Parnell – Dug in Like a Tick
Well, I’m surprised. Gov. Sean Parnell announced Friday that he will run for governor again. “Fantastic! I get to vote for Sean Parnell as governor again!” said no one within earshot of me ever. The anticipation of his announcement, and the speculation around it, was fierce. Would he give Mark Begich a run for his money for the U.S. Senate? Would he figure his work was done, having succeeded in passing a bill to give billions to oil companies for no guarantees, and just start picking out wallpaper for a K Street office? He’s dug in like a tick. I…
Blinded Me with Science: Begich Town Hall Videos
Alaska Senator Mark Begich discussed issues ranging from guns, to veterans benefits. to the 800-pound gorilla in the room – Pebble Mine – in a town hall May 1st. Out of the 50 or so attending the open Q&A with the Senator, roughly half of them were wearing either a “No Pebble” button or sticker. Attendees of the town hall were not pleased with Sen. Begich’s “let’s wait for the science to come in” responses to Pebble Mine concerns. Sen. Begich also discussed plans to help veterans work through the problems at the Veterans Administration, and saving a local landmark from…
Alaska Eyes 2014
The legislative session in Juneau has ended, and our elected officials have flown away from the carnage they either created, or endured. The stalwart among us, the political junkies who don’t need to take time off to lick wounds, yell at clouds, or throw chairs, will begin to think of… 2014. The courts have ruled that the redistricted map used for 2012 is not Constitutional. We literally go back to the drawing board to rework legislative boundaries. And the insanity will begin all over again. But wait, that’s not all! U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES We’ve also got our one…
UPDATED: Massive Landslide at Bingham Mine – Is this what Pebble will bring?
UPDATE: Quoted from Dow Jones 4/16/2013 RIO Tinto has asked employees to take vacation or unpaid leave after a massive landslide at its Bingham Canyon mine in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley, one of the world’s largest copper producing mines. Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper unit said it has asked for workers to volunteer to take leave because the operation isn’t running at full capacity. “The slip has destroyed the main access decline into the pit, so a new decline will need to be constructed before mining can resume. We have no guidance from Rio on how long this will take, but…
Pebble Has Rocks in Head
Behold the latest gripe from the Pebble Partnership about the oh-so-restrictive permitting process required to put the largest open pit copper and gold mine on the planet at the headwaters of the planet’s largest wild salmon fishery. The project requires permits for lots of things. It pays to be assured someone knows what they’re doing when they have to build 700 foot tall earthen dams that will last forever in a highly active seismic zone, holding back giant lakes of poison from a thriving fishery. You know, stuff like that. Check out the latest. We know they’d like to compare…
Pebble Buys Signature Thugs (UPDATED)
*THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION. SEE BELOW! Ahhh. Take a nice deep sniff and enjoy the smell of desperation and deceit. It seems to be wafting over from the Pebble Parntnership. You see, when you’re a consortium of foreign mining companies with crappy track records and nobody likes you, or the idea of your giant open pit copper mine at the headwaters of the world’s largest wild salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, you start having to resort to all kinds of things. The latest bit of skulduggery they’ve pulled out of their hat is to activate their…
Alaska’s Relationship of Convenience with EPA
Ever had a boss so hard to read you didn’t know if you were going to be fired or promoted? Mixed messages on a daily basis? It’s horrible. How are you supposed know what to do? A relationship in which you don’t know if you’ll be hit or hugged is much worse. “Can’t you just be a jerk all the time? It would make things so much easier.” It’s the back and forth, the uncertainty that make these situations unbearable. That’s why I feel bad for the folks at the Environmental Protection Agency. Oh, before you start calling me a…
Foreign Interests Attack Alaska’s Voice
Here it comes. We knew it would happen. Because it always does. This time, the Alaska citizens’ initiative that’s in the cross-hairs of multinational corporations is the August 28th Ballot Prop #2, which would bring back Alaskans’ ability to have input into decisions made regarding management of our coastline. Local input. Kind of a no-brainer. Coastal Zone management worked fine for decades, but recently the Parnell administration and big moneyed interests let it go… Now, we have no say, even though we have more coastline than the rest of the nation combined. It’s all up to the feds. Makes no…
Pebble Mine and History
Butte, Montana has a couple of distinguishing claims to fame; one controversial, the other, not so much. What is controversial is that Butte boasts to being the headwaters of the Columbia River. The Canadians and Wikipedia would sharply disagree, but state and federal government and non-profit websites point to Silver Bow Creek in Butte as the headwaters to the Clark Fork River, a “major headwaters stream” of the Columbia River. Anyone who knows rivers knows that if you start with forks, you end up with the main body of the river sometime downhill. If you trace the Columbia River upstream from the Pacific Coast, you will…
Seattle’s Stake in Bristol Bay Seafood
One of the newer outrages that Rep. Don Young, Congressman for all Alaskans who voted for him, has to face is the U.S. Senator from Washington, Maria Cantwell. What has she done to incur his infamous wrath? She has stuck her nose in the business of Alaskan resource management. You see, one of Senator Cantwell’s main issues is sustainability of salmon populations and the fishing jobs they provide. Not only has she been working to secure funding for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund – from the Columbia River to Puget Sound, salmon populations are struggling to recover after decades of…