I’ve been blogging this week about the overwhelming opposition to Pebble Mine and support for EPA action to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska. Here’s another incredible number: 84 percent of Alaskans who commented on EPA’s Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment asked EPA to stop Pebble Mine. And this is coming from a state that historically supports mining and resource development!
As Reuters reported today, “Pebble is a rarity in Alaska - a big resource-extraction project that is widely opposed by Alaskans. Polls consistently show large majorities against the project, even though Alaskans support mining development in general. The late Senator Ted Stevens, a legendary figure in Alaska politics and avid sport fisherman, opposed Pebble. So did the late Jay Hammond, the iconic oil-boom-era governor considered the father of a popular program that pays annual dividends to all residents from the state's oil trust fund. Indeed, Pebble has inspired some unlikely alliances - sport and commercial fishermen, Native tribes and corporations, political conservatives and environmentalists - all finding common ground against the development.”
There is absolutely no room for misinterpretation: the majority of Alaskans don’t want Pebble Mine. Nearly six out of seven Alaskans who submitted comments to EPA want to Save Bristol Bay from Pebble Mine. Please add your voice in support.