ALASKA ELECTED OFFICIALS RALLY BEHIND OBAMA’S ENERGY PLANObama supports Alaska gas pipelineJUNEAU, AK – Today in Juneau, state representatives and senators from across Alaska gathered to rally behind Barack Obama and discuss his plan to address record-high energy prices that are straining Alaskans budgets and hurting the Alaska economy.“Senator Obama has a plan to end our dependence on foreign oil and reduce skyrocketing energy prices,” said Senator Hollis French of Anchorage, a former oil rig worker. “Having worked in the oil business in Alaska for twelve years, I know firsthand the importance of oil and natural gas to Alaska. Senator Obama will not only invest in renewable fuels and increase car fuel efficiency standards, he strongly supports construction of an Alaska natural gas pipeline and accelerated drilling in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve which will provide affordable energy to Alaska and our country and good jobs for Alaskans.”“Rural Alaskans have been especially hard-hit by skyrocketing energy prices and the faltering economy,” said Representative Mary Nelson of Bethel. “Barack Obama understands the energy challenges they face, and he will work as president to lower energy costs and get our economy back on track. Senator Obama will be a fighter for rural Alaska.”“High gas and energy prices are squeezing Alaskans harder than anyone else in the US,” Senator Kim Elton of Juneau said. “We need a president who will work to make Alaska resources part of our country’s energy solution. Barack Obama has long been a supporter of Alaska energy priorities like the Alaska natural gas pipeline. He’ll work as president to invest in Alaska’s energy future and make Alaska part of the answer.”Barack Obama’s energy plan will provide meaningful relief for Alaska families, make a historic investment in renewable energy development, and help secure our energy independence. Obama’s plan will:Make a real investment - $150 billion – in alternative energy technology; further development of plug-in hybrid cars; and commercialization of wind, solar and other renewable fuels.Eliminate the “Enron Loophole” that encourages speculation on energy markets that has driven up the cost of oil.Raise fuel efficiency standards and provide financial assistance to American automakers to help them make the transition – a change that will reduce oil consumption by a trillion gallons of gas over the next eighteen years.Senator Obama has supported the Alaska natural gas pipeline as a member of the Senate and will strongly support the project as President.More information on Sen. Obama’s plans to reduce our dependence on foreign oil is available here.The following Alaska elected officials are supporting Senator Obama’s campaign for president:State Senators (8)Bettye Davis, AnchorageJohnny Ellis, AnchorageKim Elton, JuneauHollis French, AnchorageLyman Hoffman, BethelAlbert Kookesh, AngoonJoe Thomas, FairbanksBill Wielechowski, Anchorage State Representatives (16)Bob Buch, AnchorageSharon Cissna, AnchorageHarry Crawford, AnchorageAndrea Doll, JuneauMike Doogan, AnchorageBryce Edgmon, DillinghamLes Gara, AnchorageBerta Gardner, AnchorageMax Gruenberg, Jr., AnchorageDavid Guttenberg, FairbanksLindsey Holmes, AnchorageReggie Joule, KotzebueScott Kawasaki, FairbanksBeth Kerttula, JuneauMary Nelson, BethelWoodie Salmon, Beaver # # #FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 30, 2008
KTUU-TV Channel Two NewsOBAMA SUPPORTERS POUND PAVEMENTby Heather BaldersonSunday, July 27, 2008ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Volunteers and staff for the Barack Obama campaign spent the afternoon Sunday going door-to-door talking to residents.With just 100 days to Election Day volunteers in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau hit the pavement to spread the word about Obama's "Campaign for Change."Rick Gorka, communications director for the McCain campaign, says the camp still has no immediate plans to open an office in Alaska.He says in a historically Republican state like Alaska the campaign is confident, for now, in continuing to rely on grassroots efforts to keep McCain's message going.But Obama volunteers hope to capitalize on the success of the February caucuses when a record number of Alaska Democrats showed up to support"I'm surprised that the McCain campaign hasn't decided to open an office up here yet but we're not taking Alaska for granted," said Obama's Alaska Communications Director Jeff Giertz. "We're pushing forward and making sure we're talking directly to Alaskans about the issues that are important to them and about Sen. Obama's plan to change the direction of this country."Volunteers say they support Obama's vision for America."I am out today canvassing for Barack Obama because I believe in his character and his ability to lead this country in the direction that we need to be going in," volunteer Shelly Morgan said.The Obama campaign opened offices last week in Fairbanks, Juneau and the Mat-Su Valley.
