Newsletter: Governor Travels to Japan for LNG Conference

Statement

Governor Walker traveled to Japan for a week of meetings to talk about taking Alaska's natural gas to market. Alaska's relationship with Japan dates back to 1969, when the first natural gas shipment was delivered from Nikiski. While there, the Governor and his team met with presidents, chief executives and representatives of over 26 different organizations and companies, including Tokyo Gas, Korea Gas Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation's Natural Gas division, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips Japan, and others.

Governor Bill Walker also delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 4th LNG Producer-Consumer Conference in Tokyo. He told the audience that Alaska has 33 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, and potentially 250 trillion cubic feet more. Participants traveled from Australia, Qatar, India, France, Singapore, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, Canada and Argentina to attend the conference.

Governor Walker and First Lady Donna Walker met with Ambassador Caroline Kennedy at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to talk about furthering the relationship between Alaska and Japan for LNG exports.

Lt. Governor addresses GLACIER conference

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott addressed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, twenty foreign ministers and hundreds of conference participants during the opening plenary session of the GLACIER conference in Anchorage last month.

Wearing his Yakutat ceremonial tunic he wore at the inauguration last December, the Lt. Governor acknowledged in his speech the need to expand the use of renewable energy sources but also said, "We need to develop Alaska's resources, we need to do it in a way that recognizes the impact upon the Arctic and the consequences of ill-devised action that would occur and impact climate change if we are not smart and we are not resilient. And in Alaska, we commit ourselves to take every step, no matter how difficult, to avail ourselves of every opportunity, no matter how far we must have to reach, in order to help all of us create a better, more safe, resilient world (where we) can live, support and celebrate the peoples of this earth for eons to come."

Secretary of State John Kerry listens to Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott's speech to foreign ministers attending the Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage on Monday, August 31, 2015.
Michael Penn/Juneau Empire

Meeting with the President on Air Force One

On August 31st, the Governor had the opportunity to travel with President Obama on Air Force One. The Governor had over two hours to talk directly with the President about some of the issues that matter to our state and how we can work together to create a sustainable future for Alaska. For more, read "Discussing Alaska on Air Force One."

Show Your Support For an Alaskan on #TheNew10

Earlier this summer, Governor Walker and Lt. Governor Mallott sent a letter to the the U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary recommending that Elizabeth Peratrovich be featured on the redesigned 10-dollar bill. Elizabeth was a driving force for civil rights in Alaska, and played an instrumental role in making Alaska the nation's first organized government to end legal discrimination -- nearly twenty years before passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

How do we Build a Sustainable Future?

Do you want to know more about the fiscal challenges our state is facing? Here is an interactive revenue and expenditure model that allows you to fix Alaska's budget -- your way. Below is the model (an Excel file), along with a short instructional video to help you use it.

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