Once flush with oil revenue, Alaska legislators bribed Alaska voters with a host of “Big Projects.” Most were very expensive and failed (see Delta Barley Project, Seward Grain Unloading Dock, Anchorage Seafood Processing Plant, etc., etc.) And, as we can gather from the size of today’s Alaska state budget deficit — way too little was put into savings.

A friend recently pointed out that after decommissioning, federal law demands removal of the Alaska oil pipeline. And no funds have ever been budgeted for that removal.

I can see it now: 2019 sees the Alaska economy drop over a cliff. And the story in a 2021 issue of the Homer News states: “… Mike Kennedy and his rag-tag gang of ruffians have been heading out north out of Valdez each morning to whack off another 40-foot section of the abandoned Alaska pipeline dragging the section back to Valdez where it is cut into small sections and sold back to Japan at 1/2 cent per pound.” 

This is Alaska’s last “Big Project.”

Jack Polster