KTUU-TV Channel Two News
OBAMA SUPPORTERS POUND PAVEMENT
by Heather BaldersonSunday, July 27, 2008ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Volunteers and staff for the Barack Obama campaign spent the afternoon Sunday going door-to-door talking to residents.With just 100 days to Election Day volunteers in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau hit the pavement to spread the word about Obama's "Campaign for Change."Rick Gorka, communications director for the McCain campaign, says the camp still has no immediate plans to open an office in Alaska.He says in a historically Republican state like Alaska the campaign is confident, for now, in continuing to rely on grassroots efforts to keep McCain's message going.But Obama volunteers hope to capitalize on the success of the February caucuses when a record number of Alaska Democrats showed up to support"I'm surprised that the McCain campaign hasn't decided to open an office up here yet but we're not taking Alaska for granted," said Obama's Alaska Communications Director Jeff Giertz. "We're pushing forward and making sure we're talking directly to Alaskans about the issues that are important to them and about Sen. Obama's plan to change the direction of this country."Volunteers say they support Obama's vision for America."I am out today canvassing for Barack Obama because I believe in his character and his ability to lead this country in the direction that we need to be going in," volunteer Shelly Morgan said.The Obama campaign opened offices last week in Fairbanks, Juneau and the Mat-Su Valley.
Interested in helping Barack make more news in Alaska? Sign up to volunteer.
Can't make it into one of our offices? Looking for something to do before our big canvass this weekend?You can help Barack on your own schedule from the comfort of your home right now.
Get started making phone calls from home today!Making phone calls from home is easy. All you need is a phone and a computer with an internet connection. After you log in, you'll be given a list of names to call. Click on a name and follow the script provided to you online. You'll be able to log all of the answers to the questions as you go!Reaching out to your neighbors is the best way to grow this movement, and now you can make these connections with fellow Alaskans right from your own home.Make the first call right now.
ALASKA SENATOR FRENCH OUTLINES OBAMA PLAN TO LOWER ALASKA GAS PRICESAlaska gas prices are the highest in the USANCHORAGE, AK – Today as the average price of a gallon of unleaded gas in Alaska reached $4.69, State Senator Hollis French discussed Senator Obama’s plan to help end America’s dependence on foreign oil and criticized the John McCain campaign’s latest misleading negative ad on gas prices.“Senator Obama has a plan to end our dependence on foreign oil and reduce skyrocketing energy prices,” Sen. French said. “Having worked in the oil business in Alaska for twelve years, I know firsthand the importance of oil and natural gas to Alaska. Senator Obama will invest in renewable fuels, increase car fuel economy standards, and strongly supports the Alaska natural gas pipeline that’ll provide affordable energy to Alaska and our country.”This week, the McCain campaign launched a negative ad running on national cable TV that tries to blame Obama for high gas prices. “This ad’s claim is patently false,” French said. “John McCain himself has said that high gas prices are 30 years in the making. Senator McCain has spent 26 years in Washington, and has consistently opposed efforts to end our country’s dependence on foreign oil.”Barack Obama’s energy plan will provide meaningful relief for Alaska families, make a historic investment in renewable energy development, and help secure our energy independence. Obama’s plan will:Make a real investment - $150 billion – in alternative energy technology; further development of plug-in hybrid cars; and commercialization of wind, solar and other renewable fuels.Eliminate the “Enron Loophole” that encourages speculation on energy markets that has driven up the cost of oil.Raise fuel efficiency standards and provide financial assistance to American automakers to help them make the transition – a change that will reduce oil consumption by a trillion gallons of gas over the next eighteen years.Senator Obama has supported the Alaska natural gas pipeline as a member of the Senate and will continue to support the project as President. More information on Sen. Obama’s plans to reduce our dependence on foreign oil is available here.# # #FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 24, 2008
