The Only Reason to Stop Pebble is to Keep Fish, Says Pebble Supporter.
Ah, Paul Jenkins. You may remember him as one of our “odd bedfellows” during the reign of Sarah Palin. Normally, wildly off the mark, Mr. Jenkins was actually spot on about Sarah, and surgically shredded her in the Anchorage Daily News on a regular basis. He did this not because he had suddenly seen the error of his political ways, but because she stuck it to the oil companies. And Mr. Jenkins and his oily, resource extractin’ at any price pals were not amused.
It’s sad, because Mr. Jenkins is not stupid, nor is he a bad writer. And during those brief days of the Palin administration, we got to look into the crystal ball and see what the problem child might have been if only he had applied himself in the right direction. We realized that the little fella who might have grown up to be a brilliant neurosurgeon, instead dedicated his talent to tummy tucks and face lifts, occasionally amusing himself by sitting on the back porch with tweezers pulling the wings off flies.
He wrote a column recently about Pebble Mine, titled “Anti-Pebble ploy a cheesy way to keep rich folks fishing”. I had to read that a couple times to make sure I had it right. Apparently, the only reason anyone wants to prevent the mine is so rich guys can keep fishing. This, of course, implies that if the mine goes through, rich guys will no longer be able to fish, because… THERE WON’T BE ANY FISH. And that would mean that there would also be no fish for the largest wild red salmon commercial fishery in the world, or the Native Alaskans who rely on the fish for their subsistence needs, and no jobs for the guides and lodge owners and support personnel, and on and on. But that’s OK. As long as “rich guys” get screwed, then it’s all worth it. When we have a craving for some nice smoked salmon, our schadenfreude will keep our bellies full.
One wonders, since Mr. Jenkins has such disdain for the wealthy, what he thinks of those who are running the show at the Pebble Partnership? The CEOs of Anglo-American and Northern Dynasty Minerals probably take home a nice paycheck, I would think. You know what? I think that the only reason the Pebble Partnership wants to mine the headwaters of Bristol Bay is so that rich guys can keep digging holes in the ground. So there.
He should listen to the guy who said, “Alaska manages its fish and game to feed people, the highest, most moral use of the resources.” Surely that guy would never call subsistence and commercial fishermen and women “hapless stooges.” Surely that guy wouldn’t be advocating the wanton disregard for the world’s largest red salmon fishery to benefit wealthy foreign corporations! What’s that guy’s name again? Oh, right. That would be PAUL JENKINS.
I’ll be interested to see how this newfound hostility for the rich fits in to the rest of Mr. Jenkins’ politics as a conservative Republican. I’m thinking there’s going to have to be some pretty impressive mental gymnastics if there is even to be an attempt at intellectual consistency. The parallel bars are all yours, Sir. Amaze us.
Meanwhile, Art Hackney has written a rebuttal to the large mass of Swiss cheese that was Paul Jenkins’ original column.
You can read Jenkins HERE, and Hackney HERE.
I too must confess, I have hunted (right about where the big hole is supposed to be) and fished (upper Talarak) in the area. Of course, Jenkins, we aren’t rich folks. We slept in a tent – on the ground and cooked our ramen and oatmeal on a single burner camp stove. Most of the time it was cold and miserable. The place is amazing. Yes. Mr. Jenkins, it’s all about the fish (worlds largest run of sockeye, trophy rainbows, and gorgeous grayling. We aren’t rich lodge owners, just ordinary Alaskans who value this unique and special part of America.
I’d take salmon over the mine anytime and YES, the rich guys can catch a few too.
Actually, Jenkins had such an easy time shredding Palin because he is a conservative, and she isn’t, something her adoring fans would know if they would only put down the Kool-Aid long enough to do a little honest-to-goodness research.
when I read this tripe it made me smile at his ridiculous & desperate angle. I think his backers are groaning .
Apparently the lowlife rwnj have changed tactics to move the debate from the furrin korporations to the poor vs the rich in hopes that the native population will vote in favor of mining to deny the wealthy fishermen a place to fish. This tactic has worked well before and will probably work well again. This is why the citizens have to frame the debate from their POV not korporate POV. Class warfare is a favorite weapon of the right,they accuse libs of using it while they themselves start it.
What part of “the most productive salmon run in the world” and “earthwork dams enclosing toxic mining waste in the midst of a very seismically active area” do they not understand? Or is that refuse to understand?
The mind boggles, even as the jaw drops and the eyes bug out…
Wow. Can the guy even find a clue, let alone manage to buy it?
