Voices from the Flats – Oil Lust & Dodging Bullets
Bob Shavelson is a reformed attorney with backgrounds in biology, chemistry, and environmental sampling and compliance. He was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Oregon’s Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, and has considerable experience in toxics, the Clean Water Act, and Right-to-Know issues. Prior to joining Inletkeeper in 1996, Bob worked in the United States Senate, Oregon’s Senate Majority Office, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium, and the University of Oregon’s Ocean & Coastal Law Center. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the National Waterkeeper Alliance and the Cook Inlet…
Odds and Ends
Getting Those Damn Rats Out of Alaska No, not those kind of rats. And not really the whole state…but still, it’s a victory. I’m talking about actual four-legged, snaggle-toothed, beady-eyed, bird-killin’ varmints. The ignominiously named “Rat Island” appears to now be completely rat free. I’ve been following this story for a while, so I was glad to hear that the latest news was good. The down side to the rat eradication is that the poisoned pellets used to kill them also killed gulls and bald eagles in the process. Since Rat Island has been infested with rats for 230 years,…
Senator Mark Begich’s Arctic 7-Pack
Recognizing that the Arctic will play a major role in the nation’s commerce, foreign policy, and energy independence over the next 50 years, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich today introduced a legislative package of seven bills designed to plan and prepare for the changes and challenges in the region. Begich devoted his “maiden” speech on the Senate floor to the issue because of its importance to Alaska. Called the Inuvikput legislation after the Inupiaq expression meaning “the place where we live,” Begich’s package of bills deal with oil exploration, climate change, shipping, health, and diplomacy in America’s arctic. Begich said the…
Pebble Mine, Dirty Gold, and the Corporate War on Alaska’s Salmon.
[This article is cross-posted at The Huffington Post] A lawsuit was filed today claiming that all Pebble Mine’s state permits violate the Alaska constitution. Skulduggery surrounding Pebble Mine? Imagine that. On the receiving end of these legal accusations is the State Department of Natural Resources. The suit was filed today on behalf of eight communities in the Bristol Bay area by plaintiffs including Vic Fischer, one of the drafters of the Alaska Constitution, and Bella Hammond widow of the revered Governor Jay Hammond who had previously said “I think Jay would first and foremost think of protecting that area, mainly the fish and…
Palin’s Farewell Address – Full Transcript
Sunday July 26, at 3pm Alaska time, Governor Sarah Palin stepped down from her position as governor. This is the transcript of her farewell address. Yup, I took one for the team. It took three hours, but I made it. I’d been meaning to transcribe her rambling crazy “I’m not quitting, I’m just leading in another direction” lakeside babble-fest, but I never seemed to get around to it. And as crazy and rambling as that one was, I think this one is even better. Boots on the ground from Fairbanks coming soon! *************************** What an absolutely beautiful day it is,…
Wasilla’s Toxic Cloud and Why We Need ‘the Feds.’
To listen to Sarah Palin talk about “the feds” and how Alaskans don’t need them mucking around in our business, you’d think she’d have a pretty clean back yard. If you don’t need the feds, it must mean that your state and local government are doing a bang-up job, right? Any additional meddling from the government is just going to mess up the good thing we have going on a state and local level. We can handle things just fine, thank you very much. In the case of Alaska, not so, and a case in point is Sarah Palin’s own…
“The Hell With Sarah Palin” – An Update from Emmonak
Last week Governor Sarah Palin sent a series of messages from her Twitter account regarding the subsistence fishing situation in Western Alaska. “Good news!” we were told. AKGovSarahPalinGood update re Rural Advisor John Moller’s recnt Emmonak trip, great news he reports; we’ll twitter assuming press won’t pick up good news.about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry John Moller was in the Western Alaskan village of Emmonak to discuss the topic on everyone’s mind – salmon. Salmon are the primary subsistence food, and primary income source for residents of the Lower Yukon River. Big problems, starting with the mismanagement of fisheries have caused…