Why is this news for us? Well if you are a fisherman, and fish in Bristol Bay, which I assume a few of us do here on the Peninsula, the proposed Pebble Mine is likely to be the straw that breaks the back of the last major salmon fishery in North America, north of the Fraser. Proposed by a huge global corporation, supported by Republicans in power in Alaska, such as Sarah Palin, when she was governor, this is the worse proposed project I’ve ever heard of in our country. An environmental disaster of massive scope, given the output of food from the Bay.
Residents near Bristol Bay have voted to block the Pebble Mine which is proposed next to one of the world’s most productive salmon fisheries. The mine would be an open-pit operation to extract gold and copper. The vote was close, and mine developers have challenged the local initiative in court. Alaska’s attorney general has called it “unenforceable.” Bristol Bay votes to block Pebble Mine operation http://www.kplu.org/post/bristol-bay-votes-block-pebble-mine-operation