GREEN PARTY OF ALASKA
http://alaska.greens.org/
PO BOX 102341, ANCHORAGE AK 99510-2341 PH: (907) 566-PURE
E-MAIL: GREENAK@AK.NET
September 27, 2005
Contact: Larry Buchholz 745-4332 or Jim Sykes
745-6962
Greens Call for Bridge Pork Giveback
The Green Party of Alaska has requested that
Congressman Don Young reconsider his stance against giving Alaska
bridge funds to storm-damaged areas in the South.
Party Chair Larry Buchholz stated, in a letter to
Congressman Young, "It doesn't seem particularly helpful to
invite people to 'kiss your ear,' or anything else, to talk some
common sense about the serious and immediate needs of our country
versus the far-off future 'wants' in Alaska. We agree with members of
Congress, from both political parties, that funding for Knik and
Gravina bridges should become part of the offsets to fund immediate
transportation repairs in disaster-stricken areas."
The letter asks that funds be reprogrammed to
where they are most needed: to rebuild destroyed rail, road, and water
transportation infrastructure in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Gregory Vickrey, a resident of Ketchikan, said,
"Many local residents understand and stress the need to return
these funds in light of the disasters. Even those who did not speak
out against the idea of a bridge in the past have come to terms with
the reality presented by Katrina, and the need to reallocate funds to
the affected areas.
The proposed Knik Arm bridge, even with a price
tag of $231 million, is not designed to carry rail traffic nor
accommodate tidal power generation. The needed alternative
transportation and clean energy would help support the development
that the bridge would encourage and make Alaskans less dependent on
fossil fuels.
The federal government has been cutting funding
for hurricane and flood control programs for years, and the extreme
devastation of hurricane Katrina is the result: devastation that could
have been reduced or even partially prevented. Part of the blame lies
with Democrats and Republicans who have allowed our transportation,
disaster response, environment, and national security priorities to
lapse, favoring waste, lack of planning, and inappropriate allocation,
while Americans remain at risk.
The Anchorage Daily News recently revealed that
Young's two pork-barrel projects alone will divert $328 million that
Alaska would have received for its highway programs, thus preventing
that money from being used for maintenance and upgrades to other roads
and transportation projects in Alaska. Much of Young's bridge project
funds will come from our core programs: 60 percent of such earmark
funding comes out of our regular federal transportation monies, while
only 40 percent will be new funds.
The Green Party encourages wise spending
priorities, with long-term efforts towards building safe, healthy
communities and planning for a sustainable future.
References:
Green Party of Alaska
http://www.alaska.greens.org
Alaska Transportation Priorities Project
http://www.alaskacoalition.org/Transportation.htm
Emily Ferry, emily@aktransportation.org,
(907) 209-0082
"Transportation projects divert money from
routine road-building"
Anchorage Daily News, August 4, 2005
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/6780822p-6670033c.html
