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Focuses on the accomplishments of the Alaska delegation in the US Congress. Persuasion on the removal of an amendment to the parks bill to help Ketchikan Pulp Co.; Passage of legislation lifting the federal ban on exporting Alaska oil and overhauling of the Magnuson Fishery and Conservation Act; Attempts to expand the state's business base beyond the resource extraction industry.

Reports on government debates over logging practices in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Proposal by Forest Service in April 1996 to reduce land available to loggers to preserve the forest; Proposal by Alaska lawmakers to extend for 15 years the contract of Ketchican Pulp Co.; Conservationists' concern to preserve wildlife habitat versus economic threat of mill closure. INSET: A quintet of logging bills..

Reveals that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has greater chance to realize its plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil drilling and exploration. Opposition of environmentalists to plans of oil drilling and exploration in the ANWR; Importance of oil fields to national security; Threat posed by oil development to the Alaskan refuge; Debate over oil drilling in ANWR.

The article presents an outlook for the environmental agendas of the Democratic Party if they win the majority in the U.S. Congress in the November 2006 elections. The Democrats aim to block the Republican plan to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. Democratic leaders plan to hold hearings on policies of the administration of President George W. Bush governing mercury emissions from power plants. Senator Barbara Boxer is in line to head the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Reports on energy industry laws which are being debated at the U.S. Congress. Details of a plan to overturn the 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act; Deadline for completing work on the bills; Controversy over a proposal to drill oil at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The article focuses on the climatic changes experienced by residents in Kivalina, Alaska. A rock barrier is being constructed to protect residents from waves during storms that may overturn oil-storage tanks. The U.S. Global Change Research Program said that the annual average temperature in the state is four degrees Fahrenheit higher than it was 50 years ago. The University of Alaska in Anchorage estimates that the warmer temperature and melting of permafrost could increase the cost of building and maintaining infrastructure by 10% to 20%.

The article focuses on the efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to examine permafrost in a research facility dug into a hill in Alaska. Larry Hinzman, director of the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska, explained that a large amount of surface subsidence can occur if the ice in the permafrost melts. One device created by engineers to help keep the ground frozen is called thermosyphons which draw out the heat from the ground and release it into the air.

Criticizes the intention of United States Interior Secretary Bruce E. Babbitt towards his proposal to support oil exploration activities in Alaska. Emphasis on the negative intentions Babbitt might have for the project; Information on the profits of oil companies prospecting in Alaska; Protests on the effect of proposal to environment and politics.