On Jun 28, over seventy Alaskans spent the day holding corporations and regulators accountable as the Alaska Supreme Court heard oral arguments in City of Valdez v. Regulatory Commission of Alaska. Native Movement stood with our partners at Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition (FCAC) and Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG) to share about the complex case between Valdez, the RCA, and some of the world’s most wealthy and powerful oil companies, culminating in a powerful rally outside the courthouse in Anchorage, that featured the sharing of stories and experiences in this fight.
In the courtroom, the legal representation for The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), a state agency, teamed up with oil industry lawyers representing Hilcorp and BP, who all maintained that keeping all Hilcorp assets confidential is simply normal procedure. The Justices must call out the RCA’s decision to keep this information private, and make a precedent-setting decision that makes it transparent who pays for the decaying fossil fuel infrastructure in the state. Robin Brena, legal counsel for Valdez, summed up the key issue, “the courts don’t know, I don’t know, we don’t know as the public…there has never been a transfer of assets of this scale, and Alaskans do not know if Hilcorp, a Texas-based private company, has even $1000 in its bank account.”
We stand with AKPIRG and FCAC and look to the court to hold the RCA, Hilcorp, and BP accountable to Alaskans and set the precedent that decisions regarding the energy future of Alaska must be transparent. While we await the judges' decisions, we ask that our community keep fighting for an equitable future that doesn't rely on extractive industries.
If you haven’t done so already, please sign the petition to ensure Hilcorp pays their share of taxes and to end fossil fuel subsidies in Alaska!