1.  Historical Highlight: Who Was Justice Thomas R. Berger?  More on the Mackenzie status: Intelligence Daily, and Fuel Space (See yesterday’s links, too.) 

 

2.  Comment.  We received an Alaska North Slope Borough (NSB) news release late yesterday.  We compliment Mayor Edward Itta (NGP Photo) and the NSB on a decision to not join in current lawsuits designed to stop or further delay 2010 exploration plans for the Beaufort Sea.  "I believe we can ultimately get to a plan that works for industry and satisfies our deepest concerns," Itta said.  We respect the Mayor’s concerns about several OCS issues and remain hopeful that the NSB will work cooperatively with fellow citizens around the state to assure that business and subsistence lifestyles can be maintained along with a healthy Alaskan economy.  With OCS properly and respectfully explored — as Mayor Itta and the rest of us expect — all residents, our children and grandchildren can have the best chance of surviving Alaska’s economic cycles with our cultures and lifestyles intact.  -dh  (ADN story link)

This follows our editorial comment and links yesterday which received some positive and some negative comment.  I reprint one emailed comment below for your information (while protecting my reader’s identity), along with my reply:

Mr. Harbour,
 
I don’t know how I was subscribed to your newsletter.  As a “reader” I take exception that all of us agree with you.  The Inupiat people of the Arctic Slope depend upon the ocean for their subsistence and the harvest from the ocean have sustained our people for thousands of years before the proponents of the oil companies came.  All they are interested in is exploiting the resources and taking their money then leaving environment chaos in their wake. They don’t have to live there and neither do you.  What you fail to understand and apparently will continue to struggle to understand is that the ocean is important to the culture and is the lifeblood of our people.  I am not interested in getting Oil Company propaganda spam in my mail box.    -sm
 
Thanks for the note, S*****. 
 
I respect your response.  I also want you to know that I have no oil industry clients and the web page is a public service I’ve been doing for a number of years.  I’ve done a good deal of consulting in my earlier life with Native and other corporations and have many friends in that sector.  Perhaps we met in my work over the years in rural Alaska on land and other issues.  In any case I’ll be sure to remove your email address from my automated mailing list though all subscribers can automatically remove themselves by going to the link at the bottom of the email.  So what appeared to be spam to you is not intended to be … and is my own rationale from the heart and mind and from no one else.  You were thoughtful to take the time to write and I’d enjoy having coffee with you someday to further explore the various issues this subject brings to mind. 
 
Merry Christmas. 
Dave
 
Further note to readers: I do respect a person’s right to comment.  If S. agrees to let me buy her a cup of coffee someday, I’ll explain why my comments were meant to be factual and not mean spirited opinions.  I’ll acknowledge the importance of subsistence harvest but will challenge what I believe to be an unsupported claim that, "All they are interested in is …leaving environment (sic.) chaos in their wake."  Impuning the motives of a person or industry is another way of calling names and sterotyping and fomenting misunderstanding and conflict–not resolving differences or seeking common ground.  All oil employees I’ve ever known would never want to leave environmental chaos in their wake and, if they did do that, they would be punished. I do not "fail to understand" the importance of the ocean to culture and to people.  I do fail to understand how anyone whose lifestyle depends on a flourishing oil industry–as is the case for virtually all Alaska citizens–could make a sustainable practice of demonizing, ridiculing or suing that industry.
 
Is that logical?