Keep it in the ground working group

Addressing the catastrophic impacts of climate change means keeping the remaining fossil fuel resources in the ground.  A just transition to a socially and environmentally regenerative economy requires saying "no" to economic choices we know are inconsistent with climate justice. This working group acts to mount popular grassroots campaigns to end fossil fuel extraction in our state. 

There is one thing that is clear in this moment: oil is a declining industry. Oil prices are reaching new lows, demand is down, infrastructure is failing and the industry may never recover to previous profit levels. While this is a scary prospect for Alaskans as our state budget is deeply tied to oil, it offers us the opportunity to shape the future of our state.

Our Story

For too long, Alaska’s government has been propping up the oil industry through credits and write-offs, making our sacred lands a ripe terrain for this extractive industry. State officials hinged our prosperity on these boom and bust profits, disregarding the effects on the land and ignoring the inevitable decline. Now, we are in an economic, climate, and health crisis and the people of Alaska are living in a state of uncertainty.

But in the midst of uncertainty there is hope. We have an opportunity to shape the future of our state. Despite what the oil industry might want us to believe, our state is rich in more than oil. Our lands, waters and peoples are resilient. The government has mishandled our state’s wealth and resources for decades, and now we must create a different path forward.

Image of a sunset over the water with mountains in the background

The Plug the Leak! campaign is cultivating a mass movement of Alaskans to rise up and demand that our government stop leaking Alaskan dollars out of the budget to fund the unsustainable oil industry. Instead, we need to invest in a sustainable future. Now is not the time to prop up a dying industry. We must be leaders in making a Just Transition to a renewable economy, fostering equitable relationships with the land, businesses and each other. Alaska needs to Plug the Leak!

Check out the new report on the AK LNG pipe dream

For more than 15 years, the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) has spent nearly $500 million of Alaskans’ money and has nothing to show for it.

This new report looks at the economics of the Alaska LNG export project from Alaska’s North Slope to Southcentral Alaska and discusses the dismal prospects of all of the various proposals on the table.

Celebrations

  • In the 2025 legislative session, two bills have been introduced which would change Alaska’s tax code in a way that would keep corporate income tax revenue in the state, including from wealthy oil and gas companies. These bills include several of the most important provisions that we’ve been advocating for. Read more here and here.

  • In the spring of 2024, we organized an art show called “What’s at Stake,” bringing together local artists and community members to showcase art that displays the role of fossil fuel subsidies in our community, and the world we want to build without them. Over the next year, we look forward to taking this show on the road, using art as a way to humanize the issue of fossil fuel subsidies. 

  • After years of public pressure and watchdogging from FCAC members and others, the state legislature has partially defunded AGDC, the state entity tasked with developing the AK LNG pipeline, showcasing decreasing public support and confidence in this project.

  • In June of 2023, the Alaska Supreme Court issued an initial win for the city of Valdez in Regulatory Commission of Alaska v. The City of Valdez., a case challenging the terms of the BP-Hilcorp oil asset sale which was approved on a secret record in 2019. This win came after FCAC worked with AKPIRG and other communities across the state to showcase the public interest in this case.

Take Action

What we do:

The KING! working group seeks to build a network of volunteer driven community climate action hubs across the state of Alaska. These hubs will work together and independently to uplift Indigenous leadership and traditional knowledge, and build a people-powered campaign that shifts the power structure in the state so that Alaskans will choose to end reliance on fossil fuel extraction and build a lasting, regenerative economy that protects our lands, waters and ways of life. Through this structure, we aim, to:

  • Change Alaska’s tax structure to eliminate excessive indirect expenditure write-off that greatly decrease state revenue.

  • Change the structure and function of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) to increase public participation and oversight, end funding extractive projects and instead fund regenerative solutions.

Watch KING’s Earth week webinar:

This is the video from the 2020 Earth Week webinar hosted by FCAC's KING! working group about Alaska's dependence on the oil industry and how it is impacting the Alaskan people. Hear Larry Persily, an expert on oil and gas in Alaska, talk about the history of the tax structure and how the state makes revenue on oil. Then, listen to Siqiniq Maupin discuss the impacts of the boom and bust of oil on North Slope communities and the need for healthier communities through independence from the oil industry.