Welcome, and Thank You

Let's give this a shot, shall we?

What am I doing here?

I’m

Sarah Montalbano

, and I’m a born-and-raised Alaskan that cares a great deal about affordable, reliable energy as well as wild lands that are worth protecting.

I am currently an energy policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment as well as a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy and Conservation. I’m also a StateBeat fellow for Young Voices.

Prior to joining American Experiment, I spent almost six years in various policy roles at Alaska Policy Forum. Before driving down the Alaska Highway to attend Montana State University, I fired off an email to the then-executive director at APF, asking for an internship because I wasn’t quite ready to leave my home state behind. She wasn’t hiring, but interviewed and hired me anyway, and I’ll be forever grateful that she gave me my start in public policy.

Expect this newsletter to also foray into education, fiscal issues, elections, healthcare, or whatever else has recently annoyed me enough to comment on it. You’ll inevitably hear about Alaska from me, since a better future for my home state is why I’m in this field in the first place. But I’ll talk a lot about other states and national issues, too.

I’ve been encouraged immeasurably by colleagues throughout my career thus far, and starting a Substack — to republish, and embellish on, my daily work — has come up many times. Thank you to

Gabriella Hoffman

,

Isaac Orr

, and

Let People Prosper

for giving me the kick in the pants I needed!

This space is free, but if your willingness to pay truly exceeds $0, tell me and I’ll reconsider. Most pieces will be short, but some may be deep dives, and I can’t promise updates on any specific schedule (yet!).

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

---