Conservation efforts go too far
Doris Cabana
Alaska, years ago, was mining, timber of many kinds, fishing, long-shoring, pipeline work, oil and most anything else to help people make a living to feed their families. Now it seems Alaska is running from one lawsuit to another lawsuit to stop Alaska from helping our country.
In the Homer Tribune last week, Cook Inletkeeper and Chuitna Citizen’s Coalition joined the Sierra Club to host a rally in downtown Salt Lake City. Might as well make it “Save the Polar Bear, Seals, Otters, Sea Lions” and anything else to bring in donations. And don’t forget climate changes.
A lot of people believe Al Gore is using it to get richer. Pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV, computer or radio, and there’s always some group asking for donations.
I’m for conservation. We should take care of what God put here for our use with common sense, not scare tactics. Alaska’s got a pretty good fish and game department, as well as many state divisions to protect our areas, the state of Alaska and the nation. Groups are good to help keep an eye on mistakes, but to launch not lawsuit after lawsuit. That just forces the state protect itself from lawsuit after lawsuit.
I constantly get letters from groups wanting donations. Why don’t these people get jobs instead of living off the donations? Either that, or leave our state to help our nation in these troubled times, instead of using our resources to protect the state from them.
What I’d like to see is all the people from Alaska involved in these organizations to opt out of the permanent fund dividend. After all, it comes from the oil pipeline. Then, let them use something else to fill their fuel tanks on cars and heating their homes.
These are the “Do as I say not as I do” groups.
This state and country are very precious to me, and I’m sure, many others. Most of us are so busy trying to make a living, we don’t have the time, energy or money these groups do. They live off donations.
They don’t have to prove true or false allegations in lawsuits like the rest of us. For example, that ski resort owner will have to prove whether his backing of coal will make an impact or not. Maybe that coal could be used for the energy to heat your home or business.
We are no longer the “Alaska Inc.” we’ve known for about 60 years. The oil from Cook Inlet hasn’t hurt the fishing or the North Slope, and the caribou have only increased. Oil companies do try to protect the environment while still pumping oil for our country’s needs. The “gas” up there could be used also to help protect our country and nation.
Offshore drilling hasn’t hurt any other country, and they don’t have all the protection we do. When we have to go back to state income tax, as well as the rest of the stuff we don’t have here, and then get this healthcare thrown at us, our way of living will change and not for the better.
We better wake up and smell the Sitka roses. We enjoy the Alaska that most of us love.
All of you that don’t want the drilling for gas and oil, why not opt out of the permanent fund and find something else for your car, or to heat your homes and businesses.
Posted by Newsroom on Dec 2nd, 2009 and filed under Point of View. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
3 Responses for “Conservation efforts go too far”
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I work 50 hours a week for my paycheck and only wish I had another 50 hours to work to protect our state from irrepairable destruction. The poor Utah resort owner doesn’t give a flip about Alaska except for the money he will make from selling the Chuitna Coal to Asia. Dick Bass, owner of Snowbird, and partner in PacRim Coal is an award-winning environmentalist that is backing a huge open strip coal mine just 40 west of Anchorage that will rip thru miles of the Chuit River system destroying documented salmon spawning and rearing streams. The Chuit River was the only river in upper Cook Inlet open to King Salmon fishing the year. Seven MILLION gallons per day (PacRim’s figures) of mine waste water will be pumped off the deep coal layer and dispersed back into the remaining streams thru sediment ponds in the saturated wetlands. Do you think this will have an affect on the fish? As the water table is lowered for 20 miles around (again PacRim’s figures) do you think this will have an affect on the people? Beluga and Tyonek will most likely have contaminated or dry wells. Most people think that our salmon streams are absolutely protected-ask DNR about their “descretionary” permit process. What about the conveyor system from the mine site to the artificial island loading dock right in front of established set net sites. Do you think that the lost chunks of coal and the dust will affect anyone or anything? This is truly a bad project on many levels.
Thank you employees of the Sierra Club, my donations will continue. The Chuitna citizens coalition has no paid employees-just people that care about the west side, clean air, good water, fish, wild animal and human habitat.
Environmentalist/coal mine backer Dick Bass is like a pro-lifer working at an abortion clinic.
Thanks Bobbi for your educational lesson concerning the folks at Beluga. We have no problem with our oil and gas neighbors who we work well with. We do have problems sending coal to China at the expense of salmon streams and an Alaskan way of life. Is Alaska so poor we need to sell our souls for silver and a Permanent Fund check that is $2.50 dollars greater. Hope this never happens to the Kenai River or all hell would break out.
Terry Jorgensen commercial fisherman Beluga