Rural Crisis in Alaska

Palin Insensitive. Palin Incompetent. Palin Incapable.

Sarah Palin’s Alaska doesn’t produce enough heating fuel, gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels for its own people!

Milk is as much as $11. Energy costs skyrocket. Native Alaskans are in great pain and the government says, ‘Please don’t move to our cities’. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Energy intervene.

Alaska Daily News:
“We need immediate relief. I don’t want to see all the young people and families leave to live in Anchorage and leave the elders behind in the village.”

The cost of fuel has risen to as much as $9.25 a gallon for diesel/heating oil in Kokhanok, a village on Lake Iliamna.”

All of the oil companies in Alaska were invited to participate in helping rural residents. So far only one has offered any help.

“This has reached a critical point to where we will now have decide if we are going to feed our young or keep them warm,” said Ron Hoffman president and CEO of the Association of Village Council Presidents.

I’m for a new bridge in Alaska, a bridge for oil executives from ice floe to ice floe.

McCain nixed funding the national low-income fuel assistance program, saying his attention is on “whatever is necessary to help people meet literally incredible challenges this winter.”

Oil is spending more than $2 million dollars a day to influence public policy and opinion – including $12.2 million in the six months of Newt Gingrich’s “Drill Here, Drill Now” campaign. McCain received nearly $1 million dollars flip-flopping to support offshore drilling.

Reminds me that oil companies skirted paying royalties for offshore drilling rights, $11 billion, because the federal government was bought off with, well, skirts, and a little cocaine. [Wall Street Journal]

Literally incredible!