Treadwell: Obama’s Policies a Threat to Aleutian Islands

Speaking to the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC), Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell said President Obama’s delay on approving the Keystone Pipeline could ultimately threaten Alaska’s Aleutian Islands with greater oil spill risk.

“If Canada can’t pipe Alberta oil to the Lower 48, they will ship it to Asia via the Great Circle Route by Alaska,” Lt. Gov. Treadwell said. “We’re already struggling to get spill prevention in place as shipping grows in the Aleutians and the Arctic.”

“President Obama says he cares about protecting the environment,” Treadwell said, “but the richest fishery in the world does not appear to be part of the equation. Without the Keystone Pipeline, we’ll have oil tankers passing through the Aleutians to Asia, with no program in place to protect against oil spills from foreign ships.”

The lieutenant governor was asked to speak to the group about resource and energy issues facing Southwest Alaska. He urged SWAMC to speak up on the Keystone issue as it could affect Alaska.

“Alaska is forced to work with the unworkable mandates of an absentee landowner,” Treadwell said. “Endangered species listings made by peering into a crystal ball, air quality regulations that change with the wind, permitting decisions that keep investors in more suspense than a Hitchcock film. So what’s the answer?

“Alaska is the world’s ‘fishbasket.’ We can’t let D.C. suits make decisions that will jeopardize this resource for future generations,” Treadwell said. “It is ironic that we have to push so hard for marine safety in the Aleutians and the Arctic. Washington will slow Arctic oil development, but not do enough to protect the food security of Alaskans whose fisheries and subsistence are threatened by tankers coming through the Bering Sea and the Aleutians.”

Treadwell spoke at SWAMC’s annual economic summit in Anchorage during their “Fish and Politics” day.

ltgov.alaska.gov