Oil Costs
Dear Editor: This morning, for the first time since 2014, the price of crude oil in the U.S. breached the psychological $100-per-barrel level. That’s great news if you’re worried about the State of Alaska’s budget. But what does it mean for Sitkans?
It means that our predicament is becoming even more challenging. Here’s how I see the situation: Our modern global techno-industrial civilization has been made possible because of abundant and affordable oil, which is rapidly becoming less abundant and less affordable.
How abundant has it been? Today, globally, we’re consuming a little over 100 million barrels per day. If you lined up that many barrels end-for-end, it would circle the earth once and go more than half-way around again – think of draining a pipeline that’s 39,000 miles long every day.
How affordable has it been? A gallon of gasoline contains the energy equivalent of 400 men performing hard labor for a 12-hour day. At Alaska’s current minimum wage of $10.34 per hour, this means we are paying about $4.49 at the pump here in Sitka today for at least $50,000 worth of labor.
But oil is a non-renewable resource. These happy circumstances can’t go on forever, can they? The party will end someday, no?
Yes! Why? Three reasons: 1) there’s a diminishing amount of recoverable oil left in the ground, 2) it’s becoming more and more expensive to produce, process and deliver, and 3) it turns out that burning the stuff in enormous quantities damages the planet’s ability to sustain life as we know it.
So, the question is not whether Sitkans will have to make do without gasoline and diesel someday. The question is: when?
Some of us are interested in discussing this question. And we’re wondering, could we actually be better off living in a world without oil?
Join Transition Sitka on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 4:30 p.m., for a Zoom showing of the short video “Transition to a World Without Oil” followed by discussion. To attend, register online by going to https://tinyurl.com/transitionsitka.
Joel Hanson, Sitka
Ocean Ranger Program
Dear Editor: Is protecting Southeast Alaska important to you?
If you are a commercial fishermen like we are, or just an Alaskan who enjoys being on the water for sport or subsistence you assume we all care about protecting our beautiful state and its resources for generations to come.
Right now, the governor has proposed SB 180 and HB 303 with complicated wording but with the goal of getting rid of the Ocean Ranger program. If these bills pass this globally praised program will be off the books most likely never to be returned.
The Ocean Ranger Program was approved by voters in 2006 and is still law. The program is self-funded with a $4 per berth fee from cruise passengers. These highly trained individuals monitor ships for many violations; wastewater, oily discharges, sanitation, plastics, safety, and air pollution from the exhaust scrubbers. These ships and crews cannot be watched 24/7 by anyone on the beach. One Ocean Ranger told me recently 263 non-compliant reports were filed in 2019.
The electronic monitoring of overboard discharge valves is not a viable option. Many of the vessels are too old for this new equipment, and although others could have it, there is no way to determine what is actually being discharged in the dead of night. Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune has suggested FaceTime calls as a means of monitoring as well; however, remote areas such as Glacier Bay and Skagway have sparse coverage.
The Dunleavy administration is promoting the use of the passenger funds collected for the Ocean Ranger program to assist Southeast communities in upgrades to their wastewater facilities. This goes entirely against the intent of the creation of the Ocean Ranger Program and related laws. Further, community wastewater upgrades are huge capital projects that funds diverted from the Ocean Ranger program would not even begin to cover.
I urge all concerned Alaskans to contact your legislator as soon as possible and let them know you are in support of the Alaska Ranger Program and ask that they reinstate the funding for fiscal year 2023 and onwards. We need their knowledgeable eyes and ears on all of the large cruise ships that are here as visitors to the Great 49th.
This incredible place we call home is so precious to us all! Have a voice and tell everyone you know to do the same.
Karen and Mark Severson, Petersburg
