For Alaska conservationists, it's a new day in Washington. I'm not talking about the fact that President-elect Barack Obama actually takes climate change seriously, or Interior Secretary-designee Ken Salazar's longtime support for protecting Alaska's wild places. Nope, I'm talking about Sen. Mark Begich.
The same Mark Begich who as soon as he was declared Senator-elect, voiced his strong support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The same Mark Begich who promised to go to Washington and convince his Democratic peers to reconsider their opposition to drilling in the Arctic Refuge. "For the last 28 years, there hasn't been a Democrat sitting in the caucus talking about ANWR," he told the LA Times. "My goal is to educate them about how big ANWR is to this state."
Sure, Mark Begich has voiced his support for drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge - also known as the "sacred place where life begins" to the people of the Gwich'in Nation. In that sense, he's not much different than his predescessor Ted Stevens. However, the similarities end there.
Let me share an anecdote about Ted Stevens, as relayed to me by my colleague, Besty Beardsley, who works out of our office in Anchorage for the Alaska Wilderness League. Besty, along with 50 other Alaskans, made the long trip to Washington in 2005. Betsy reached out to the Alaska congressional delegation to set up a meeting. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young greeted the proposal enthusiastically. Ted Stevens grudgingly agreed to meet, but only if the meeting took place in the lobby of the Senate Hart building. Yes, the lobby. Standing in front of the elevators; dodging the stop-for-no-one, walk-right-through-you comings and goings of Senate staffers, interns, tourists.
Stevens was inexplicably late for the meeting. Once he arrived he was overtly hostile. "You all are a bunch of extremists," he spat to a crowd of predominantly Alaska Natives. "I don't want to hear your stories." With that, he stormed off in one of his infamous huffs. Betsy told me that was the last time she tried to set up a meeting with Uncle Ted. "Before that, people had left his office in tears," she said. "Enough is enough."
Enter Mark Begich, like a breath of fresh air. Begich began meeting with Alaska conservationists and Alaska Natives during the campaign. He sat down in the Alaska Wilderness League's Anchorage office and spent two hours just listening to the concerns of Alaska Native leaders. Since elected, he has held similar meetings in both Alaska and Washington. He has said that he plans to have a point person in every Alaska community so that every community will have access to him. He told our staff - people actively working to subvert his stated goal of opening the Arctic Refuge to drilling - that his door is always open.
From the beginning, Sen. Begich has been consistently straightforward about his support for drilling in the Refuge; never sugar coating or dodging it. He has said that in order to have a comprehensive energy plan, we need to put all options on the table, and in his mind, drilling in the Refuge is one of those options. He also understands that there are significant cultural and environmental impacts to that option - impacts that we believe are so significant that they make the Arctic Refuge's coastal plain one of the few places in Alaska that must be off limits to drilling.
One could argue that Begich seems so approachable and congenial because he's a good politician who's going to pull the rug out from under us as soon as he gets the chance. One could also argue that we are wowed by Begich simply because he's not Stevens. These points very well could be true. But that doesn't change the fact that when you sit across from the man, you get the sense that he's actually listening. Not just nodding and smiling and patting you on the head, like a good little constituent, but listening. He hears your point of view. At the end of the day, he may disagree, but at least we walk away feeling as though he actually digested what we had to say. No name-calling, no threats, no dramatic flourishes. And no standing in the lobby of a building. Ultimately, that's why this is a new day in Washington. Seems simple, I know. But, it's about respect. Something all Alaskans deserve, and until now, have gone without.