North to Alaska: America’s Climate WarningGuest article by Jay Inslee, former governor of Washington State
In August 2025, just north of Juneau, I stepped aboard the ship Hanse Explorer at the foot of the Sawyer Glacier. We were bound for the Arctic to see, with our own eyes, what climate change is doing to Alaska—and what it may soon do to the rest of America. When I was young, a hit song urged us to go “North to Alaska,” celebrating the gold rush that once defined this rugged state. Today the riches of Alaska are different. They are not nuggets pulled from the ground but glimpses into our shared future—a future scarred by climate change. Over six days at sea, Alaska revealed how warming temperatures are reshaping its waters, its glaciers, and the lives that depend on them. Only an hour out of port, with the Alaska Range towering beside us, we spotted orcas slicing through the water. Their black fins caught the sun as they hunted salmon. It was thrilling. But the joy didn’t last. Our whale expert, Andy Szabo of the Alaska Whale Foundation, delivered the hard truth: several species of whale’s numbers are in serious decline with nearly fifty grey whales washing up dead on Alaska’s shores this year alone. Meanwhile, Puget Sound’s orcas are barely hanging on. His blunt assessment—“they’re starving”—hung in the air. The cause is invisible but devastating. Whales depend on tiny krill and copepods that flourish only when cold surface waters sink and pull nutrients up from the deep. Warmer seas are breaking that cycle. Without it, the ocean becomes a desert. Too many smokestacks and tailpipes here on land translate into too few whales in the sea. It’s a simple, brutal chain: no krill, no whales. And when we lose whales, we lose more than a species—we lose a part of ourselves. The next day we watched humpbacks perform their astonishing “bubble-feed.” Working in sync, a group of them spiraled beneath a school of herring, releasing curtains of bubbles to corral the fish before lunging upward, mouths agape. It was one of the most extraordinary displays of teamwork on the planet. Yet even that spectacle was overshadowed by what came next. At Tracy Arm fjord, the thunder of ice calving off the glacier echoed against the granite walls. The sight was dramatic—but it was no celebration of renewal. These were death knells, proof of a glacier retreating mile by mile. Glaciers that took millennia to form are vanishing in mere decades. I’ve seen the same in my home state of Washington, where Mount Rainier has lost 40 percent of its glacier area and more than a hundred Cascade glaciers have disappeared. To watch a glacier collapse is to feel the full weight of climate change—it’s not an abstract graph or statistic, but an event that roils the water beneath you. Jay Inslee served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington State, passing and defending the state’s landmark Climate Commitment Act. Alaska shows us climate change at double speed. Because snow and ice reflect sunlight, their disappearance accelerates warming: the more ice that melts, the faster the land and sea heat up. This week, we’re seeing the consequences firsthand. Hundreds of people are being airlifted from coastal villages after the remnants of Typhoon Halong brought deadly flooding over the weekend. While the danger grows, the Trump administration is stripping away support for tribal villages — who have stewarded the land for thousands of years — to protect themselves. The paradox of Alaska is that it is achingly beautiful and heartbreakingly fragile at the same time. For me, this journey was both a gift and a warning. The whales, the glaciers, the fisheries, the communities—they are all telling us the same story. What happens here is not confined to Alaska. It is a preview of what awaits the rest of us. We owe it to Alaska, and to ourselves, to act on that warning. To cut the pollution that is driving these changes. To speak up against oil and gas drilling that poisons our air, water and land. To protect what we still have. And to ensure that future generations can still marvel at a breaching whale or a valley carved by living ice. |
My heart broke reading this. Years ago I lived on Cape Cod and saw many whales. They are so beautiful. I wish our current administration understood climate change. We can't even have clean energy with this crappy president.
It's much larger than this lousy president wannabe. It's all of the corporate induced presidents we've had since the 1960s who bought into the oil and gas industry's false self produced report that oil and gas exploration and use has to impact on the environment. Factual history anyone can explore on the internet.
Our current administration understands climate change - they choose to ignore it in favor of short $$ gain and to protect entrenched fossil fuel interests. Elections have consequences.
The orange regime does not believe in climate change. They want to drill baby drill and are planning to do so in Alaska. Magat republicans are the dumbest people on the planet. The orange regime will not be satisfied until America is destroyed from top to bottom. Remove them from office.
Orangeturd and it's regime tske great pleasure in seeing destruction and in inflicting pain and suffering...how many Venezuelan fishing vessels have they shot out of the water now!..FISHERMEN!!!
For them it's like shooting rows of plastic ducks at the county fair...
