Site Logo

Latest Opinion

Dr. Karissa Niehoff

Opinion

Opinion: Protecting the purpose: Why funding schools must include student activities

High school sports and activities are experiencing record participation. They are also experiencing unprecedented pressure — pressure that…

Sharon Jackson is the Alaska State Chair for U.S. Term Limits. Photo courtesy U.S. Term Limits

Opinion

Term limits ensure fresh leadership and accountability

75 years after the 22nd amendment, let’s finish the job and term limit Congress.

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Ferry system swims or sinks with federal aid

The Alaska Marine Highway System has never fully paid its own way with ticket revenues; it’s always needed…

Biologist Jordan Pruszenski measures an anesthetized bear during May 2025. Biologists take measurements and samples before attaching a satellite/video collar to the bear’s neck. Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Opinion

The scent of barren ground grizzly

Unlike most of us, Jordan Pruszenski has held in her arms the following wild animals: wolves, caribou, beavers,…

A vintage Underwood typewriter sits on a table on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Opinion

Letters to the editor

Masculinity choices

Gov. Mike Dunleavy gestures during his State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

Opinion

Opinion: It’s time to end Alaska’s fiscal experiment

For decades, Alaska has operated under a fiscal and budgeting system unlike any other state, and some could…

Northern sea ice, such as this surrounding the community of Kivalina, has declined dramatically in area and thickness over the last few decades. Photo courtesy Ned Rozell

Opinion

20 years of Arctic report cards

Twenty years have passed since scientists released the first version of the Arctic Report Card, now a staple…

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: World doesn’t need another blast of hot air

Everyone needs a break from reality — myself included.

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Dunleavy writing constitutional checks he can’t cover

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in the final year of his 2,918-day, two-term career in the job, is picking at…

A vintage Underwood typewriter sits on a table on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Opinion

Opinion: Federal match funding is a promise to Alaska’s future

Alaska’s transportation system is the kind of thing most people don’t think about until it stops working. But…

Photo courtesy of the UAF Geophysical Institute Carl Benson pauses during one of his traverses of Greenland in 1953, when he was 25.

Opinion

Carl Benson embodied the far North

Carl Benson’s last winter on Earth featured 32 consecutive days during which temperatures in his chosen town did…

A vintage Underwood typewriter sits on a table on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Opinion

Letters to the editor

Central peninsula community generous and always there to help

Six-foot-six Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres possesses one of the fastest slap shots in the modern game. Photo courtesy Ned Rozell

Opinion

The physics of skating and slap shots

When two NHL hockey players collide, their pads and muscles can absorb enough energy to power a 100-watt…

Alaska’s natural gas pipeline would largely follow the route of the existing trans-Alaska oil pipeline, pictured here, from the North Slope. Near Fairbanks, the gas line would split off toward Anchorage, while the oil pipeline continues to the Prince William Sound community of Valdez. (Photo by David Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey)

Opinion

Opinion: Alaskans must proceed with caution on gasline legislation

Alaskans have watched a parade of natural gas pipeline proposals come and go, as in go nowhere. They…

Van Abbott.

Opinion

Looting the republic

A satire depicting the systematic extraction of wealth under the current U.S. regime.

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: It’s OK not to be one of the beautiful people

This is for all of us who don’t have perfect hair — and for those of us with…

Pam Groves of the University of Alaska Fairbanks looks at bones of ancient creatures she has gathered over the years from northern rivers. The remains here include musk oxen, steppe bison and mammoth. Photo courtesy Ned Rozell

Opinion

What killed the world’s giants?

Most of the large animals that have walked the surface of Earth are no longer here. Why?

Larry Persily. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Trying to deny voters a choice is getting to be a bad habit

Alaskans this fall will vote for the third time whether they prefer open primary elections to choose their…

Jim Jansen and Joe Schiernhorn are co-chairs of the Keep Alaska Competitive Coalition. Photo courtesy of Keep Alaska Competitive

Opinion

Opinion: Alaska’s winning formula

Alaska is experiencing an energy renaissance, thanks to a stable fiscal framework that gives businesses and investors the…

The Juneau offices of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are seen Monday, June 6, 2022. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Opinion

Stewardship for generations

The Alaska Permanent Fund is celebrating a 50-year milestone.