Alaska: State in Denial

[Teresa Nunes]

I hate blanket statements like the one this fellow is touting:

http://scienceblogs.com/islandofdoubt/2008/05/alaska_state_in_denial.php

All Alaskans hate polar bears! Alaskans don't understand the
scientific process? Alaskans are raking in the money! Alaska is a
socialist state!

Should we make a skeptical showing here?

->T

__________________________________
Teresa Nunes
Meadow Lakes, Alaska
ptar...@iceworm.com

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
-Plato

[Scott Elyard]

I don't know, it seems like this is valid enough.  Palin's language, if quoted accurately, certainly looks anticlimatechangey.

The only issue I have is that I was under the impression the PFD cheque reflected the stock market more than oil revenues. (I mean, that's how the Permanent Fund got started, certainly, but isn't it more diverse now?)  But is it really unfair to characterise the PFD as a sort of welfare?  If so, why?

I have no issue with the listing of the Polar Bear as an endangered species.  Doing nothing will certainly contribute to its dwindling status.

--
Scott Elyard
http://coherentlight.blogspot.com/

[Teresa Nunes]

I guess my issue with it is the assumption that all of us are like this.  We're all sitting around, conspiring against the polar bears. (So untrue!)  We're all raking in money at the expense of the environment.  

Did you read through the comments?  One person said that Alaska should eliminate taxes.  We have no state income or sales taxes already.  As to the money we get from the state:  the PFD was originally started with excess oil money during the beginning of the oil boom.  Since then, the income is based on interest earned, only half of which is given to the residents.  How can we be condemned for thinking ahead financially?  I think this blog writer is willing to point fingers without thoroughly researching his statements.  

He also compares money given to Alaska with developing nations.  Does he realize that 1/4 or 1/3 of the state lives in rural "third-world" type conditions?  So what if we receive aid?  Has he ever used a honey bucket or tried to heat his house with oil with the rising cost of fuel?  Has he ever spent $8 on a gallon of milk?

Yep:  we're all sitting here in a welfare state, raking in money, destroying the environment, and conspiring against the wildlife.

->T

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."

-Socrates