On August 28th Alaskans will have the opportunity to reinstate the Coastal Management Program that was eliminated by Governor Sean Parnell. Oil and mining companies have plunked down over $700,000 to tell us that Ballot Measure 2 will be more “government,” as if government is evil, rather than the means by which free citizens govern themselves.
Ballot Measure 2 does many good things, such as clarifying the permitting process and helping resolve issues without lawsuits, as the program did for 34 years of Alaska’s greatest economic expansion. Most importantly it gives local communities a say in the development that happens in their back yard. With a functional Coastal Management Plan, communities can help tailor development to suit their needs, rather than the wishes of the executives of Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil. Of course, these companies fear this voice and would rather silence it.
The oil industry has been very successful in warping democracy in Alaska, whether by flooding Alaska elections with cash or by buying legislators outright, as they did in the VECO bribery case that sent five or six Alaska politicians to jail several years ago. Who can forget the spectacle of “our” governor Frank Murkowski flying to Houston on his state-purchased private jet and then returning to negotiate for the oil companies on the question of taxes? Or Conoco-Phillips front-man-turned-Governor Sean Parnell lobbying to give those same oil companies a 2 billion/year tax cut at our expense? This is the corporate ideal of how Alaska government should be. Local coastal management doesn’t fit in to that ideal.
Ballot Measure 2 is not simply about coastal management, it’s about democracy. If you feel local people should have a voice in projects that affect their water, their fish and their lives, then you should make the effort to go out and vote for Ballot Measure 2 on August 28th. If you feel it’s better to lay down and let trans-national oil and mining companies call the shots because they’re bigger and smarter and richer than us, then you’re probably against Ballot Measure 2. The reinstatement plan is not perfect, nor does it solve all problems, but it’s a start, and the only start we’re likely to get. Vote yes for Ballot Measure 2 and give your fellow citizens a voice again.
• Cohen lives in Juneau.
Comments (23)
Add commentAgain, where's the beef?
Why do I trust Kurt Frederikkson and not the supporters of the new CZMP? Because he puts in specific facts of the plan and why it is different from the old CZMP that supporters say we are bringing back, and why he disagrees with it. It's not the old CZMP. It's a new one. Why don't the supporters lay out why this new CZMP is better than the old one they are trying to convince voters they are voting for? I've yet to see one supporter do this. They continue to say if the oil companies and miners don't want it, then it must be good for the rest of us. That's not good enough for me.
Does not reinstate the expired management plan!
It's a different plan. It's not the plan that Parnell and the legislators let expire. It is rewritten by opportunists hoping to complicate and obstruct development permitting. I would vote on the old plan rather than risk our state's economy on a box of snakes with "Chocolate" written on the label.
Proposition 2
Without a CZMP in place NOW more companies like the Pebble Beach mining operation will be allowed into the state with NO means of stopping them
MES: 'Jamison' in earlier posts did get into some pretty
specific facts in the new plan that you might take a look at.
No on 2
Build the Road
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Teamsters Local 959
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Operating Engineers Local 302 say NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Juneau Chamber of Commerce says NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce says NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Municipality of Anchorage Assembly says NO on 2 (unanimously)
AND
Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan says NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Alaska Miners Association
and
Council of Alaska Producers
say NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
City of Wasilla Mayor Verne E. Rupright
and
Wasilla City Council
say NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Matanuska-Susitna Borough
and
Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss
and
City of Palmer Mayor DeLena Johnson
ALL say NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Anchorage Home Builders Association say NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Alaska State Chamber of Commerce
Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce
Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce
Big Lake Chamber of Commerce
Anchorage Chamber of Commerce
Soldotna Chamber of Commerce
Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce
Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce
ALL say NO on 2
Alaskans that say NO on 2
Consumer Energy Alliance Alaska says NO on 2
Conservative Patriots
Conservative Patriots Group
and
Anchorage Tea Party
say No on 2
Just saying...
You might have a difference of opinion but representatives of 3/4ths of the Alaska population say NO on 2.
Think Mr. Cohen's characterization is a little disingenuous to make this about a few companies when so many Alaskans oppose the blatant attempt to lock up Alaska by radical enviromentalism philosophy.
Better description is almost all Alaska businesses, most Alaska elected officials and much of organized labor says NO on 2.
Oh and Build the Road.
proposition 2
Looks like all the trolls are out in force this AM. Of course industries like mining and the like are against proposition 2. That would not allow them to completely destroy the entire state of Alaska with their mining and other ways to destroy the land. Ketchikan, Wassilla, and Palmer area are Palin stomping ground. Look how she f#@# up this state!
Here's the comparison
The wording of ballot measure 2 is strikingly similar to the Coastal Zone Management Plan that ran successfully for many years before it was gutted of all local input and total control was placed with DNR. (No one is DNR is elected, by the way.)
Take a look for yourselves at what this proposal is and how it compares to the original CZMP, the gutted CZMP, and even the proposed plan that the house failed to enact.
http://www.alaskacoastalmanagement.org/ACMP%20Comparison.pdf
I intend to vote Yes on ballot measure 2. I urge everyone else to do the same.
@Billb
Of course YOU are not one of those "Trolls". Right?
(you smell like an elitest from here)
CZMP, what's so complicated about it?
I see comments suggesting the initiative is too complicated and completely different from the old program... how so?
It doesn't look all that different... and the reason the Alaska senate didn't pass the house approved plan was because they didn't support the legislation tacked onto it... not because they didn't support the program itself.
We need more intelligent discourse instead of comments like this:
"You mean like Obamacare? "We have to pass it to find out what's in it"???
Why didn't the democrats vote FOR reinstating the original plan? Why did they "rewrite" and make such a complicated bill for such a simple goal?
Why the fear mongering? Huh Stewie???
Alaskans and Americans will LOSE their voice should this bill pass.
This bill, Prop 2, is EPA on steroids!
Fishing is "coastal" therefore would be regulated by this bill.
Seaside homes are "coastal" therefore would be regulated by this bill.
VOTE NO!"
Newlife, I appreciate your input on issues. I basically need to see what you post, then assume the opposite to be true. Then I google it, and find out I am right in assuming this.
The new CZMP initiative specifically does not allow for fishery management regulations, so you're full of crap, like usual.
The only time the CZMP will come into effect is if a State or Federal resource agency permit is involved. Seaside homes regulated? Seriously? Your posts are nothing but BS. Since all of your reasons for voting NO on 2 are garbage... you should vote yes on 2. I know I am.
Concerned, I see a lot of people in opposition to the prop 2 have no stake in coastal management, other than to benefit economically. How many people who live on Alaska's coast oppose this?