Thursday, December 15, 2022 – The cost of climate change

The village of Newtok, AK is losing its battle with climate change. The thawing permafrost is giving up as much as 70 feet of land every year that the Newtok residents called home. The effort to move residents is ongoing, but slow. The village is one of nearly a dozen Native communities that will receive federal climate change relocation money. The total allocation is $135 million. Today on Native America Calling, Andi Murphy talks with Bernice John (Yup'ik), president of the Newtok Native Corporation; Sam Fortier, general counsel for the Newtok Native Corporation; Jackie Schaeffer (Inupiaq), director of climate initiatives for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium; Phillip Carl (Yup'ik), Newtok tribal administrator; and Joseph John (Yup'ik), Newtok council member.