T-birds welcome Obama
Wouldn't it be amazing if President Obama were to visit the most diverse high school in the nation during his visit to Anchorage.
— Colleen Hogan
Anchorage
Diomede needs Obamas help
The Alaska Native Village of Diomede is a federally recognized tribe on an island located in the middle of the Bering Strait about 1.5 miles from the Russian border. Even though trans-Arctic shipping goes right past Diomede, (it is perhaps the most remote community in the USA), the community is not eligible for the U.S. Department of Transportation's Essential Air Service program. EAS at Diomede would provide basic access, safety, and health for both the community and ships passing through the Bering Strait.
— Rich Sewell
Anchorage
Ellis case puts 12-month value on human lives in Anchorage
I agree with letter writer's Tom Lahey's comment on the Ellis case. This is how I see this case:
I (Alexandra Ellis) will come out of rehab. I will organize a party for underage individuals like myself as soon as I can. I will drink. I will do drugs. I'll get a little sleep. I'll give my friend a ride home while I am still intoxicated. I will recklessly drive in someone else's neighborhood and I will hit an innocent person. I will see what I did and I will not stop. I will go home and wait for the police to come get me. I will enter into a plea deal that is the best I could ever hope to get. At the one-year anniversary of my victim's death I will let my lawyer blame my sandal. At the sentencing hearing I will let my lawyer blame the victim for riding his bike too fast. I will cry.
Now I say I will change. I will go to jail for 12 months and 10 days and I will most likely get out of jail early. I will not even be 21 years of age before I get out of jail. If I waited until I was legally able to drink, this would not have happened. But I wanted to drink and I wanted to do drugs. It was all about me.
Parents, mothers, fathers: Our court system has sadly spoken. Ours lives and the lives of your children, sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers are worth 12 months. Remember that when you're walking along the road. Remember when your children ride their bikes down the street. Remember that when they ride their skateboards on a sidewalk. There was purely not enough accountability in this case.
— Jenny Burke
Anchorage
Science settles climate fight
Thanks for John Duffy's commentary on climate change and our communities. We have no choice but to adapt to the effects we're seeing. Our leaders need to help us deal with this. Still, as he mentions, that is not enough. Any question about whether climate change is just temporary has been settled by the science: It's only getting worse, and it will not reverse itself. Within that overall trend, there are short-term fluctuations, which the deniers jump on, but that doesn't change the overall, long-term prospect, which is really grim unless we act to reduce emissions — a lot.
A carbon fee and dividend system is one good way to achieve this. We need both adaptation and emissions reduction. So, why is this treated as a political issue? There are plenty of conservatives who see the need to deal with the problem, and support carbon fee and dividend, although you wouldn't know it from what many politicians like to say.
— Phil Somervell
Palmer
Low snow kills Alaska salmon that need a no-carbon future
Salmon are an icon of Alaska, where we celebrate them with parades, festivals, and derbies. We fuss about them in hearings, lawsuits, Alaska Fish and Game regs and now even voter initiatives. We build hatcheries, ports, processing plants and loyalties to specific species and runs. We target them with hooks, dipnets and numerous commercial fishing gear. We invest in any number of ways of preserving them: smokers, pressure canners, and freezers. We forego destructive development that would decimate their spawning grounds. Instead of loving them to death, we love them to life — Alaska has the healthiest runs of salmon on the planet.
And yet, our most prized and beloved fish are in hot water. Literally hot water. This summer's heat wave has warmed local waters to deathtrap levels. Salmon cannot survive at the 74-degree temperatures we've seen in Mat-Su streams this month (ADN, Aug. 13). With many tributaries warmed past the 70-degree it takes to make salmon quit migrating, nearly the entire Columbia River sockeye run will die before reaching their natal streams this year. Why? No snowpack. Same problem we have here in Alaska. And we're headed for another winter like last.
It is time for Alaska's members of Congress to take decisive action to address climate change and global warming. It is time to collect a price on carbon pollution and let the market economy find the best way to a low-carbon future for our salmon. Return those revenues to American families and we'll have enough to buy a super efficient freezer to keep those filets in too.
— George Donart
Anchorage
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.