Rural Representation

The newspaper has no choice but to print the truth when it comes to financial disclosures of the Big Oil Companies lobbying expenses. Nearly $2 million this year so far, they far outspend any native organization ever can, or any rural group for that matter. Quoting the paper - "corporate cash threatens to overpower the voices of ordinary citizens." I've said it before and I will say it again, urban legislators hold sway regarding law and funding in Alaska. Who but Big Oil can afford to send lobbyists to Juneau? Rural legislators obviously have a say, but the population growth in urban Alaska is far outpacing rural districts. One word: unfair. Some decades ago my great uncle, a legislator, said, "some of you think that when you are on Lake Otis, you are in the wilderness!" There are some legislators serving today that have no idea what life is like in rural Alaska and they should, by law, learn about the history and current ways in rural Alaska. This way, they will understand that rural Alaska deserves the same perks oil money has been providing the cities. After all, the oil isn't coming from underneath Sullivan Arena, nor is it coming from the Matsu-Valley, which is currently enjoying massive tax-free economic expansion. Some day, this economic expansion the State and Federal governments are providing services for, will need to be taxed. Rural Alaska deserves the same economic opportunity in the form of roads, adequately funded schools, tourism promotion, etc. Without much of the influx of funding I am telling you about, many of the villages in rural Alaska will face emigration on a scale which would cause a collapse in State and Federal services. Believe me, this emigration is already happening today. Young adults as well as families with children in their teens and older are already moving from their villages and establishing themselves in the cities. Without the roads I wish to be built, the trend will continue. All because the air infrastructure is prohibitively expensive for many to live decently in rural towns. Tourism opportunities are limited by this as well. Costs to maintain and run existing infrastructure, much of which has been built just recently, will rise to the point of being unsustainable. You might be thinking, NO WAY! Trust me, if you look the world over, roads are the way of economies. Forget oil, forget gas, forget old ways of thinking. Roads can support $100-200 trips carrying 2, 5, 10 people halfway across the state, while the rising cost of air travel would cost those same (5) people a thousand or more. A few people have told me that the villages are going to go through very rough times if something is not done soon about transportation infrastructure in rural Alaska. Some villages are already going through rough times, but this is only the beginning. Oil prices are at $75, gas in the city at $3 , and analysts/experts are saying that the current prices are here to stay. Not a few years ago, the price of oil was under $40, the State unable to pay bills without drawing on the Constitutional Budget Reserve. Today the state is enjoying a surplus, but the lawmakers main focus isn't exactly "big picture" thinking. Who is going to pay for urban expansion services when rural oil runs out?