Unalaska Struggles With $100,000 Fuel Bills as Trump-Era Cuts Hit 4,300 Residents
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 31
Unalaska Struggles With $100,000 Fuel Bills as Trump-Era Cuts Hit 4,300 Residents
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 31
Summary
$100,000 is what one crab boat captain says a fresh diesel fill-up now costs in Unalaska, where Iran-war-driven fuel prices are squeezing fishermen, processors, businesses and the city’s 4,300 residents ahead of Bering Sea crab season.
Diesel powers both boats and much of the town’s electricity, pushing Unalaska’s fuel-cost charge to as much as $0.36 per kilowatt hour from $0.22 last year and forcing businesses to consider higher prices.
Federal disruptions have compounded the strain: the local library lost a $6,000 book grant before it was restored, the Museum of the Aleutians had a $347,000 project halted and six staff laid off, and public radio station KUCB lost half its budget.
Other Trump-era policy shifts have also hit the seafood hub, from a canceled clean-energy grant for five 1-megawatt wind turbines to visa problems for Ukrainian workers and tariff rules that leave longshoremen loading empty containers onto ships.
The pressure is spilling into politics before Tuesday’s midterms, with anger over fuel costs and federal retrenchment testing Republican support in a state that backed Trump in 2024.