My representative, Smilin’ Chuck Kopp wrote an article late last week touting all the good things that mining brings to Alaska. And in that he is right. He even goes on to praise the 15,000 jobs mining brings to Alaska and ends the piece with a heartfelt paean to our departed friend Chris Birch and his memory.
Interesting that Chuck only saw fit to mention Donlin Creek and ignores Pebble entirely. More interesting was his discussion about permitting and his ‘concern’ about how ugly the political divide has become.
Here’s the funny part. Anyone else notice the breathtaking hole in his “Mining Good” piece, especially the piece about permitting? When Chuck bolted and caucused with a democrat majority, he made sure permitting reform would never see the light of day in the House, as he put anti-development advocate Geran Tarr in charge of the process. Some progress that.
Methinks Chuck is worried about reelection, as he should be, turning his back on a Republican majority in the House. His piece has a lot of mom, apple pie, and good old American employment ethos woven in. Problem is he put people in charge who simply don’t care any about any of that. And he expects us to forget about it.
You can beat your chest about working Alaskans, the glories of having jobs, and the positive influence mining has had on the economy of the State all you want, but when you pointedly ignore the newest mine (Pebble) and put people in charge of the legislative process who despise all resource development (not just mining) by caucusing with them and putting them in charge of the committee process not to mention budgets and spending, all this concerns smells a lot like a very conveniently timed campaign statement. I wonder if the ADN will publish similar anti-Chuck pieces in the future. My guess is they will not.
Chuck Kopp has demonstrated very clearly what he is interested in, and it doesn’t have anything to do with resource development, Alaskan jobs, a balanced budget or growing the economy. OTOH, as long as he gets to be in a leadership position in the democrat-led House Majority, he is just fine with that. Those of us in his district are wondering what is in it for the rest of us, the people who foolishly put him into office.
Perhaps District 24 will choose to do something better next August when the primary season rolls around.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
