Photo Credit: alana sise/flickrAs an Alaska Native who follows the manipulation of our society by environmentalists, I watched with interest as Nelson Kanuk, a young Yup’ik man, became a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state of Alaska in an attempt to curb carbon dioxide emissions. Nelson has been presented as a youth leader by the aging environmentalists who are pulling the strings in this case.
In their case, they argue that human-induced warming is threatening Alaska’s residents, changing the environment in a way that they can’t adapt to. If successful, the lawsuit would require the reduction of carbon dioxide by 6 percent per year until 2050 and then by 5 percent through the year 2100.
Sadly, Nelson has been used as a proxy by the well-funded and well-organized environmentalists. A video and photos show Nelson and his family in their village. A five-man crew flew in from as far away as New York and shot the raw footage, which was then turned into a slick video by award-winning producers in Montana.
At the tip of the iceberg of outside environmental groups are iMatter Campaign, Our Children’s Trust and Witness, but it runs much deeper, with ties to organizations that have assets in excess of $1.2 billion and include the Tides Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, according to Form 990s filed with the IRS. The lawsuit in Alaska is one of nine filed nationally, each presented as if it originated from young Americans.
Nelson is from Kipnuk, a Yup’ik village with a population of 639. Like all of Alaska’s Native villages, Kipnuk is on the horns of a dilemma, as its people make the painful transition from a subsistence economy to a cash economy. A look at the Alaska’s Trust video of Nelson shows aluminum, steel, plastic, electronics and wood being used, all imported from far away.
Every aspect of life in rural Alaska is touched by the availability of fossil fuel, and most effects are positive. Warm houses, running water, electric lights and mobility are made possible by the use of this fuel. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, last year 5,527 passengers flew from Kipnuk. Modern life is here to stay.
From outside the Native community, one might think that we are a monolithic group. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In reality, there are many ethnic groups from diverse regions, with many views on development, but you wouldn’t know it from those with a bully pulpit. From the Alaska Federation of Natives to the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, little dissent is heard.
I believe that many Natives have lost our generational perspective. Tlingit oral history remembers that our ancestors followed retreating glaciers to reach Southeast Alaska. It remembers the names of the grandmothers who, perhaps 10,000 years ago, first tried a dangerous transit on a river that once ran under a glacier. We remember repopulating the coast after the great flood.
Nelson, remarking on a flood in his village, stated that it was the worst he’s seen. Nelson was 16 years old when he made that observation.
James Hansen is a scientist, environmental activist and the lead author of the paper submitted by Our Children’s Trust to various state courts. He claims that we must reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 6 percent per year to avert catastrophic warming. This is even more dire than the alarmist Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Fossil-fuel burning in Alaska emitted 38.46 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2010, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s U.S. inventory. That’s 0.11 percent of mankind’s 2010 annual carbon dioxide emissions from primarily fossil fuels (33,615 million metric tons, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center).
If we were able to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel burning by, for example, 18 percent, we would drop our contribution to that type of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions to .09 percent, but at what cost to Alaskans?
If successful, Alaska’s most economically challenged citizens would be harmed most. An 18 percent increase in the price of fuel oil would cost the residents of Kipnuk an extra $198,547 per year, based on statistics compiled by the Alaska Housing Authority in a study of Kipnuk. That’s just for fuel oil. It doesn’t account for the increase in food costs, air travel or fuel for snowmachines and boats.
We must hope that our state’s Supreme Court rules against the plaintiffs. Rather than dictating inconsequential but harmful measures to address a tenuous threat in the future, its decision can end a tangible threat to our well being.
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Mike Kinville served in the Alaska Army National Guard for 24 years, retiring as a Sergeant First Class. Mike has been with his wife since they were 14 and 15 years old, and have been married for 27 years. He is the father of 6, with 3 of the children adopted, and is currently a foster parent. Mike and his wife home school their children. Mike is an amateur artist, interested in Tlingit wood carving and form-line art. Mike still supports the US Army, working as a contracted Supply Technician on Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
This article originally appeared in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
