On March 20, the governor’s Alaska Economic Stabilization Team floated the idea of using AIDEA (the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority) funds to help small and medium-sized businesses face the COVID-19 economic catastrophe. Just one week after the stabilization team’s recommendations, AIDEA proposed acting like the worst kind of neighbor — the one who bought all the hand sanitizer and toilet paper and won’t share — transferring $35 million dollars from its general revolving fund to a separate fund to spend solely on the proposed Ambler Road, an economic gamble dependent on, among other things, the price of copper, significant regulatory hurdles, and a multi-year, 200-mile construction project on top of melting tundra.
In short, AIDEA’s Board of Directors is considering hiding $35 million dollars from Alaskans who can use it now – neighbors and friends who own small and medium-sized businesses - in order to prioritize construction of another “road to nowhere” that at best will start being built four years from now. This is not how Alaskans respond to a crisis or watch out for each other. The Board should be ashamed of themselves, and our state legislators and governor should tell them to prioritize Alaskans instead of a pet project during this crisis.
— Jim Adams
Alaska Regional Director,
National Parks Conservation Association
Anchorage
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