Courtesy of the BBC:
Expanding the search for oil is necessary to pay for the damage caused by climate change, the Governor of Alaska has told the BBC.
The state is suffering significant climate impacts from rising seas forcing the relocation of remote villages.
Governor Bill Walker says that coping with these changes is hugely expensive.
He wants to "urgently" drill in the protected lands of the Arctic National Wilderness Refuge to fund them.
Alaska has been severely hit by the dramatic drop in the price of oil over the past two years.
The state is the only one in the US that doesn't have an income or sales tax, getting 90% of its day-to-day expenditure from levies on the production of oil and gas.
But the halving in the price of crude over the past year has seen Alaska's financial health deteriorate.
Yes which is why we need to aggressively diversify into other income source, including renewable energy, and step away from big oil's teat.
You know there are a lot of reasons to admire Governor Walker, not the least of which was the Medicaid expansion.
But this is a big step in a really bad direction.
And what's more it is a waste of time because, as EVERYBODY already knows, there is no way we will ever open ANWR to drilling.
Just when I thought Alaska Governor Bill Walker might be one of the good ones.
3:02 AM
Share to other apps