan Hood, junior co-president of AYEA, said the youth group is considering options such as lobbying and testifying in the Alaska Senate Resources Committee. Kirsch suggested legislators could attend the high school club’s future meetings.
Glenfarne has signed a non‑binding letter of intent with Enstar Natural Gas Company for a 30‑year supply of natural gas from the Alaska LNG pipeline to Enstar. The arrangement would be dependent on the negotiation of definitive agreements and approval by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
“This isn’t gonna get built in a day, and the first phase is nowhere near building, and there’s still a lot of legislation that needs to pass before this can be used and gas can be exported,” Kirsch said in an interview. “So I think that it’s definitely not a lost cause, even though that first stage has been approved.”
The youth organization’s action on a cold, sunny Saturday involved chalk drawing on the street and speeches on the Capitol steps.
“Proponents claim this gas will replace coal in Asia, but the life cycle of liquid natural gas from extraction on the North Slope to liquefaction in Nikiski and shipping across the Pacific is rife with methane leaks,” Hood said in his speech. “Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 20-year period. Once operational, this project could result in over 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually. That is not a bridge. That is a carbon bomb.”
That carbon output roughly matches TikTok’s global operations, according to the website CarbonCredits.com. The Nature Conservancy reports the average annual carbon footprint of a U.S. resident is about 16 tons, which is four times the average globally.
The proposed pipeline
According to Glenfarne, Phase One consists of a 739-mile, 42-inch pipeline constructed in four simultaneous sections, or spreads, to deliver natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope. The first phase may also include the 63-mile, 32-inch Point Thomson Lateral Pipeline. Phase Two will add the LNG liquefaction terminal and related infrastructure to export 20 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG.
Hood said the 800-mile pipeline with 480 individual access roads would negatively impact caribou migration paths, and the liquefaction plant and marine terminal on the east side of Cook Inlet, near Nikiski, would threaten the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale, citing Earthjustice.
“We need to recognize that Alaska’s greatest resources aren’t just buried in the ground, they're our clean water, our healthy salmon runs and our stable climate,” he said.
“We Love Earth” was chalked on the street by Lessard. Like Hood, she said it was important to protect natural resources so Alaskans could continue fishing, hunting, and berry picking for generations to come. She also led the chant “lives over profit.”
“I urge those who are funding this pipeline to realize their precious oil will not flow down these pipes forever and it is already running dry worldwide,” she said. “Oil is not a sustainable option, not for consistent revenue and not for our only home, Earth.”
Hood said because of the international goal to limit global temperature rise by reducing emissions by 2030, he sees potential for Alaska’s primary customers, Japan and South Korea, to move onto renewable alternatives by the time the gas reaches the market.
He urged protesters to contact their representatives to tell them they “want to see our state’s wealth invested in a clean energy future, not a 30-year carbon model.” He suggested questions to ask.
“Independent life cycle analyses from groups like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club suggest this project could emit up to 2.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide,” Hood said. “How can the state claim that this is a clean alternative when the Department of Energy’s own 2021 study admitted the project is only carbon neutral if we assume a zero methane leakage rate, an industry impossibility along an 800-mile-long Arctic pipeline?”
In his speech, he directly addressed legislators, pleading for them to invest in a diversified energy future.
“We don’t need to choose between an economy and an environment,” Hood said. “We need an economy that respects the environment.”
The politics of the pipeline
Alaska’s congressional delegation and governor have praised President Donald Trump for his January 2025 executive order “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.” In his final State of the State address on Thursday, Dunleavy thanked the president for acting “in Alaska’s best interest and in the best interest of the United States.”
State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, said the Trump administration is “desperate to cling to the past.” He called the mindset unfortunate and characterized the desperation to promote more fossil fuels as “foolish” and “doomed.” He presented another option forward for the state in the form of renewable energy.
At first, like Lessard, Kiehl spoke about protecting subsistence lifestyles, noting negative impacts to salmon fishing on the Yukon River and the increased danger melting sea ice poses to subsistence hunters and fishermen venturing out in the far northern regions of Alaska.