This Wednesday, Barack Obama's Campaign for Change will open three more offices in Alaska! Please join us for the celebration:Fairbanks Office OpeningWednesday, July 23rdVolunteer Orientation at 6:00 pmOffice Opening Celebration at 7:00 pmRSVP for FairbanksMat-Su Office OpeningWednesday, July 23rdVolunteer Orientaiton at 7:00 pmOffice Opening Celebration at 8:00 pmRSVP for Mat-SuJuneau Office OpeningWednesday, July 23rdVolunteer Orientation at 7:00 pmOffice Opening Celebration at 8:00 pmRSVP for Juneau
Over 300 Alaskans joined us for the grand opening of our Anchorage office two weeks ago. Here are some pictures from the event:Outside our new Anchorage office.Signing in and grilling out.Our State Director, Kat Pustay briefed attendees on the campaign here in Alaska.After the briefing, volunteers broke off into House Districts and met their local field organizers. Feel free to stop by your local office anytime! Volunteer orientations are typically held every Wednesday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Sign up today.
All across Alaska, supporters like you are helping us make history.Every day, more and more Americans are standing up to reclaim their part in the political process -- knowing that what unites us as a people is stronger than anything that divides us.We know this campaign can be successful here, but we need you to join us.Over the coming days, the Alaska Campaign for Change is inviting supporters to attend volunteer orientation meetings to learn more about how to get involved. You'll get a detailed look at our strategy here, as well as the important roles volunteers will play in this election.Find an event near you and join fellow supporters in your area.Supporters like you have helped us open up this movement to people in all 50 states. And at this exciting time in history, Alaskans are playing a crucial role in changing American politics.Our presidential campaign is one of the first to organize all over the Last Frontier, and folks are responding with enthusiasm and energy at this historic moment.In Alaska -- and across America -- we're devoting unprecedented resources in parts of the country that haven't always had an opportunity to play a role in the political process.Together, we're changing the electoral map in ways few would have thought possible just a few months ago.These activities are a perfect opportunity to learn how you can reach out to friends, family, and neighbors in your community and help bring even more people into our political process.No previous experience is required to volunteer -- Campaign for Change staff will provide you with all of the support you need to succeed. You just need to be ready to turn your energy and enthusiasm for Barack into action.Find out how to get involved in your area and help Barack in Alaska.Thank you for all that you do!
OBAMA FOR ALASKA UNVEILS PLAN FOR ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR ALASKA’S WORKING WOMENANCHORAGE, AK – Senator Barack Obama's campaign today unveiled a plan to provide economic security for Alaska's working women. Obama's plan directly addresses the challenges that women and families face affording quality child care, juggling personal and professional commitments, and coping with soaring prices."I don't accept an America where a woman earns less than a man for the same work, or an America that makes women choose between their kids and their careers. It's unacceptable that women are denied jobs or promotions because they've got kids at home. It's unacceptable that 22 million working women don't have a single paid sick day," Senator Obama said. "When I'm President, we'll take these critical issues head-on and help women and families thrive in a changing economy.""Barack Obama and his wife Michelle come from a working class background and understand what families need," said Obama Alaska spokesman Jeff Giertz. "Given the tough times we are facing economically, Senator Obama’s economic plan is essential for families already juggling higher prices for food, housing, and the fuel needed for their cars and trucks. Senator Obama is the clear choice as the President who will provide Alaska’s working women with the economic relief they need.”Obama's Plan for Economic Security for America's Working WomenTax cut for working women. Barack Obama will provide 71 million working women with a tax cut of up to $500—or $1000 per family—to help offset the impact of stagnant wages and skyrocketing costs. 200,000 Alaska women would benefit from this tax break.Balancing work and family. Obama will help address the challenge of balancing work and family by guaranteeing seven days of paid sick leave to the 22 million working women who currently have none. Obama will also expand child care tax credits, double funding for afterschool programs to serve 1 million more children, and will create a summer learning program to serve an additional 1 million young people. 