Mark favors local control and accountability of America’s schools. Mark believes that the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind law has been a disaster in Alaska and as Senator will work to return to an education policy that respects community values. He will fight to return control to Alaska’s parents and educators and for the millions of dollars in federal support promised, but not delivered, to Alaska schools. Mark will also work for federally-supported voluntary pre-K education to ensure that Alaska’s children get a good start on learning for the earliest age. He also supports expanded support for higher education so Alaska students don’t have to graduate from college or vocational school in debt.

As an Anchorage assemblyman for nearly 10 years and now as mayor, Mark has analyzed and approved more than a dozen school district budgets. The students in Anchorage schools, where more than 90 languages are spoken, continue to outperform the national average of college entrance exams. Sadly, America is no longer the best educated country in the world, with a dangerous “achievement gap” among U.S. students.

Alaska’s economy was built around its status as America’s leading energy producer. We sell almost 10 times as much energy as we use, but these benefits have not been adequately reinvested to help Alaska families and communities facing today’s energy crisis. Instead, oil companies are posting record profits while hard-working Alaska families are struggling to meet rising energy costs. We need to take steps now to help Alaska families and invest in Alaska’s energy infrastructure to ensure that we have a strong, sustainable economy. As U.S. Senator, Mark Begich will work across party lines to implement a new Alaska energy plan that works for Alaska families and communities.

Harnessing Alaska’s Energy Potential

Mark Begich will work with Alaska’s energy industry to regain the state’s stature as a major energy producer. Now more than ever, Alaska is in a position to provide Alaska families, Alaska businesses, and the nation with cleaner-burning energy from an Alaska natural gas pipeline. Alaska also has an unprecedented opportunity to be a national leader in renewable energy development and implementation of energy efficient technology. Begich’s Energy Plan will not only create an expanded Alaska energy economy, but also provide Alaska families and communities with reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy for the 21st century. As U.S. Senator, Mark will:

• Secure Alaska’s fair share of revenues from offshore OCS oil and gas leases to fund a new community-based renewable energy program and deployment of energy efficiency technology;
• Establish national and state targets of generating at least 25% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025;
• Set a national and state target to reduce energy consumption 25% by 2018 through energy efficiency;
• Insist the oil and gas industry employ the most current technology to reduce the “footprint” of development;
• Work across party lines to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to responsible oil and gas development including the pursuit of directional drilling through the adjacent Sourdough discovery well;
• Work with gasline developers and the state administration to guarantee the project puts Alaskans to work, funds workforce training and education, brings Alaska gas to Alaskans first, and shares gasline revenues with Alaska communities; and
• Protect the Alaska gasline project against any congressional attempts to levy new taxes on the profits, which could cut into state revenues from the gas.

Looking To Alaska’s Future

Alaska’s skyrocketing costs for all forms of energy require new thinking and new technological innovations to assure a more stable energy future for Alaskans. Alaska should be a world-leader in developing our non-renewable and renewable resources responsibly and in a way that improves local economies. Alaska can – and should – be exporting these energy innovations into the world market. Mark Begich will push for substantial increases in national funding for renewable energy generation and storage research and development, and expand University of Alaska research and development programs to develop new non-renewable, renewable, and energy efficient technologies.

The science of climate change is clear: if we don’t act immediately to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions the cost of doing nothing will far outweigh the cost of taking action. Mark Begich will support national legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 through a cap and trade system. A major portion of the emissions allowances should be auctioned off with a fair share of the revenues put into an Alaska Adaptation Fund to provide immediate assistance to Alaska communities already suffering the impacts of climate change and to help protect Alaska infrastructure from future damage caused by climate change.

Alaskans expect their elected officials to live by the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and transparency. Unfortunately, Alaskans have been let down by their elected officials. Secret meetings, hidden favors, special access for special interests, and now convicted legislators have given Alaska a black eye. The only way to restore Alaskans trust in their elected leaders is for them to earn it.

As Anchorage mayor, Mark Begich brought greater openness to city government, putting more information on the Internet, increasing citizen participation and oversight, and making his financial statements public. Mark Begich will take to Washington the same high ethical standards he has lived by as mayor. His personal finances, daily schedule, and any family lobbying connections will be an open book.

Although Congress passed a major ethics reform bill last year, there are still many loopholes that allow special interests to unfairly influence Congress behind closed doors and allow Senators to evade accountability. Mark Begich pledges to take a new set of ethics to Washington, one that gives Alaskans a senator as independent as Alaska. It will increase public scrutiny of Congress to make sure our senators are working for Alaska families, not special or personal interests.

Mark Begich’s Alaska ethics pledge is based on three key principles:

• Ban secret meetings and make financial records easily accessible;
• Stop special treatment and protections for senators and their families; and
• Bring real accountability to congressional ethics by ending Senators’ self-policing.