“The simple fact is that those of us who live anywhere near either pole are paying the greatest price first from climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels,” Kiehl said. “Yet we face that difficult, difficult reality that when it’s the cheap and the easy way to do work and provide for your family, to heat your home, it’s what people choose.”
He paused, then said, “Or at least it has been.”
Kiehl, who serves on the Alaska Energy Authority’s Renewable Energy Grant Fund, is urging the state to invest its future in renewable energy instead of oil. He said people can support their families and heat their homes without damaging the climate through renewable energy projects.
Kiehl encouraged the youth present at the protest to invest their work moving forward.
“If you have any interest in science, develop the next even more efficient renewable technology. If you have any interest in engineering, develop the next even better way of moving that energy from place to place,” he said. “If you are a writer, write about how we need — how we can — protect our planet and do better.”
Mazelle Joseph, a sophomore member of AYEA, wrote with chalk: “It’s Native Blood In the Soil, Not Your Oil.”
“My ancestors have been here for tens of thousands of years,” Joseph said in an interview. “We never caused disruption like this because we lived among the land and not trying to take over it. I’m just trying to say that my ancestors’ DNA and blood is in the soil. The oil there — it’s not for them to take — because it’s combined with generations of my family.”
She said after high school, she plans to pursue political science, specifically tribal government, to defend her way of life through policy.
Glenfarne has completed environmental studies, including an assessment by the National Environmental Policy Act. It has also claimed the pipeline has environmental benefits.
“This area of our state does not currently have a pipeline supply of natural gas and has significant air quality issues from the combustion of dirtier fuel sources, particularly in the winter,” Glenfarne’s website states. “By making a long-term and reliable supply of clean-burning natural gas available to Fairbanks, human health and air quality will be significantly improved for the residents of this region.”
Kirsch said, regardless of improved air quality, she expects negative impacts to the environment.
“I would say environmentally, an 800-mile pipeline is going to cause habitat fragmentation, like 100%, the caribou migration is going to be affected,” she argued. “I also would just be inclined to worry about the upkeep of the pipeline because of the changes in permafrost.”
“We live in a state where somewhere between a quarter and a third of the state’s revenues comes from oil,” Kiehl said. “It is difficult to get someone to understand something when their income depends on them not understanding it.”
In his State of the State address, Dunleavy said the potential pipeline is essential for the state’s financial future. He also criticized lobbyists and “an agenda that is constructed or pushed by and that benefits special interests.”
“Alaska wasn’t built by can’t-doers and naysayers, and nor will this pipeline,” Dunleavy said.
A contrary view at the protest
Juneau resident Kevin Nye, who held a sign stating “build the pipeline” during Saturday’s protest, agreed with the governor’s agenda. In an interview after the speeches concluded, he said he was there to represent the many Alaskans who want to see the pipeline built.
“I think it’s a very clean-burning fuel,” he said. “It will help Alaska. These guys, they’re always trying to find money. They’ve already robbed us of our PFD, and it would be nice to have a boost economically to the state, and this would give it a great boost. It would also provide jobs.”
He said while some workers will come to Alaska from the Lower 48, many could stay. Nye added he is not a supporter of the word “climate change.” During the protest, a 350 Juneau banner declaring a climate emergency was displayed near his sign.
“I believe that it may be happening, but I don’t believe it is because of fossil fuels,” Nye said. “We’ve had massive fluctuations in temperatures long before the internal combustion engine came along.”
Nye added he was a marine engineer for about 17 years with the Alaska Marine Highway System.
“Guess what? The Columbia burned some 340 gallons of diesel fuel an hour,” he said. “And everybody says, ‘Oh, you want the ferry system. You don't need a road.’ So I see double standards.”
Kirsch said the goal of the high school club’s protest on Saturday was to raise awareness among all Alaskans about the effects of the potential LNG pipeline.
“I haven’t seen a lot of information about this, like as much as a lot of other stuff going on in Alaska,” she said. “I know there’s people here today who are for building the pipeline, and I think that’s the exact reason we have protests like this.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
