Alaska Rep. (R) Targets Ferry Service To WA (wants WA to support drilling)

[Mrs. Overall]

A state representative has sponsored a resolution to terminate ferry service between Washington State and Alaska. Rep. Kurt Olson, R-Soldotna, said he hopes to put some pressure on Washington's congressional delegation, which opposes opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

"Certainly, we're not going to hold the state of Washington hostage," until its delegation supports drilling, Olson said. The resolution is more of an "exercise born in frustration," he added. Olson is backing a resolution to terminate stops to Bellingham, Wash., a gateway to Alaska for ferry passengers from the rest of the mainland U.S. Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, often spearheads the Senate's opposition to legislation authorizing drilling in the refuge.

The resolution is sitting in the state's House Transportation Committee. Olson said he would wait until he talks it over with Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, next month before requesting a hearing. Stevens has spent years leading the push for drilling legislation in Congress. "A number of us share Sen. Ted Steven's frustration," Olson said.

http://www.komotv.com/stories/41974.htm

[MadMaddie]

1. Ah the bullying tactic....

Cantwell better fight him on this...and this does sound like they are holding Washington hostage to get what they want...

[Heddi]

2. I think this would affect Alaskans more than Washingtonians

I would think there are more Alaskans coming to the mainland than the otherway around....

[MadMaddie]

4. You may be right....

I wonder what those Alaskans think of the proposal?

[Tempest]

11. The ferry to Washington state is one-way traffic

Alaskans coming down, not much traffic going up.

Most ferry traffic to Alaska starts in Prince Rupert, B.C., not Washington state.

[slampoet]

14. If Stevens cancels service to Seattle,

Then maybe there will be less desperate Alaskans stuck on the streets of Seattle and Stevens can use his OWN states' funds to help with their social services. Funny how GOP selfishness always makes Democrats' ideas more popular and red states are always looking for a handout from blue states rather than fixing their own problems.

[Toots]

17. That really is not the way of it

Just try and get a reservation on the Ship out of Bellingham. Not many want to dirve a thousand miles over gravel roads just to save a hundred dollars.

[Tempest]

26. Been there, done that

Lived in Bellingham for 4 years and the ferry was never full.

I took it twice up to Victoria on its way to Alaska and the ferry was almost deserted both times.

[Bandit]

28. The Alaska Marine Highway does not stop at Victoria

I don't believe you. Prince Rupert is the only Canadian Port that is visited by the Alaska Marine Highway system.

[Broken_Hero]

21. In my experience...

people went to Prince Rupert, because it was a cheaper to go there, and drive through BC to hit Washington, but now its cheaper to take the two and a half day boat ride, than drive through BC. And most people, I know are headingg towards seattle, not the scenic environment of BC, or Prince Rupert...:) They hit BC, or Prince Rupert in order to drive through, towards the lower 48, and 8 times out of 10 its Seattle, or someplace in WA, or Ore...:) In my experience that is...:)

[Broken_Hero]

3. What a crock of shit...foul language approaching...*warning*

Yes, i said it, i finally fucking cussed....what a fucking jerk off way to push people into supporting drilling in Alaska. Shit, most of the people i know are from WASHINGTON, and moved up to Alaska for a better life, shit my own dad is from Everett Washington, and this fucking jerk off Republican has the fucking nerve to try and fuck wiht Washington...what a fucking waste....People should tombstone this fucker, for such a dimwit tactic....

Rant off...

Sorry, It just upsets me that Alaska would stab one of the best states, that actually helps alaska in many regards, in the back, for its own end...and what a jerk off, to cut off ferries from going to Bellingham, this guy is a waste of time, I hope my fellow alaskan residents 86 this fucking prick.....sorry, for the swears and what not, this really touches a fucking nerve...

[MadMaddie]

6. Petersond....it's okay....

We are all reaching the point of disbelief....

These guys are going to line their pockets with the kickbacks...that's what this is about.. They are corrupt to their very core...

Rant on my brother, Rant on!!!:grr:

[suffragette]

5. So he doesn't want revenue from tourists

or workers form the mainland to be able to take the ferry? What about people from Alaska coming to the mainland by ferry?
This just seems absurd and bound to hurt Alaskans as much or more than Washingtonians.

[Broken_Hero]

9. Yes, true...

I'm from SE Alaska, the panhandle, Ketchikan to be exact, and taking the ferry to bellingham is a lot cheaper than flying the Alaskan Airlines crap, they charge you out your ass for tickets, and the ferry keeps Alaska Airlines in check, so to speak....it will hurt Alaskans more, but in truth, most alaskas are washingtonians at heart...its just a sad day, to see this kind of bullshit....and the Ferry System is probably one of the best jobs for Alaskans, my friend Waldo works for the Alaskan Marine Highway, its just another way for dick head politicians to fuck with their residents....

