Jon Waterhouse A bald eagle sits perched atop a pile of debris while being smothered in e-waste and open burning – a typical reality in Alaska. Rosenfeld: Alaska is a disaster
By
Rob Rosenfeld
|
| While Governor Palin claims “exemplary leadership” and attempts to become vice president of the United States, the truth is that rural Alaska is a disaster in multiple areas. |
Alaska is a barometer for climate change. Access to some remote communities has been cut off, villages are flooding, landfill contents and overflowing sewage lagoons are contaminating communities, and several villages are being forced to pack up and move. Governor Palin says she doesn’t believe climate change is caused by humans. Regardless of the cause, she remains unresponsive to the needs of climate change refugees and victims in Alaska. More than 200 landfills in rural Alaska lack liners to prevent seepage, and dozens of sewage lagoons receive annual discharge permits to discharge untreated and untested sewage into Alaska’s salmon-bearing rivers.
Alaska has the highest number of military contaminant sites in the U.S., with more than 500 sites that require extensive resources to assess, monitor and remediate. Alaska also has one of the highest rates of cancer per capita in the United States. Governor Palin is silent on this issue and is solely focused on the natural gas pipeline and oil drilling in protected and fragile places.
While Palin asserts that resource extraction can be done responsibly, North Slope oil extraction has resulted in hundreds of spills and leaks monthly. On her watch, polluters have not been brought to justice and environmental regulations have been relaxed by her controversial appointee to head the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Larry Hartig, Palin’s pick for commissioner, was the lead lawyer defending Red Dog Mine (owned by Teck Cominco) which is rated as the worst mine in the country for discharging contaminants into the environment. Red Dog Mine is No. 1 on the national Toxic Release Inventory.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has continued to undermine the integrity of the Clean Water Act by ignoring the anti-degradation act, mixing zone laws and making discharge exemptions for oil companies allowing daily oil sludge discharge into Cook Inlet, resulting in millions of tons of contaminants in Alaska’s pristine waters.
Palin sued the federal government for trying to protect the polar bear population and, contrary to her rhetoric, she did accept federal dollars for the Bridge to Nowhere. Alaska has the highest gas prices in the country, exceeding more than $9 per gallon in some villages. Alaska also has the highest unemployment rates in the country, as more than 150 villages face 50 to 80 percent rates of unemployment.
Palin does not pay attention to any of the above realities as she fixates on the oil industry and has even created a renewable energy fund that allows for natural gas extraction and coal-bed methane; both of which are far from renewable resources and cause considerable environmental degradation.
Beyond the pretty face of Governor Palin rests an unaware, out-of-touch, rape-and-pillage resource extractor who is doing the bidding for the leading oil companies in the world while trying to open new areas for oil development.
Rob Rosenfeld has a master’s degree in international and sustainable development and has lived in Homer, Alaska, since 1993, working primarily with rural communities. He is a longtime advocate for human rights and fair distribution of government resources and opportunities.
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Friday, Feb 13 at 6:03 PM Whitey wrote ...
The Tourist Industry has nothing to do with the real rural Alaska so boycotting it won't work! I understand that local leaders have some roll in development but they need to be at least met half way. Being married to a native doesn't make that partner the typical representation of ALL natives. If whitey was actually living within these communities, Palin might pay more attention to them. The US has no use for these communities and until OIL is found under these 200, the state doesn't give a sh@t
16490677Tuesday, Feb 10 at 7:46 AM Jane wrote ...
Let's help get them through this winter and then work on a permanent solution to keeping their proud traditions alive in a first world setting.
16264824Thursday, Oct 9 at 10:17 PM Chris wrote ...
Shameless Sarah.
9004589Wednesday, Oct 8 at 7:48 PM jim wrote ...
Clearly the problem you all have with Gov. Palin is that she's conservative. Someone mentioned change comes at the local level first, Amen. If the Natives want to make changes, quit blaming the White man. Take a good long look in the mirror and you'll find where the problem exists. My wife is Native American. Her entirely has came from nothing and have made their lives into something successful by self reliance and not blaming conservative whitey for everything.
8955344Tuesday, Oct 7 at 2:14 PM Rose wrote ...
I am not of the McCain/Palin ticket, but again, I question the validy of the comments regarding Palin and the Alaska Native issues because I'm only reading these Palin comments in the Indian news. If her issues with Natives are valid, why are we not hearing it over the global news coverage? We are hearing a lot about Palin , but hear nothing of her issues with Natives. Urban Natives and non-Natives would like to know the political issues affecting our Indian people before casting a vote.
8896414Sunday, Oct 5 at 9:54 AM nadine sellers wrote ...
By defeating the native cultural traditions, the profiteers perpetuate a long history of disrespect. Governor Palin ignores nature and natives alike, while presenting an image of tough religion to the energy hungry voters.
8821119Thursday, Oct 2 at 1:48 PM OSI wrote ...
