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…
Open Thread – Why Wild Salmon are Worth the Fight
A great video from Parent Earth about why it’s important to stop the Pebble Mine, and genetically modified salmon.
MUDFLIX – The GOP War on Water
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy In this clip, Rachel Maddow interviews Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of politics at Tulane University about the role of the federal government in assuring safety in the commons – clean air clean water, national security, etc. The Republicans in the House just voted to strip the EPA of its right to overrule states decisions about water quality. The Republican-controlled House passed a bill Wednesday that would sharply curtail the federal government’s role in protecting waters from pollution by barring the Environmental Protection Agency from overruling state decisions on water…
Oyster Roundup! Fake Palin, Heckling Cheney & Dirty Valentines
Greetings from CPAC! Former Vice President Dick Cheney got a heck of a greeting at CPAC, the yearly Conservative Political Action Conference where conservatives of all stripes come together to wallow in varying degrees of narrow-mindedness, religious zeal, military might, fiscal conservatism, and social backwardness. There are usually some internal squabbles about things like LGBT rights, and how they do or don’t fit into the conservative platform. But back to Cheney’s greeting. It was spirited and passionate, but not what the former Veep expected. When Rumsfeld’s name was announced, and he took the stage to accept the conferences “Defenders of…
Oyster Roundup!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Chuitna Coal Comment Period Extended The comment period for the petition to make the Chuit River and its tributaries declared unsuitable for coal strip mining has been extended! That means if you had all the best intentions of emailing and saying, “I think it’s a really bad idea to dig up 11 miles of productive salmon stream for your crappy coal mine” and just didn’t get around to it, you have another chance! The new deadline is tomorrow, February 2, at 5pm so click HERE and jot…
Open Thread – Ankh if You Love Isis
Thanks to Mudflatter G_Katz for sending in these great pictures of a vehicle (at least we think it’s a vehicle under all those stickers) spotted in a local shopping mall. Do you have bumperstickers? Share your slogans in the comments. The only sticker on my car, is the classic No Pebble Mine sticker that can be seen on Alaska cars and trucks whose owners run the political spectrum.
Chuitna Coal Hearing in Kenai Draws a Crowd (updated*)
*A little episode of premature posting. All photos are now here. The “Magic Bus” pulled out of the parking lot in midtown Anchorage packed to the gunwales. People came out on a weekday evening, with the threat of an impending blizzard in Turnagain Pass, knowing they wouldn’t be home until well after midnight, to give public testimony on an issue that will impact every Alaskan, and that most have never heard of. Despite the fact that the specific project addressed by this petition is across Cook Inlet, and local residents of the area only amount to a couple hundred, the ramifications…
Voices from the Flats – Citizens Speak Out for Salmon Over Coal
~The mouth of the Chuitna River where 7 million gallons/day of mine waste would pour into Cook Inlet every day, right across from Anchorage, if the Chuitna Coal project goes through. By Bill Sherwonit I wish to add my voice, again, to the many and diverse Alaskans who oppose the destruction of a Cook Inlet salmon stream for the sake of a coal mine. And I urge other Alaskans to join the effort to stop the proposed Chuitna coal strip mine, by either attending a public hearing in Kenai on Jan. 19, or by sending comments to the state’s Department…
America by Heart – Chapter 1, We the People (Part 1 of 2)
OK, I’m saying it flat out. This chapter was crap. It was like a crap sandwich, only the bread was also crap. Crap on crap with a side of crap. I read it in one sitting and I kept checking ahead to see how many pages were left. I pet the dog, I reclined on the couch with a big pillow and still I could feel my blood pressure creeping up like the mercury in the thermometer of a flu victim. Actually by the end I sort of did feel like a flu victim. I don’t know who actually wrote this…