[suffragette]

13. Here's a hug from Seattle for ya

:hug:

I remember living in Bellingham and watching the dust covered cars coming down from the AL-Can Highway as well as knowing many people from here who went up to Alaska to fish and crab. That was awhile back but there are too many connections and too much commerce that would be jeopardized. Can't see it happening.

[Broken_Hero]

22. Thanks for the hugz!...:)

To bad about the Seahawks in the Superbowl, I know a ton of people in Alaska who were rooting for them, myself included...Alaska is a hidden fan of seattle based teams...:) I don't see it happening either, but I didn't see Bush getting re-elected either (knock on wood)....

[ThoughtCriminal]

7. Wow, there's an empty threat

Do waht we want or we'll shoot ourselves. I'll bet the Alaskan Tourist industry is thrilled.

[Broken_Hero]

10. thats about all his threat

would do, it would hang Alaskans, and the state....what a jerk off for saying this...I think republicans practice the circle jerk to often, because they spout such ridiculous crap, its crazy....

[Toots]

18. I'm sure that proposal will never leave the table

It has been tabled and will stay there I'm sure. The whole point was publicity.

[HereSince1628]

30. Um, that clearly violates the interstate commerce clause

I don't think even Scalia could figure out a way to make the constitution give a state the power to ban travel from one state into another.

[gratuitous]

8. Gee Mr. Olson

I'm so glad he said that he's not trying to hold the State of Washington hostage with his juvenile legislative temper tantrum. Because that's exactly the impression I would have gotten from his tactic.

Tell you what, Mr. Olson: If the United States needs Alaska's oil so badly, particularly whatever's under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, why don't we write the legislation so that it requires every drop pumped out of Alaska to be shipped to U.S. ports instead of being diverted to Asia? Back in the 1970s when the Alaska Pipeline was first being installed, the promise was that all of Alaska's crude would go to the U.S. market, but that's not the case anymore when Big Oil can make more money from the Asian market. Since we're supposed to be at war, why don't we ask the big oil companies to bite the bullet (so to speak) and take slightly lower profits whilst reducing America's dependence on foreign oil?

You write the legislation, make it iron-clad on the oil companies, and I'll consider supporting it. How about it, Mr. Olson?

[Wordie]

31. So let me see if I've got this right...

Olsen, Bush, Stevens, et al, are pushing for legislation allowing drilling in the pristine Alaskan wilderness, and justifying this by claiming that we need it, as the domestic sources of oil are so limited, but at the very same time the Alaskan oil that is currently being pumped isn't being sold domestically, but instead is going to Asia?

:banghead:

[Tempest]

12. Here's why this is an asinine idea (cutting their own throats)

The ferries bring up supplies to Alaska, and not many travelers from the lower 48 states.

Most passenger ferry traffic to Alaska comes out of Prince Rupert, B.C. and Haines, AK.

[Broken_Hero]

20. Yeah...

Some supplies do go on the ferry system, but most comes up on barges and what not, in cargo boxes. Most of the activity i saw, was throught all of SE Alaska, the panhandle..its a series of Islands, and the Alaska Marine Highway is a way in which people from say, my hometown can go up to Juneau, Haines, Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, or any port in SE Alaska...I dont' think the Ferry system goes further north than haines, but maybe they do...and soem does go to prince rupert/bellingham. On all of our family trips, we took a six hour ferry ride to Prince Rupert and drove through BC, but for a few bucks more, you can ride for two and a half days from Ketchikan to Bellingham, which is what most do now, cause who wants to drive 28 hours with these gas prices?...:)

[Tempest]

27. Ferry goes all the way to Anchorage

You can't get a barge into the smaller villages in the coves in the Southeast. And since there's no roads to the villages, and smaller boats are not economically feasible, the ferry system delivers to them.

I have friends and family living in the southeast and the ferry system is their main source for many supplies.

[Broken_Hero]

29. hmmm....

I don't know about that...the Alaska Marine Highway doesn't stop at little places, at least in my experience....Thornebay, and Metlakatla are probably the two smallest ports that they go to..as far as barges go, they can just about get anywhere, to drop stuff off...In my experience, they barge up to ketchikan, and from their they either ship the supplies via boats/airplanes to outlying areas, like Kasaan, thorn bay, or metlakatla...I'm not saying, that the ferry system doesn't bring supplies, i'm just saying, its not the only way in which it does come up...:) This process is one of the reasons why the stores in SE charge you out of your ass for items at the store, or groceries...when walmart came to Ketchikan, they leveled the playing field on that...we no longer paid 300 bucks for vhs players, and what not....