🥺😱😭😭😭😭😭
While 'drill baby drill' is a clever catch phrase, when spoken in the next breath stating.." The price of gasoline will definitely come down". These two mutterings work at cross purposes, in the real world. As the demand for crude/refined products reduces, the price paid the producer also drops...below the margin needed to continue to be feasible to continue to continue "drilling". Neither basic economics will attract investors to a low cost price at the pump. The resultant 'bust' will put drillers out of business and cause investors to lose their capital investments. The temporary drop in price might increase other business interests, but only for limited period of time.
The price of gasoline? Who uses gasoline? My son hasn't paid for gasoline since 2015, when he bought an EV. We put solar on our roof and he fueled the car off the roof. Last year we got an EV too and haven't paid for gas since.
Plenty buy gasoline. Those of us for whom solar isn't an alternative due to orientation of a home, age of home where the roof structure can't support the added weight, those who live in apartments, or in older homes where wiring and actual electrical service to their home is limited. There are many who would prefer the environmental benefits of solar panels but are either unaffordable or not feasible.
Instead we could be advocating for hybrid vehicles with a minimum gas mileage standard. We drive a Hyundai Elantra Blue which averages high 50 mpg or greater depending on weather conditions and the type of roads and speeds driven. Even at interstate speeds we get close to 60 mpg. It is a proven environmental fact that engines that turn off at lights, stop signs, during coasting and when in traffic jams reduce pollution significantly. Are these vehicles ideal? No, but they are an improvement over gas engines without battery assist. But most, including young adults, aren't driving these vehicles either. They prefer the mammoth SUVs and gas guzzling extended cab 4 wheel drive trucks. These young adult children, for the most part, don't care anymore than their parents at the irreversible devastation they are causing.
I find your condescending, dismissive attitude both offensive and alienating and it will fail to convince.
There are numerous solutions that others have found that they share.
It's unfortunate that you chose to be offended.
Years ago, before PHOTOVOLTAICS, a solar engineer told us that before we consider SOLAR, we should reduce our comsumption.
We focused on reducing ALL of our consumption, that also includes TRASH & WATER CONSUMPTION.
ALL of our peripherals, including tv, are on energy strips - when they're OFF, they're OFF!
As appliances DIED, they were replaced with the MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT!
That includes that monstrous energy guzzling side-by-side refrig.
We also have an INDOOR CLOTHESLINE - elastic lasts longer when not exposed to heat & lots of things can't be put in the dryer.
US PER CAPITA consumption exceeds CHINA.
CHINA is promoting CHEAP CLEAN SOLAR & sells SOLAR PANELS with BATTERY BACKUP that allows poor communities to have dependable power.
Recently, we began replacing CFLs with LEDs, reducing electric usage to 9 KwH per day - we have more to accomplish.
When we received the bill, I called our municipal Gas & Electric & it was explained that the meter reports daily usage directly.
(I caution everyone to avoid buying LEDs from AMAZON or WALMART where they're overpriced. We found 1000BULBS in CALIFORNIA that charges ~ $1 per bulb. We went around, counted lights & ordered full cartons. We have not yet tackled fluorescent fixtures. LEDs are now building code in Massachusetts, among other requirements.)
Do you have insulated window coverrings?
Experts tell you that household lighting consumes 15% of your electric bill, but that ignores other appliances - like the always on television.
Rather than being offended or pointing out the excesses of others, consider it a challenge to accept personal responsibility & figure out what YOU can do in order to reduce YOUR consumption & save money. It goes beyond buying an efficient vehicle.
Thank you so much for this painful and necessary reminder. In my keeping up with this chaotic experience on our democracy here, in America, so many many painful attacks on this country, even though we hear on NPR when he signs executive orders to do stupid things that I read articles from some of my favorite feeds on the environmental issues, it seems to get passed over. But it's always on my mind. And it really is something we need to address. Get us back in the Paris Accord. Fund science and research, again, and deeply. They will save us
Ditto. I have a constant and similar concern. It’s always on my mind.
You might appreciate this - which was my initial response to this post:
SO heartbreaking. Opening the Arctic to drilling would be incomprehensible, devastating.
Ludovico Einaudi is one of my favorite pianists. Several years ago, he collaborated with Greenpeace to raise awareness about the dangerous impact of climate change on the arctic.
“Elegy for the Arctic” by Ludovico Einaudi
“Ludovico Einaudi is an Italian pianist and composer known for his reflective classical pieces. His albums Una Mattina and Divenire have received popular and critical acclaim. Much of Einaudi’s work has been inspired by his time in the natural world, giving his music a very grounded feel.
