Actor’s Disappointing Role: Pebble Shill
By Shannyn Moore As much time as we spend watching movies, it’s easy to believe that actors take jobs because they identify with some part of a film. The wool was ripped from my eyes this week. I’ve watched actor Wes Studi in films for years — “Geronimo,” “Dances with Wolves” and “Avatar,” to name a few. He’s beautiful — a classic, stoic American Indian; a noble face absent of fear and seemingly full of ancient knowledge. He’s only acting, and I shouldn’t be disappointed. I got my movie ticket’s worth. But that’s why we buy tickets in the first…
The Koch Brothers Invade Alaska: Nation, Guard Your Salmon
I was checking out the #nopebble hashtag on Twitter the other day, to see what links or comments had come in addressing what would be the continent’s largest open pit copper and gold mine situated at the headwaters of the world’s largest red salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. It doesn’t take a fisheries expert or a biochemist to know that a project that would require 700 foot tall earthen dams in one of the world’s most active seismic zones to completely hold back lakes of deadly toxins forever, is a recipe for disaster. Our Hero Alaskan fishermen and thinking…
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…
A Lawsuit in Gov. Sean Parnell’s Future? Stonewalling Angers Anti-Coal Groups.
~The mouth of the Chuit River, between Tyonek and Beluga, Alaska Remember, way back last year when I rode a bus in a snowstorm to go hear testimony in Kenai? It was all about whether to designate the land around the Chuit River “unsuitable” for coal mining. The way it stands now, PacRim Coal plans to (for the first time ever) actually dig up eleven miles of productive salmon stream for a giant open pit coal mine. “Don’t worry,” they say. “We’ll just put it back the way it was when we’re done.” Well, it doesn’t take a biologist to…
Ocean Acidification – The Other CO2 Problem
By Jim Thrall The public is generally aware of climate change, or, as it is more commonly known, global warming. Despite the efforts of the climate deniers, largely funded by the oil, gas, coal and auto lobbies, rational and informed members of the public understand that the major cause of climate change is our continual addition of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, through the use of fossil fuels to power our industrial society. As discussed below this increase in CO2 has two separate effects on the earth that we should be concerned about. One is climate change the other…
Open Thread – Top 2 AK Bumperstickers
This Dodge pickup truck that I spotted yesterday was picture worthy. Why? Because it is sporting probably the two most ubiquitous bumper stickers in Alaska. The No Pebble sticker is more recent, and the other (talking about whether to have an all-Alaska gas pipeline route) was more common a few years ago. But as many of both of them as there are, I’ve never seen them snuggled up quite so nicely.
Open Thread – The Exxon Valdez Latte
I’m not sure how I feel about naming a latte after an environmental disaster, but they do deserve props for gallows humor and creativity!
Supreme Court Allows “No Pebble Mine” Initiative on Ballot
The Alaska Supreme Court yesterday delivered some much needed good news. Yesterday in a 3-1 ruling, the court upheld a previous court’s ruling that the residents of the Lake and Peninsula Borough, should be allowed to vote on a ballot initiative in October. The initiative would restrict permitting of any large extraction project that could potentially harm salmon runs. Pebble Partnership sued to keep the measure from making it on to the ballot, arguing that the law would be unenforceable, and is inappropriate for a ballot measure. They even named the clerk who certified the measure in the lawsuit. Governor…