Just two xmas's ago, my wife and I were up there, and I shit you not, 5 bucks a pound for hamburger meat, 5 bucks for a head of lettuce...4.50 for a gal of milk, 11 bucks for a case of mt. dew...SE is expensive in some areas, and i'm glad walmart came in to break the strangle hold...:) (puts on flame suit, i said i support walmart)....:) ;)

It is sad, for groceries and what not, my parents would usually order stuff through costco, and have them shippied up via barge/flown, and it was still cheaper doing it that way, than going to the local mart...:)

What part of SE are you friends/family in?

[SoCalDem]

15. I guess he can buy the Alaskans in his district, water-wings & flippers

What a weenie:(

[Judi Lynn]

16. I hope his career takes a dive.

Such a conspicuously nasty move to retaliate against human beings should earn him a career failure.



Olson

They're targeting Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell:

~snip~

"We've been hamstrung by your congressional delegation on ANWR," said Olson, R-Kenai. "Our relationship is really one-sided."
Olson said only 2,000 acres of the refuge would have to be developed to pump oil out of the region, which could provide jobs for Puget Sound.
"It boggles my mind we are sitting on so much oil and gas up there," he said.
Charla Neuman, a spokeswoman for Cantwell, said her office hadn't heard of the Alaska Legislature's resolution.
"Certainly, we appreciate the ferry run," Neuman said. "We don't have any reason to believe it won't be here."
If Washington lost its stop in the ferry system, it would end Bellingham's 17-year run as the system's southernmost port of call. The Port of Bellingham won a competition with Tacoma and the Port of Seattle for the route in 1988. The port later spent more than $10 million to construct the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, located at the foot of Harris Avenue.
Port Commissioner Doug Smith said officials soon plan to travel to Alaska to speak with legislators about the ferry system.
"I can understand Alaska's irritation," Smith said. "They feel somehow Washington state's federal representatives are working in a direct way that is ultimately going to harm them."
However, Smith worries about the port irritating either Alaskan legislators or Whatcom County's congressional delegation. He said Cantwell, as well as U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens, provide much-needed federal funding to redevelop Bellingham's waterfront.
(snip)

"It's a sign of the frustration many Alaskans show with Sen. Cantwell and her stance on ANWR," said Mike Chambers, a spokesman for Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski. "It's highly unlikely we'd cut off our nose to spite her face."
(snip/)

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060210/NEWS06/602100345/1001/NEWS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More power to Maria Cantwell, and her associates.

[Rainscents]

19. FUCK YOU... Olson and Sen. Ted Stevens!

We don't need your black mail! You fucking need us more than we need you! Your people will suffer from this, not us!

[Broken_Hero]

23. rant on...:) Ditto on your Fuck You's to Steven's/Olson n/t

[The Roux Comes First]

24. I'd be surprised if Washington has a net trade deficit

with Alaska involving that ferry. There is a bit of history/hysteria with some Alaskan politicians wanting to feel they are a dominion unto themselves until they need a bail-out from the outside. My impression of most actual Alaskans, i.e. those uncontaminated by the toxins of politics and with heads and egos the size of normal humans, is that they are generally swell if often rather independent sorts.

What the hell. Close down the ferry for a spell and see how it shakes out. Better that than a totally absurd and ill-conceived opening of wild territory to petro-rape.

[harpboy_ak]

25. Just grandstanding for the home folks

This silly resolution with no force is going nowhere. Powerful chairs in the Repug led house have constituents who depend on the ferry service, and folks in WA could care less whether the ferry goes there or not.

My brother is chief purser on the ship that does this run most of the time, and he, like many senior ferry staff, are retiring as soon as they can because the Repukes, including Gov. Frank the Bank Murkowski, have been playing politics with the ferry system, in part because they hate the maritime unions (guess what, scabs, there isn't anyone with the Federal licenses required to crew those vessels that's not in a union!).

Rep. Olson appears to have learned a Bush tactic: declare you're going to do something that makes points with your political base, and then do nothing and declare victory when you fail. Mission accomplished!

And as far as Senator Ted-For-Life, there are many, many Alaskans who think he should have retired a long time ago. He can piss in the wind as long as he wants about ANWR, his fellow Senators have more constituents who don't want it than do, so there is no reason for them to do what that old curmudgeon wants, thank goodness.