“Elegy for the Arctic” is a haunting composition, filled with descending scales. Listeners have described the piece to sound like falling, echoing the descent of melting ice. Einaudi ends the piece with empty and contemplative silence.”
Article - https://www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/elegy-for-the-arctic-by-ludovico-einaudi/
You can also listen to and view the making of the video and a performance of this piece through the link above. Watch these videos. The are haunting, soul-crushing yet extremely powerful, magnificent, mesmerizing, and oddly tranquil…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aomLIZsYuOM
Another piece here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DLnhdnSUV
Suggest you see climatehealers.org ASAP.
and this week with the massive flooding/hurricane winds in indigenous villages with houses floating away....no FEMA in sight, but the Alaska National Guard doing what National Guard is supposed to do, rescuing people and flying them to safety.
Terrible. Dump’s EPA rescinded Kipnuk’s $20 million flood protection grant last May (approved by Biden, of course). Evil fcker Lee Zeldin called it a “wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grant.” Grrr 😡
Well expressed, Governor Inslee, gunalcheesh. I first entered Alaska, by road, on June 30, 1958, the day that the US Senate voted on Alaska Statehood, thus assuring that Alaska would become our 49th state. I returned to Alaska in 1968, after graduating college. I would spend my next 11 years, working, primarily with Native Alaskans, to assure that this fragile treasure would be preserved. Little was understood in those years about the impending crisis of climate change, over which Alaskans alone would be unable to prevail. May we all, as global citizens, work for a better world future.
My heart breaks. As I stand in my yard each day, I look at the trees and apologize. Our footprint is small and we do what we can but it is not enough.
Never allow anyone to tell you that one citizen's efforts don't matter -- imagine 350 million citizens NOT needing what the corporations are selling. Good for you! Keep finding little ways you can make good change. Our family makes a sort of game of it, then shares the fun!
It's too late for footprints..much more drastic measures needed to be taken...and nobody cares enough pat meeeetinnngggssss..and talk...
Earth is warning us and we humans gather to talk....Alaska is the ultimate warning, the canary in the coal mine...and the disaster barely got a mention on any media site...
It's now 30 seconds to midnight.....
All of the important things to be concerned about, have fallen to the wayside in dealing with the wannabe dictator and his Regime. If we didn't have a two party corporate duopoly system of government here in the US, we by now would be in nothing but renewable energy for the last 25 years. Grasp hold of that one. Another issue that our waters would have had the opportunity to cleanse themselves by now. We are a stupid species, doomed to our own demise.
The price of gasoline? Who uses gasoline? My son hasn't paid for gasoline since 2015, when he bought an EV. We put solar on our roof and he fueled the car off the roof. Last year we got an EV too and haven't paid for gas since.
Plenty buy gasoline. Those of us for whom solar isn't an alternative due to orientation of a home, age of home where the roof structure can't support the added weight, those who live in apartments, or in older homes where wiring and actual electrical service to their home is limited. There are many who would prefer the environmental benefits of solar panels but are either unaffordable or not feasible.
Instead we could be advocating for hybrid vehicles with a minimum gas mileage standard. We drive a Hyundai Elantra Blue which averages high 50 mpg or greater depending on weather conditions and the type of roads and speeds driven. Even at interstate speeds we get close to 60 mpg. It is a proven environmental fact that engines that turn off at lights, stop signs, during coasting and when in traffic jams reduce pollution significantly. Are these vehicles ideal? No, but they are an improvement over gas engines without battery assist. But most, including young adults, aren't driving these vehicles either. They prefer the mammoth SUVs and gas guzzling extended cab 4 wheel drive trucks. These young adult children, for the most part, don't care anymore than their parents at the irreversible devastation they are causing.
I find your condescending, dismissive attitude both offensive and alienating and it will fail to convince.
There are numerous solutions that others have found that they share.
It's unfortunate that you chose to be offended.
Years ago, before PHOTOVOLTAICS, a solar engineer told us that before we consider SOLAR, we should reduce our comsumption.
We focused on reducing ALL of our consumption, that also includes TRASH & WATER CONSUMPTION.
ALL of our peripherals, including tv, are on energy strips - when they're OFF, they're OFF!
As appliances DIED, they were replaced with the MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT!
That includes that monstrous energy guzzling side-by-side refrig.
We also have an INDOOR CLOTHESLINE - elastic lasts longer when not exposed to heat & lots of things can't be put in the dryer.
US PER CAPITA consumption exceeds CHINA.
CHINA is promoting CHEAP CLEAN SOLAR & sells SOLAR PANELS with BATTERY BACKUP that allows poor communities to have dependable power.
Recently, we began replacing CFLs with LEDs, reducing electric usage to 9 KwH per day - we have more to accomplish.