13,000 Alaska working women would benefit from the expanded child care tax credits and 5,183 Alaska children will benefit from this expansion of afterschool programs.Health care for every American. As President, Obama will reduce health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family, while providing affordable health care for every American.A secure retirement guaranteed. Obama will strengthen retirement security for working women, who currently enter retirement with less than half the retirement savings of men. Obama's plan will automatically enroll workers in retirement accounts (with the option to opt-out) and make these accounts portable to help working parents save while balancing their family obligations.Equal Pay. Obama will fight for paycheck equity and to close the pay gap that leaves women earning only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. The pay gap is even more pronounced for minority working women—with Hispanic women earning only 53 cents and African American women only 62 cents for every dollar of male earnings.Affordable college. Obama will put the cost of college in reach for by providing a $4,000 refundable tax credit available at the time of enrollment in exchange for community service.Raise the minimum wage. Obama will help low-wage working women move into the middle class by increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011, and indexing it to inflation—and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). 176,000 Alaska women would directly benefit from the minimum wage increase.Support Women-Owned Small Businesses. Obama will help women-owned small businesses innovate, grow and create jobs by cutting their capital gains tax rate to zero, and implementing the Women Owned Business contracting program that has been abandoned by the Bush Administration. 22,169 Alaska women small business owners would benefit from the Zero Capital Gains proposal.# # # FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 14, 2008
"Happy Moose Poop!" That was the greeting in Talkeetna, Alaska this Saturday where thousands of Alaskans gathered for the annual Moose Dropping Festival. The 36-year-old festival included a parade down Main Street, a moose art auction and the highlight of the weekend -- the Moose Drop Dropping! Three thousand moose pellets, each carefully numbered, were hauled up into the sky and let loose to drop to the target painted on the ground below. The poop nearest the bulls-eye made one festival goer the lucky winner.
Local Obama volunteers who didn't want to have to count on luck for this November's election were out in force this weekend at many of Alaska's finest festivals. They know that this election is going to be won neighbor by neighbor, community by community. And not just in certain communities in certain states. This about your neighborhood and your state. It's people like you that are standing up and volunteering, many for the very first time.Sign up to volunteer in Alaska A special thanks to all of our volunteers who worked so hard this weekend. Check out the photos from two of the festivals they attended on Saturday: Bear Paw FestivalEagle River, Alaska
Registering voters at the Bear Paw Festival. Our intern Ryan had the luck of registering an Obama supporter on her 18th birthday! We have internship opportunities across the state, so please let us know if you or someone you know would like to join our team!
Moose Dropping Festival Talkeetna, Alaska
Sign up to volunteer in Alaska and let us know about your favorite Alaskan festivals by using the comments box below.
Our grassroots movement for change is hitting the ground this week, when we'll open our first general election campaign office in Anchorage.
Together, we can help create the change America so desperately needs, right here in Alaska.
But it's up to people like you to reach out to your neighbors and your communities to take back the political process. Our staff will provide you with all of the tools and support you need.
Sign up now to volunteer in your community.
If you're in the Anchorage area tomorrow, I hope you'll come by and help us celebrate the grand opening of our first general election office in Alaska. If you can't make it to Anchorage, don't worry -- we'll be opening more offices around the state as our campaign grows.
Here are the details for the event:
Grand Opening -- Obama for America Anchorage Headquarters2513 Fairbanks St. Anchorage, AK 99503 Tuesday, July 8th at 7:00 p.m.
RSVP for the Anchorage office opening and learn more.
At the opening, you'll have the chance to meet fellow Obama supporters, talk with Obama for America staff, and get involved right away.