Mark Begich believes all senators should abide by these principles, but he won’t wait for Congress to pass a new law. He will live by them from day one in the Senate.

Read Mark Begich's Ethics Plan

See twenty-one years of Mark Begich's financial disclosures

Alaska is truly ground zero for global warming. All you have to do is look at the shrinking polar ice cap and the devastating effects it’s having on our rural communities to know we have to do something. We feel the impacts of climate change more than any place else in the world. Alaskans have a responsibility to lead the way in developing solutions to global warming to protect the magnificent natural resources around us and to ensure that future generations do not inherit a drastically altered Alaska. The solutions will not only help protect our environment, but will save money and bolster our economy. Mark was the first Alaska mayor to join the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection initiative, which now includes 800 cities. Anchorage is saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars through policies such as replacing street lights with LED lights, shutting down city computers when not in use and harnessing methane gas from the city landfill. Mark will push similar policies at the national level.

Read Mark's Huffington Post op-ed on global warming and smart energy policy.

With about 20 percent of Alaskans living on the edge with no health insurance, Mark believes America’s health care system needs a major overhaul. Alaska needs a senator who will address the unique health care needs of Alaskans – the higher costs, doctor shortages and distances required to travel for proper medical care. Alaskans deserve a Senator who believes consumers and doctors should make health care decisions, not insurance company accountants and government bureaucrats. As Senator, Mark will fight for equal access for all Americans to quality, affordable health care. Mark believes a pragmatic, solution-oriented approach to the health care crisis in America is essential to preserving American competitiveness globally and the security of American families at home. Any comprehensive solution needs to build on the strengths of our existing system, reward local innovation, and ensure shared responsibility between the government, employers, and individuals. We also need to ensure that our seniors have affordable access to doctors and prescription drugs.

As mayor, Mark oversees the health care program for 3,000 Anchorage city employees. Shortly after taking office, he directed a city take-over of the municipal health insurance program, savings taxpayers money and reducing the growth in costs.

Mark believes that it is time for America to safely and responsibly redeploy our troops out of Iraq. Our troops have served admirably, but political leadership has failed them with no plan, inadequate equipment and diplomatic neglect. Simultaneously, we need the Iraqi government to take responsibility for its future. While we have high expectations for the Iraqi government taking a larger responsibility for their future, Mark recognizes that the current leadership has not addressed the destabilizing nature of the humanitarian crisis stemming from the sectarian civil war.

We must end our military's participation in Iraq's civil war so we can shift our attention back where it belongs: fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Mark Begich will ensure that our military is not stretched too thin to meet other national security needs by using all the tools at his disposal as a senator to chart a new course the Bush/Stevens administration's failures in Iraq. Restoring our military will mean providing the resources to replace damaged equipment, investing in necessary training for our troops, and providing our servicemen and veterans with the full education and medical benefits and care they deserve from the country they served. With new ideas and a determination to find solutions, Mark Begich will provide the leadership needed to bring an end to the war in Iraq and restore security at home.

Mark will work at the national level for the same results he has helped achieve as Anchorage’s mayor: 9,200 new jobs in five years, 20 consecutive years of economic growth, bond rating improved to among the top 5 percent in the country and lower property taxes for most Anchorage property owners between 2006 and 2007. The global economy affects Alaska more than ever, so Alaskans need to better prepare themselves for the new world economy. This means moving beyond the isolationist view of the past and training Alaskans in cutting edge technologies. A small businessman since he was 16, Mark will work to expand opportunities for small business, which comprise the backbone of a prosperous Alaska economy.

Alaskans fiercely protect our right to privacy and believe that less government is better government. In fact, Alaskans so strongly cherish our privacy that we’re one of the few states to adopt an amendment to our Constitution – in 1972 – providing greater privacy protection than the U.S. Constitution. Mark Begich has long defended Alaskans’ right to privacy and will stand up against government intrusion into the lives of Alaskans as a U.S. senator.

Read the full Begich plan to Protect Alaskans' Rights

Mark believes all elderly Americans are entitled to affordable health care, prescription drugs and a solvent and reliable Social Security system. He opposes any initiative to privatize Social Security or Medicare. Mark will work to reduce health care costs for older Alaskans by increasing Medicare reimbursements and creating new incentives for doctors and health care professionals to participate in Medicare. He will also work to repeal the unfair penalties and Social Security offsets many Alaska seniors face who receive a state pension.

With more veterans per capita than any state in America in Alaska, Mark fights for those who fought for America. He will join with veteran and Senator Jim Webb to update the G.I. Bill – the same G.I. Bill that Senator Stevens benefited from – to provide education benefits for veterans. As mayor, he appointed a city military and veterans coordinator and mandated a city hiring preference for veterans. Mark will work to ensure that America keeps its promise to provide quality care and benefits to its veterans.

Read about Mark's support for a new G.I. Bill