Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy poses with first lady Rose Dunleavy after he was sworn into office in December in Kotzebue. The governor’s daughters all work in the mining industry—with Red Dog Mine.
Contributed Photo
The long and short of it is, if we have the right regulations, which we do, and the minerals, which we do, why not develop it to the total benefit of Alaskans? As opposed to sending it overseas? If you are not going to allow Alaska to develop resources in the most economically distressed areas of the state, how do you expect them to live, to pro- vide for housing and living. It is not government’s responsibility to provide for every aspect of life, but some people believe that. I grew up in an era and world where work was considered a noble endeavor as was taking care of your family. I’m not leaving anything off the table to provide a sustainable budget and determine what our gov- ernment can provide in core services. We can’t just take money out of a pocket to solve it. That’s where mining is so important. You dig into the ground and take out stuff that otherwise does not have value. And produce it into something
good. Like that graphite project at Nome. It is the only one in the country, when now what 80 percent of the graphite we use comes from China? We have these incredible resources. We need to put them to work. That’s how you do it. Not by shutting down the state or country. Where do you get the money to run a government if you are not creating new wealth? Q: And any final words for AMA members? Dunleavy: Tell them they have an individual (as governor) who is going to use science and data and logic to make decisions. We have an incredible op- portunity and recognize the benefits for both indi - viduals and for the overall health of the state. We will continue to promote mining and also to protect our environment. We are not going to shut this state down.
January 2019
The Alaska Miner
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