| The fifth annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference concluded today in Anchorage after three days of strengthening partnerships.
“We started this conference five years ago to put Alaska on the map for investors and to show that while Alaska is an oil giant, we have so much more to offer the nation and our allies,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. “By all accounts, Alaska is back on the map.” Thursday’s programming featured a fireside chat with Gov. Dunleavy and Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval which provided an up to the minute update on the Alaska LNG project. “Right now, this is an Alaska solution project. That’s all we’re focused on – solving the gas needs for Alaska,” Duval said. “Phase 2 is the international portion of it, but for me right now my job is to get you guys gas so that when Cook Inlet isn’t producing enough for the winter here, you can pull it off with the pipeline with absolute abundance, and it’s guaranteed to be delivered for 30-40 years.” |
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| The conference closed with a keynote speech by entrepreneur Magatte Wade, who shared her lifelong quest to understand why places like her birth country of Senegal are poor, while others like the United States are rich.
“There would be no life as we know it without energy – and I would say even no human dignity,” Wade said. “Human flourishing happens when you put two key ingredients together: one is economic freedom, together with affordable, reliable, abundant energy.” The 2026 conference featured a return appearance by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. The secretary cast Alaska as a linchpin of American energy dominance, urging Alaskans to leverage their vast resources and strategic location to power allies and help shift geopolitical influence toward the Western Hemisphere. The conversation between Sec. Burgum and Gov. Dunleavy was also recorded as an episode of the podcast C.O.B Tuesday which is available to view here. During the conference week, the State of Alaska signed an MOU with South Korea’s largest trading company POSCO International to advance six development projects in the state. Both the State of Alaska and the University of Alaska Fairbanks signed an MOU with the National Laboratory of the Rockies based on their shared interests in advancing Alaska’s role as a leader in critical minerals development, energy system innovation, and Arctic Infrastructure. Gov. Dunleavy also met and signed a renewed Alaska-Yukon Intergovernmental Accord with Yukon Premier Curry Dixon, strengthening relations between the neighboring jurisdictions. |
