Letter to the Ketchikan Sitnews Editor, July 28, 2010

We listened to gubernatorial candidate Samuels on the radio this week. Ralph talked about the decline of oil output, which provides 90% of our State income, but we didn’t hear any plan to replenish this lost revenue. He would like to see more oil drilling in Alaska. Wouldn’t we all, but does anyone seriously think we can count on that to pay for our State government in the near future? He mentioned cutting State spending, but we are talking about 90% of our income disappearing! He supports a natural gas bullet line which he says will provide cheap energy to Alaskans, but the figures all show that a gasline carrying only the small amount Alaskans would use would be far too expensive to provide low cost fuel. Also, there are no permits, rights of way or environmental studies done for a bullet line, which puts construction ten years in the future.

On the other hand, there is Bill Walker’s plan if he is elected Governor of Alaska. Bill, who isn’t a politician but is a lifelong Alaskan, wants to preserve the good life we have as Alaskans for future generations. By building the All-Alaska Gasline, which already has most of the permits (some of which took eight years to obtain), we can take advantage of the Asian markets to sustain our essential state services and provide cheap energy in-state to create industry and jobs. Imagine what life would be like if energy costs were 50% of what they are today, both for families and businesses!

Samuels claims the All-Alaska pipeline is more complicated than Walker says, but Bill has been the project director and legal counsel for the Alaska Gasline Port Authority for the past ten years, which has given him the opportunity to travel the world talking to gas producers, pipeline builders and foreign markets. That may make Bill Walker the foremost expert on the All-Alaska Gasline and gives him the knowledge, contacts and experience to actually make it happen. Bill says we have studied it to death; it is now time to act, which is why he is offering to lead our State. He has no long-term political ambitions; he just sees what can and should be done and is frustrated no one else has done it. Bill can and Bill will if he becomes our next governor.

s/ Ann Graham Radford
s/ John Harrington
s/ Bob Fultz
s/ Lawrence “Snapper” Carson
s/ Paul Radford
s/ Calvin Bakk
s/ Chris Cooke
s/ M. G. Cooke
Ketchikan, AK