I moved to Alaska very shortly after the personal state income tax was abolished and deep inside I knew I’d be here when the time to re-instate it came around.
If any Alaskans want to get a vision of Alaska’s sooner or later future, study up on Venezuela, which was recently an oil rich country whose liquid gold ran dry. Venezuela built up a huge infrastructure when the cash was flowing in like crazy, then when it petered out (as all fossil fuels will) they had zero ability to support the financial commitment maintaining this infrastructure requires.
I personally would like to see a 100-year moratorium on the harvesting of the natural gas in this state. I think it’s OK to leave some for our grandchildren. This is the land I love, and I will live here until the day I draw my last breath — we Alaskans are resourceful and very tough people. Sadly I also find a large number of Alaskans to be short-sighted regarding our state’s future. The uproar over placing a cap on the dividend, the rush to pump every last drop of oil and gas, the palatable hatred toward those who encourage protecting the environment versus cutting down every tree, pumping every last drop all for short-term immediate personal financial gain. Well, heads up everybody. The free ride we have enjoyed for the past 45 years is over, and we all will have to start paying our own way once again.
Gov. Bill Walker, thank you for having the spine to see these things and doing what you can to offset our deficit as best as you can. I’m sure Walker recognizes the political suicide he is dancing with. Kudos to you, governor, for doing what you can.
I ask the younger generation to step up and begin developing tidal turbines, passive solar in a state that brags the midnight sun should be elemental, and we sure get plenty of wind to turn some generators. All this R&D into new technology will create good paying jobs, and get us off the oil teat. Alaska is in a position to be a world leader in alternate energy technology, surely the CEO’s of the Seven Sisters are acutely aware their product is finite, they should be the first to pour money into alternative energy technology.
I’m sure thousands of Alaskans will boo me, but frankly I’m ready to pay my way in the form of a state income tax, if I must. Bottom line: If we do not do something very soon, we will be painfully reminded of the crunch of the’80s. I’d like to say I survived that crunch unscathed, but like tens of thousands of other Alaskans I lost my house to foreclosure in 1986 after being out of work for eight months, and found myself scrambling to throw up a cabin in the woods so my family had some place to live. I’m not a kid anymore and just don’t have that kind of energy these days. Another economic crunch at my age could for all intents and purposes destroy my personal life. I’d like to avoid that.
• Linda A. Orr lives in Juneau.
