Hot topics in a cold state.

• Author: Cutler, Debbie
• Position: From the Editor - Editorial

GIVE PEBBLE A CHANCE

I don't watch much TV, so I haven't seen all the anti-Pebble commercials, but I've sure heard about them. And I've listened to the radio ads proclaiming the Pebble project will destroy precious Bristol Bay fisheries and harm the environment. I've seen print ads, and conversed with people who discuss the project with disdain or great enthusiasm.

My vote, for all it's worth, is to give Pebble a chance.

At last year's Resource Development Council meeting held in Anchorage, Cynthia Carroll, CEO of Anglo-American, a partner in the Pebble Project, spoke about the mine development. It was a riveting speech.

Her promise, and that of Northern Dynasty Mines Ltd., the other 50 percent partner, was that they would not develop if it would affect the area in a negative manner and affect those with a subsistence lifestyle.

"We do not want to and will not be associated with the development of a mine that damages Alaska's fisheries and wildlife, or the livelihoods of Alaska communities" she said to a full house. "If the mine cannot be planned in a way that provides proper protections, it should not be built."

That says a lot for a partnership that has already committed to invest nearly $1.5 billion in the project, located 200 miles southwest of Anchorage and about 200 river miles from Bristol Bay.

Are the 1,000 jobs high-paying jobs that will last for 50 to 80 years worth giving Pebble a chance? Is an investment up to $3 billion in Alaska's natural resources worth giving Pebble a chance? Is providing jobs to a semi-depressed region worth giving Pebble a chance? You decide. But my vote is yes.

THEN THERE'S THE GAS LINE

I was talking...