The most recent 2019 Pebble Project environmental impact statement reads like a requiem for a failed megaproject. Between 2016 and 2020, routes for bringing Pebble ore to tidewater have changed three times. But no engineering, environmental or economic research is on record for any of the three routes. Opposition to the Pebble Mine has been constant and growing in Alaska and nationally.
The recent scandals at Northern Dynasty bring the Pebble Mine issue to the forefront of Alaska politics. Sen. Dan Sullivan was advancing Pebble interests when he was the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and for most of the five-plus years he has been in the Senate. Sullivan has been a willing yes-man for President Donald Trump; his favored mantra is “excessive government regulation.”
The Bristol Bay sockeye runs are vital to Alaska’s economy and to the indigenous diet and well-being. The most decisive way to end the Pebble Mine debacle is to elect Al Gross to the Senate, Alyse Galvin to the House, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the U.S. presidency and vice-presidency.
James Kari
Fairbanks
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