I remember back in the summer, I saw the news reporting Gov. Bill Walker hosting the president of China and his wife, and then he held a news briefing afterward. There are two things that stood out in my mind: One, that Walker tried to pattern after the president of the United States in the White House, and two, that Walker kept saying this to the president of China, “Alaska has rich natural resources.” I didn’t like their meeting then and I especially don’t like how the story has developed now.
The recent news suggests China is going to partner with Alaska to build a natural gas pipeline, the project Walker has been promoting since he got elected. The proposed ownership of the pipeline is China 75 percent and Alaska 25 percent. Many months ago, many experts have pointed out, buildstate-fundede funded natural gas pipeline is not going to be profitable. Yet Walker brushed off criticism and insisted on pursuing the project. Some said, “Maybe collaborating with China is not a bad idea. It might bring jobs to Alaska.”
The oil economy has been down not because we don’t know how to produce oil, but because the oil drilling restrictions from the Obama administration and our state government do not keep oil companies productive. The policy failure is solid on our government’s part. We do not need to rely on China to revive our oil economy. Another reason why our economy is suffering is because the Walker administration is clearly leaning toward big government spending and suppressing the private sectors.
One alarming fact, the natural gas pipeline is a long, complicated and expensive project. It’s going to take years to build. It will dry out our state resource due to huge expenses and how the Governor manages it. Not to mention, it’s not profitable. Another question we need to ask is, do you want China to be our business partner? I think not. Allowing China to be our business partner is like leading the wolves to the sheep pen. There’s nothing safe about it.
There’s no reason why China wants to buy natural gas from Alaska based on the price if they only could pay half of the price elsewhere. Having China in Alaska will violate our national security and diminish our sovereignty. On the other hand, I won’t object any private companies from foreign countries who desire to invest in Alaska, because it will have a much better outcome without government’s involvement. Natural gas is an important feedstock for our manufacturing industry, used to make the plastic jugs that hold many products that could be made here in Alaska.
Refining and using our resources to manufacture will be an important step in making the economy go again. I’m sure people all over the world admire Alaska’s beauty and envy our natural resources. However, the abundant natural resources belong to Alaskans and the United States only. We need to protect our assets. We do not wish for any foreign country to come in to colonize our state under any government agreement. It will weaken our national security and deny our sovereignty. The last thing we want to see is the Chinese government monopolizing our economy and confiscating our resources in the name of natural gas when we should develop oil and natural gas byproducts ourselves. Listen up, Walker, Alaska is not for sale!
• Jessica Wright graduated from BYU-Hawaii with a major in Political Science. Besides writing, she enjoys piano, playing the harp and oil painting. She lives in Wasilla with her husband and children.