I have lived in the remote area's of AK and there are numerous villages in remote AK that do live in sub standard conditions. You pack your water to your house on a daily basis from a water station, it is third world conditions in the bush. This is not the 1950's in 2008, but many Alaskan Natives are living in those conditions.
8739244Thursday, Oct 2 at 12:14 PM Eugene Badonie wrote ...
All progress and development is the hand and mind of some hard working local leader. On the contrary, each and every lack of services, lack of infrastructures, lack of this and lack of that is the lack of work by an unaccountable and inactive local leaders. The governor has nothing to do with the unaccountability of each local leaders negligence. Progress starts at the local level. It does not come down from the top. We must hold our local leaders accountable. The garbage of Sarah Palin getting
8735364Wednesday, Oct 1 at 5:46 PM MT Andrews, O'dham Student@EDCC wrote ...
I am not surprised by the unaccountability of the government. Water is a mineral right and a basic human need. Natives need to expose discrimination and the denial of basic human rights violations. It sound like there should be a call for a H2O Summit?!
8137764Tuesday, Sep 30 at 10:51 PM Voter wrote ...
The actual natives in alaska are not being taken care of. They are living in sub standards conditions. No garbage collection, water problems, and the natives are being neglected. Palin pride herself so much but, her views are like the way the natives are being treated. Palin has no business in the tough leagues.Her abilities are very limited. Palin lives in a disneyland world. Palin should not keep telling lies about the Russians, she is like a 3 dollar bill.
7517944Tuesday, Sep 30 at 4:36 PM A. Peters wrote ...
To some natives, statehood was the worst thing that could have happened. It seems to us that hordes of racists, rednecks and money-worhipping opportunists flooded our once-called, "God's Country". They sure are hell-bent on reversing what beauty is there.
7504774Monday, Sep 29 at 12:16 PM Denise Myers wrote ...
I hail from Tucson az.I am sorry for the Alskans as they face huge problems and have this despot for Governor.She will make an abysmal VP and worse president.I pray your Lt. Gov is sane & reasonable and not just out to remove native peoples and force Alaskan to leave their cherished state so she can keep more money.Raw sewage & cancer clusters does not sound like a great place to visit. LET US BOYCOTT THE TOURISM AND FORCE HER HAND>
7451799Monday, Sep 29 at 12:40 AM Anthony Caole wrote ...
Rob - if Alaska is still a disaster, after the millions of dollars you've already secured for environmental groups in Alaska, including your own organization, to address these issues, how many millions of dollars more will it take? How can rural Alaska afford the price tag to operate infrastructure designed to lower 48 standards? Were it not for the State revenue sharing Palin revived to Alaska's villages, we would see more sanitation facilities cease to operate in rural Alaska.
7439024Sunday, Sep 28 at 6:15 PM ossie kairaiuak wrote ...
well, it does not matter which administration is in power as long as corporate america is in control, the status quo will remain the same. i.e. when clinton was in office, halliburton sold nuclear technologies to iran, where is the justic in that?! they will do as they please when not held in check. peace to all!
7434049Sunday, Sep 28 at 10:16 AM Jen T wrote ...
What about what Palin is doing to the Alaska Natives?
7426644Sunday, Sep 28 at 12:59 AM Liz wrote ...
i think as our prices for everything skyrocket and we absolutely have to depend on a check, not from palin as a gift, but from our money, money we have let the state manage for us, it is overwhelmingly apparent how important our subsistence resources are. if we didn't have them to depend on, our communities would be hungry. she didn't create and fund the alternative energy program, in fact, the bill that creatd it was written by a young woman legislator from anchorage.
7422249Friday, Sep 26 at 5:07 PM Alicia Kangas wrote ...
I agree with Rob and his opinion of how rural Alaska and its issues have been dealt with under Palin and her administration. 1200 is a nice amount but it willn't take long for that amount to disappear with fuel prices they are. Rural schools are also embarrassing. Low funding, poor maintance due to money issues have caused some schools to fall into disarray and not to mention out dated materials being used to educate rural students. Her 500 mill alternative energy prog willn't cover all areas.
7396099Friday, Sep 26 at 8:14 AM Brad Fluetsch, Tlingit wrote ...
One last thought. Red Dog mine is providing large 7(i) distributions for all original ANCSA shareholders. For those in the lower 48, think of per capita distributions from the Tribal resources. Alaska's rural communities are dying, and it is obstructionists like Mr. Rosenfeld that are the primary reason rural communities cannot develop their resources and create an economy that sustains the people.
7375819Friday, Sep 26 at 8:07 AM Brad Fluetsch, Tlingit wrote ...
I would have to disagree with rob. Gov. Palin distributed nearly a billion dollars to all Alaskans in energy relief. The Permanent Fund has made two of the largest distributions ever. She created and funded $500 million alternative energy program for rural Alaska. Rural villages complain about Alaska Troopers and their heavy, racist hands and she is trying to clean up the corrupt old boys of the Troopers. She also is maintaining the predator control program insuring sufficient food for all.
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