Legislative lectures insulting
Did you watch the "State of the Budget" speeches with Gov. Bill Walker and Sen. Anna MacKinnon lecturing Alaskans why they should give up their PFDs and/or accept an income tax? They essentially demanded, if you and I don't give us politicians the cash we want, you and I will likely lose our homes, jobs and witness school closures.
But don't you find their demands insulting? Do you remember when oil was at $130 a barrel, flooding state coffers? Why didn't Senate President Kevin Meyer, House Majority Leader Mike Chenault and Rep. Charisse Millett lecture themselves by stating: If we continue to double the budget, save nothing and fritter all this cash away, Alaskans might lose their homes, jobs and witness neighborhood school closures?
But hey, I'm probably expecting too much?
— Eddie Burke
Anchorage
Time for fossil fuel detox
With the mindset of Paul Ryan's and Mitch McConnell's Republican Congress, I urge President Obama to veto any energy bill Congress passes that does not transition us away from fossil fuels to a truly clean, renewable energy future. The consequences of our wasteful, abusive path to human progress are "roosting the chickens" in climatic catastrophes, and if leaders can't lead humanity on the planetary arc of sustainable energy consumption, conscious authorities such as Obama (minus his drone warfare), must take the prerogative to secure our civilization!
Every month we seem to break a new climate record. Now is not the time for legislation that locks in fossil fuel use for decades to come.
The legislation currently being moved through Congress would expedite approval of liquefied natural gas export terminals, the review of new mining permits and oil and gas permitting, as well as drilling, and threaten our National Park Service, aiding further development of fossil fuel extraction, expediting the approval of rights-of-way for natural gas pipelines. We need Congress to pass real energy modernization legislation that greatly advances energy efficiency to reduce the amount of energy we need to produce, and builds on successful policies to expand clean, renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind.
— John S. Sonin
Juneau
GOT peek was unwelcome
Hey ADN, real nice spoiler alert in Thursday's Play section. Apparently Arya Stark goes blind this season on "Game of Thrones" because you printed an image of her obviously blind. Great job! I am seriously contemplating canceling my home delivery subscription due to this infraction.
— Grant Hedman
Anchorage
No to Arctic offshore drilling
We just passed the sixth anniversary of BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. As we saw from that disaster, offshore drilling puts our entire coastline at risk. There is no proven way to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean, and oil spill response there would be slow and risky. The federal government's own analysis has found there is a 75 percent chance of a major oil spill. We cannot afford another spill and explosion at the hands of oil companies that put profit above our health, our communities, and our climate.
Also, northern Alaska is warming at twice the rate as the rest of the country. The Arctic is already paying the price for our fossil fuel addiction, and we should not open new areas to oil and gas development, especially the Arctic Ocean. Also, if the Arctic is developed for oil, that would put 15 billion tons of new carbon into the atmosphere. That's 2.5 times the carbon we saved with new fuel efficiency standards.
Offshore drilling will only worsen the damage. The president should say no to offshore drilling in the Arctic.
— Penny Burt
Anchorage
ASD, APD kept students safe
The Anchorage School District works closely with APD and our school resource officers to keep our students, and our schools, safe. We have an expectation that our schools are both safe and welcoming for everyone. Im thankful to our staff and local law enforcement for making this a priority on Thursday and every day.
Ed Graff
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