Mining News: The Gods must be crazy

Apathy among mining industry workers in Alaska likely will tip scales in favor of Ballot Measure 4 in Aug. 26 primary election

By J. P. Tangen

For Mining News

There is no other explanation for the situation we are in – the gods must be crazy. Consider this: Gasoline prices are through the roof, but Congress won’t compromise a postage stamp footprint on the Arctic Ocean to tap the reserve under Kaktovik; environMENTALists, having successfully run the timber industry out of Southeast Alaska, are now bent on dragging the region’s tourist industry to its knees; our Governor believes gas producers shouldn’t build pipelines; and the Gillamites of Alaska are about to foreclose future major mine expansions.

These are just some of the whirlwinds that are blowing around our heels. My theory as to how all these things came about is that the gods are crazy, but perhaps there is another explanation. Maybe Americans in general and Alaskans in particular just don’t care enough to become involved. I am often reminded of the difference between ham and eggs: The chicken is interested but the pig is involved. Most of us are interested, but few of us, it seems, are involved.

Consider Measure 4 scheduled for the August 26 ballot. You won’t vote. How do I know? Because the numbers say that primary elections have very low levels of participation. If I predict that you will be too lazy, or busy, or simply uninterested to vote on August 26, the odds are that I will be right.

Coincidentally, this primary election will take place when most of the people in the mining industry are “in the field” working their butts off, trying to make a living. The Gillamites, on the other hand, will be sitting in cushy offices preparing lawsuits against the government. They can easily squeeze in a trip to the polls over their lunch hour. We deserve the government we get, because we fail to do what is necessary to get the government we want.

Let me throw out this simple challenge: Suppose that you are “involved” and actually do vote in the primary to sink Measure 4; will that be enough?

Of course not. Not only do you have to vote against this obscenity, but you also have to be well enough informed, and, dare I say, eloquent enough to persuade your “interested” friends to vote against it, too.

What can you say to get the interested involved? Well, for one thing, you can point out that Bristol Bay fishermen every year kill one heck of a lot more fish than any mine has ever killed. You can point out that the corporations that process most of the fish caught in Alaska are as “foreign” as any mining companies that might process Alaska ore. You can mention that one good, permanent mining job is likely to pay more than 10 low-level, seasonal fishing jobs. You can point out that infrastructure, including affordable power, is a common by-product of a major mine. Think what affordable power could do for the communities in the Bristol Bay region. And you can even tell your friends that the celebrated Copper River salmon love the drainage of the historic Kennecott copper mine.

You can, but you won’t. You will leave it to others to carry the water – and carry the water they will. Needless to say, I would love to be proven wrong. I would love it if every single Alaska voter who makes some or all of his, or her, living from the mining industry made it a personal mission not only to vote, but also to ensure that half a dozen friends did as well.

Is this the most important issue of your lifetime? Probably not. You might be able to qualify for a position in Mongolia.

Can you make a difference? Not unless you are involved. I guess it is a tough choice between being a metaphorical chicken and a likewise metaphorical pig. On the other hand, the Gillamites are jackals, no metaphor about it.

Four out of five of you reading this column will not vote against Measure 4. The initiative will pass. Major mines across the state will not be able to expand due to their inability to obtain wastewater permits. One more major resource development industry will be shuttered.

Meanwhile, we will blame the gods. After all, they’re crazy – they must be.