I'm looking forward to working with you over the coming months!
Obama supporters across Alaska celebrated Independence Day by bringing new people into the political process. They reached out in their communities, registered voters and signed up new supporters.
Check out some of the their great photos from the holiday weekend below.
Thanks to the hard work of volunteers in communities all over the state we're building an unprecedented grassroots movement in Alaska. Sign up to volunteer near you!
Wasiila
Marching in the Kenai parade.
Anchorage
Registering voters before the Anchorage 4th of July parade.
An Alaskan caribou!
Ready to join the movement? Sign up to learn more about volunteer opportunities near you.
Organizing to bring people back into politics is not a cost, but an investment in rebuilding the democratic infrastructure of our public life under assault for far too many years. - Marshall Ganz, March 2007
One week ago today, over 30,000 people met in nearly 4,000 homes across the country to Unite For Change.
As field organizer Jennifer Scarbrough explained, these meetings are part of a field plan that has grown out of Barack's roots as a community organizer, and represent grassroots organizing at the most basic level: people talking to one another in their own living rooms, about the issues that are most important to them.
One by one, attendees shared their stories and their experiences, and talked about what inspired them to become active. They also watched a special video the campaign created just for these house meetings, about how ordinary people can organize to empower themselves to make political changes:
Last Saturday's meetings were not the end; they were just the beginning of an unprecedented effort to organize support in all 50 states this summer and build the network of volunteers that we'll need to win in November. The time, labor and money put into these events were not a cost, they were an investment in the future of this campaign and in the communities in which they were held.
One week later, you can see this investment paying off already, with nearly 2000 grassroots events planned for this 4th of July weekend alone.
For supporters across the country, the next step can mean joining or creating a local grassroots group, planning another house party, or helping with voter registration. In the weeks and months to come, we will have even more tools for you to organize and to act, to make a difference in your community and in this campaign for the presidency.
From the beginning, the goal of this campaign has been to bring people back into the political process, to give voice to the voiceless, and to inspire a new generation of citizens to organize, to engage, and to vote. From the beginning, this campaign has been an investment.
Alternate Delegate Liz’s hometown of Homer, Alaska looks like it could be featured in National Geographic. Surrounded by the aroma of Evergreens and breeze from the Kachemak Bay, Liz’slog cabin is surrounded by wildlife including moose, bear, and lynx. Yet despite her remote location, Liz is at the hub of many political hot topics. Between the many economic and cultural problems associated with the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the environmental and health hazards that the exemption of the Clean Water Act on local waters have caused, Liz has spent almost her whole life working to improve the land she loves.
Liz has been actively involved in the Democratic party since she was in high school and spent years studying environmental policy and working policy jobs. “In 2006, I worked with many of the Tribes in Cook Inlet in a landmark cooperation with the goal of having the Tribal voice heard on oil and gas issues. ” She also participated in the 2006 National Pollutant Discharge Ellimination System program to improve the permit by “limiting toxic discharges” and appointing agency officials instead of industry employees to monitor pollution levels.
Aside from her political involvement, Liz works at a retail shop and entertains the many tourists that visit the small fishing town every year. Engaged to a commercial fisherman, Liz loves the water and was the first person recorded to swim the length of Wonder Lake in Denali National Park. She also organized (and swam) the first crossing of Kachemak Bay to raise awareness of women’s rape and violence in Alaska.
In this election, Liz is looking enact policy change.
“Non-profits struggle with the full-time job of finding consistent funding from non-traditional sources. Governmental jobs face legislative 'restructuring.' … No matter how much input we had supporting a policy change (or simply keeping current policies and legislation from changing), the sway/influence of corporations held more had more influence."
Liz’s frustration with the influence of corporations in the lobbying system led her to support Barack Obama.
“[He] not just inspires hope with inclusion and great ideas, but backs that with distinct examples of community organization and policy changes.” Liz looks forward to the Convention so she can support the candidate who offers the leadership and change she seeks for her state.
