Mike Dingham ~
It’s time for Gov. Bill Walker to put up or shut up.
The promise started in 2010 when Walker ran for governor in the Republican primary. During a debate hosted by KTUU in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium Bill Walker stormed to life during a discussion of a bridge necessary for a ConocoPhillips development project in the CD-5 field in the Colville River Delta.
Walker pounded his fist and announced that if he were governor he would build the bridge and that the feds could come get him if they wanted.
Well, now Walker is now our governor. Four years later, Alaska is facing no shortage of federal overreach issues, most notable lately being the Izembek road and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
So here we are. We are facing multiple issues of federal overreach and with the perfect governor for the job – the one mentored by the late, great Gov. Hickel. So far, we have seen no bold moves. There have been no bulldozers in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, nor have we sent teams up to ANWR to start exploring for oil.
Clearly the governor can’t really do what he claimed he would in that debate. He spoke boldly in order to garner support for the shock value of the statement. However, this is exactly what we elected Walker to do. If there is one thing we gave the governor a mandate to do, it was to stand up to the federal government. So now, Gov. Walker, all eyes are on you – what’s your move?
Mike Dingman is a fifth-generation Alaskan born and raised in Anchorage. He is a former UAA student body president and has worked, studied and volunteered in Alaska politics since the late ’90s. Email: michaeldingman@gmail.com.
Via adn.com
image credit APEonline
