According to the Anchorage Daily News, legislators are trying to figure out what to do with $1.5 million that will be freed when they set aside funding for a planned advertising fight against the Endangered Species Act. Many lawmakers are leery of the Legislature running a public relations battle against the ESA because they feel the governor's office is the only branch authorized to do so, and because it might seem like politicians were attempting to influence science (combining those two reasons creates an odd conclusion for Alaska Beat ... Apparently the governor is the only politician with the authority to attempt to influence science). At any rate, some lawmakers say the diverted money should be used to help renovate a new legislative office building in Anchorage if the state's bid for it is accepted, and others say the money should be used to study the impact of the proposed Pebble Mine on Bristol Bay. The Alaska Board of Fisheries requested the study, and the Pebble developers say they won't oppose it as long as they don't have to foot the bill. Read much more here.