I skipped ahead to the end Jenkins’ rant, and was shocked to see his repudiation of the tactics of the Tea Party. Rich guys bamboozling poor guys into doing their bidding. The poor guys have no idea they’re being astroturfed by the rich guys, and make damn fools of themselves in the process. Then I read the whole thing, and realized it wasn’t about the Tea Party at all. It was about the unmitigated gall of individual voters exercising their rights against the wishes of the corporations. How dare they not listen to the bidding of their masters? Jenkins is right: The voters don’t matter.
I confess. I have fished Talarik Creek. I don’t consider myself rich. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who invited me along with his family in their float plane. The area is amazing. We didn’t stay in one of the high priced lodges that Jenkins refers to. We flew out and landed near Illiamna for a fun day of catch and release trout fishing before returning to Anchorage.
It’s hard to even imagine a hole the size of Manhattan in that area. I would guess that the herds of caribou I saw would move elsewhere. Of course the fish would move since their stream would be gone.
I’m not entirely sure who finances the Jenkins rant now that Veco is defunct? It appears to be an even split between the oil lobby, and the mining lobby.
You didn’t stay in an expensive lodge? You give a damn about the caribou? You care where the fish will be?
Why, sir or madam, do you hate America?
People like Jenkins who get a paid platform disproportionate to any objectivity, humility and actual knowledge of their own– which might have actually advanced civil discourse– will sadly find their legacy as being remembered as merely a “hack” who fell short of his potential because of choosing the easy money over growing into a better, wiser human being rather than choosing the squandering of talent for communication on the shallow men of wealth and amorality for whom he continues to scribe.
The limelight and adulation of the Daddy Warbucks crowd stole this once young man’s honor.
Or, perhaps this once honorable man’s youth gave way to– as Townes van Zandt’s song Pancho and Lefty described it– “and you sank into your dreams”.
It’s always about choices and usually there are only two forks in a road.
Stick a knife in the steak, I think it’s done.
Holy Moley!
We have a winner !
We have a winner for the most logical fallacies AND the most left out/skewed/ trumped-up facts crammed into an essay in recent memory!
Way to go Mr Jenkins.
What a putz Mr Jenkins.
This adds nothing to the serious business of Pebble, pro or con.
There are very important issues at stake in the initiative Lake and Peninsula residents will be voting on Oct 4, not the least of which is the right of Alaskan residents of home rule cities and boroughs to bring initiatives to vote. This one may be doomed even if it passes but as it, on the face of it, meets the Constitutional requirements for inclusion on the ballot you can take your whine down the street bucko.
Pretending ignorance of the law which both courts made their decisions on is pretty lame. Jeez- if an everyday person like me can read up on what they said and their reasons for saying it, It ought to be easy-peasy for a big shot journalist-editor type to find the info.
Pffft!
Columnists come in varieties. There are the analysts like George Will or Nicholas Kristoff. They might bore you, and you may not agree with them but they often make you think. Then there are the entertainers like Dave Barry who can make you laugh. Then there are the real genius’ like Molly Ivins who could do both. I use the names of these journalists only to illustrate categories, not to place Paul Jenkins in their company. Despite his pretensions otherwise, Jenkins has always been solidly in the entertainer faction. Jenkins doesn’t analyze. He doesn’t present new points of view. He just calls people names. Sometimes he’s witty about it, but mostly he is just nasty and fairly childish.
Molly Ivins was a treasure…!
Mr. Jenkins is continuing in his pandering ways… But instead of little helpless teenage girls, he’s wanting to pimp all of AK. Stooges are funny… Hapless isn’t how we do things out here in Bristol Bay!
Paging, Mr. Jenkins, you can pick your ass up on Mudflat number seven. Seriously! Was this his big test of “what do you hate more, rich guys or salmon?” Sorry, Jenky, you’re slipping.
How many rich folks want to come fishin’ at a place where helicopters are flying overhead 24/7 to service the mine/workers? Not to mention all the new buildings, roads, electric wires, heavy equipment that will be built to support the mammoth project. A real ‘wilderness adventure’, you betcha!
Locals have said for several years that already the noise from so many ‘copters is scaring game away from traditional hunting areas.
Paul Jenkins’ blatant shilling is shameful, and always has been. I hope his benefactors pay him well to sell his soul like that. You’re right – he’s smart enough to know better, he just continually chooses to take the low road. How low will you go, Paul?
He doesn’t deserve to share in any of the bounty…. To disrespect the bounty of nature should be a crime.. To trash that bounty and treat it like a cheap commodity is a sin…..destroying it for personal gluttony is wrong.. To not share with others is a bad trespass.