Today is a big day for Alaskan politics. First off, the primaries for congressional representatives are going on (Ted Stevens, the old republican senator who is being indicted, is still running - and leading the primary so far at 63%). But what's keeping me most on edge is a ballot measure - the infamous (at least around here) Ballot Measure 4.
Ballot Measure 4 is highly controversial, more so because of the way it is being framed. The proposal is being sponsored by Alaskans for Clean Water. Those against is are led by Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown. Its a pretty confusing proposal, and the fact that its a touchy topic makes everything more contorted. So I will try to explain the best I can, given that I only understand it at a baseline level, and that I know far more about the "yes" than the "no" side.
Anadramous streams (those that are spawning grounds for anadramous fish like salmon) get special protection in Alaska's legislature (and maybe nationwide? I'm not sure). These protections placed a lot of limitations on factories, mines etc., because they would not be able to get permits to function if they couldn't guarantee that they could uphold the water quality standards for the environment in which they were built. However, a past administration created a loophole for industry, allowing for mixing zones. The idea of mixing zones is basically "the solution to pollution is dilution" - it allowed for the measurement of toxins being dumped or secreted by an industry to be measured a certain radius away from the direct source, rather than right at the outflow. Ballot Measure 4 is, put simply, overturning this loophole, and calling for environmental standards to be measured directly at the outflow.
Why is this so controversial? Because it will make it much harder for proposed mines to obtain the permits they need to proceed. Mining has been, and is an important industry in Alaska - it provides a lot of jobs, lots of tax revenue for the state. The proponents of Measure 4 state that it will only apply to new, large scale metal mines (existing mines will not be affected, as they will be grandfathered in). The opposition claims that existing mines must continually apply for and renew permits, and therefore this kind of measure could shut down mining across the state.
Another reason this Measure has been so much in the limelight (its gotten national attention) is because it is closely tied to the issues surrounding the proposed Pebble Mine. Yesterday I went to a screening of the documentary Red Gold, which won this year's Best Documentary at the Telluride Film Festival). Pebble Mine would be a copper and gold mine - half would be underground, and half would be an open pit mine. Apparently the claims are fairly sizeable (although I can't find out how much they are estimated to be valued at right now) However, for one thing, mining in general is just terribly destructive on the environment. (One reason why this Pebble Mine/Ballot Measure 4 stuff has sparked my interest is that mining is an issue home in Virginia too, and I had a lot of friends involved in fighting mountain top removal) But the region where Pebble Mine would be located is right in the Bristol Bay watershed. Bristol Bay is home to the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world. (The picture at the top of this post is a Bristol Bay sockeye run). The region is just incredibly diverse, healthy and well persevered. One thing that I love about Alaska is how much untouched land there still is. Pristine environments that have yet to be largely impacted by people like so much of the rest of the world. The proposed mine could produce up to 2.5 billion tons of waste material. And it's located on the top of a mountain, so all that crap is just going to flow down. And yes, mining provides a lot of jobs, but so does fishing. But fishing is not just commercial - lots of communities rely on fisheries for subsistence living. It's not just a job, it's a way of life. Perhaps it's true that Ballot Measure 4 would hurt the mining industry. But mines hurt fisheries, and personally, it makes more sense to me to eliminate the industry that is temporary and finite, rather than the one that is renewable if managed properly.
At 11:19 pm, the poll counts say Ballot Measure 4: No -56%, Yes - 43%
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