I have been thinking about Ballot Measure 1, and I wonder why anyone in Alaska would be opposed to protecting salmon. Salmon feed people and are very important to the culture of Alaska. Isn't that worth protecting?
I look at the funders of the anti-salmon campaign, who not-so-innocently call themselves "Stand for Alaska;" it is largely the oil industry. I remember the lies the oil industry and Exxon told about being prepared for an oil spill and how there is still oil on the beaches of Prince William Sound from the Exxon Valdez. I think about human greed, and how greed tries to justify bad behavior. I think about global warming and how salmon prefer colder water to spawn. I think about the precautionary principle in science and how that helps to prevent harm.
Once the salmon are gone, can they come back? Extinction is possible: Currently, king salmon are disappearing, and even the scientists are unsure why. Alaska would not be the same without salmon. I will be voting to protect salmon by voting for Ballot Measure 1 and I hope you do too.
— Jed Whittaker
Anchorage
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