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If this project goes forward, there should be a pledge to local people by the governor and the Legislature. Some form of binding covenant may be needed.
One lesson learned from earlier failures in agriculture projects is that the state isn’t being prescriptive on how development will be done.
What I worry about is that the Permanent Fund will be pressed by politicians next year to make an overdraw.
It’s significant that workers in many of the new prospective mines are in regions near Alaska Native villages and employ people from those communities.
The final ugly debate in the House shouldn’t detract from the significance of this legislation.
Much has been said how polarized our political system has become, but these bills show that, in Alaska, bipartisanship is still possible.
We are more culturally diverse, but we’re now less tolerant as the shrinking status quo tries to cling to power.
The Permanent Fund is one of the things that Alaskans have done right. Have we now damaged it?
What’s remarkable to me is how ordinary all this seems today to most Alaskans.
In the long run, most people will get the shots and much of this will pass, I believe.
In my opinion, ANCSA is one of the most successful innovations in U.S. domestic policy in history.
I believe most citizens have common sense and will accept the math, and reduced financial risk, of a more gradual ramp-up for the dividend.
There’s no reason for hand-wringing. Alaskans are adept at reinventing, and we’ll adapt to this.
Military spouses are underemployed. But many skills they hold, such as in education and health care, are sorely needed here.
People who resist taking public health measures and protections are endangering other people.