When we received the bill, I called our municipal Gas & Electric & it was explained that the meter reports daily usage directly.
(I caution everyone to avoid buying LEDs from AMAZON or WALMART where they're overpriced. We found 1000BULBS in CALIFORNIA that charges ~ $1 per bulb. We went around, counted lights & ordered full cartons. We have not yet tackled fluorescent fixtures. LEDs are now building code in Massachusetts, among other requirements.)
Do you have insulated window coverrings?
Experts tell you that household lighting consumes 15% of your electric bill, but that ignores other appliances - like the always on television.
Rather than being offended or pointing out the excesses of others, consider it a challenge to accept personal responsibility & figure out what YOU can do in order to reduce YOUR consumption & save money. It goes beyond buying an efficient vehicle.
And that leads me to ask, who shops at Amazon or Walmart? We live our entire life considering what we could do to reduce our consumption and have since we were married 45 years ago. We do live in the Bay Area, so we don't need air conditioning and rarely need to turn on a space heater. When I worked, I brought my lunch (peanut butter and jelly and apple) every single day. I line dry our laundry. I sew my clothes, or buy them at thrift shops or estate sales. I don't need suggestions from anyone. When we bought our house in 1992, the city required us to put insulation in the walls and the ceiling, low flow faucets, shower, and toilet.
Thank you for being historically enlightened!
You are truly blessed with impressive weather not shared by the rest of the nation.
YOU might not need suggestions because you figured it out years ago, but too many others have not.
CALIFORNIA has been on the forefront leading the way while the rest of the nation has lagged behind.
Living in Massachusetts, can you imagine hanging laundry in the SNOW?
That's why we have an interior CLOTHES LINE.
My comments were not intended as a ONE SIZE FITS ALL, but rather an encouragement to LOOK AROUND! There are SOLUTIONS.
We have several local THRIFT SHOPS as well as the SALVATION ARMY & SAVERS that provide outlets for the cleanouts of homes at reasonable prices including not only clothing, but appliances & furniture.
My COFFEE POT died at the same time a local THRIFT SHOP was closing for the season & offered "A BOX FOR $5" - not only did they have a COFFEE POT, but lots of ODDS & ENDS - replacing broken coffee cups & sandwich plates - why buy NEW?
YOU figured it out, but others haven't!
My post was intended to encourage others to think about their EXPENDITURES & WHERE THEY COULD SAVE MONEY! Not intended to be ALL-INCLUSIVE!
I happened to be at the SALVATION ARMY one day when a young couple with little kids was shopping - clearly not affluent.
They were looking for furniture for kids' clothes.
There was one of those MEDIA CABINETS with shelves, pretty cheap.
I engaged them in conversation, explained they could line it with shelves for $10. Little kids' clothes don't require elaborate dressers.
Too many ignore what you figured out long ago that you need to remind others about.
Let's just unite & encourage others to LOOK AROUND!
How can WE SAVE MONEY?
There are numerous other ways to reduce your energy costs & save money - some simple & cheap!
We're retired too, living on Social Security. We put the solar on our roof when we got a 7,000 tax credit. We paid off our house before we retired. Frankly, I live in California, in the Bay Area, which is supposed to be so expensive. If we had to make it on one income (since 2016 when I had a TIA and couldn't work as a crossing guard) (yes, not a high paying job and we didn't have job paid medical insurance), I am more than a little dubious about people who can't afford EVs or solar panels. It depends on what you want to spend your money on. Peanut butter and jelly is what I suggest for lunch.
You're perfectly okay with hybrids, but if you are unfortunate enough to have grandchildren, they're doomed. My son has been driving his Bolt for 10 years and my husband just got his Equinox last year. He was tired of paying 4.99 a gallon for gas. Good luck on surviving the climate crisis.
EVERYONE OVER 45 HAVE NO EXCUSE. Rump has been a slimy conman since the late 1970s, as he was ALWAYS SO PROUD OF HIS MISDEEDS, his cheating and runnin around, IT WAS ALL ON TV & in newspapers, even in Canada! The PLETHORA of photos onboard his jet with crowds of blonde pre-teens were legendary, should’ve been arrested by a cop NOT ON THE TAKE over 50 YEARS AGO!
Has NOT CHANGED ONE BIT.
If you own a smartphone & STILL voted for the TWICE IMPEACHED, BANKRUPTCY R*PIST & FACIST WEASLE-KING?
You should be PROPERLY ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!
I have never liked the arrogant asshole.
Yep! And we are doing many of them - the most important being a plant-based diet. Animal agriculture wreaks hell on the environment.