‘Bridge to Nowhere’ Still Planned
Remember that $223-million bridge to Gravina, Alaska (pop. 50)? It's in the current federal highway bill. Just a friendly reminder of the priorities of Alaska GOP Rep. Donald Young.
Remember that $223-million bridge to Gravina, Alaska (pop. 50)? It’s in the current federal highway bill. Just a friendly reminder of the priorities of Alaska GOP Rep. Donald Young.
Your support matters…Bloomberg:
Alaska’s Gravina Island is home to 50 people and more than 350 Sitka black-tailed deer. Under the U.S. highway bill passed last month, this group will get a $223 million bridge taller than the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
The funding is among $1.04 billion that Alaska lawmakers secured for transportation projects, making the state the envy of its neighbors in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The states of Washington and Oregon, with a combined population 15 times that of Alaska’s 650,000, each received about $500 million sought by lawmakers for transportation projects in their home states under the bill signed by President George W. Bush on Aug. 10.
Alaska owes its bounty to Congressman Donald Young, a Republican who heads the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation Committee and has told voters he used his position to enhance Alaska’s share. A second bridge, spanning 2 miles in Anchorage, to be called “Don Young’s Way,” got $229 million.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Environment
As waters warm, Alaska Native families confront a world without the fish that fed them for generations.
Environment
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska is the largest national forest in the United States. We must preserve it.
Environment
Active and proposed mines threaten key salmon watersheds in Alaska and British Columbia.
Scientists say they see no end to the way human-caused climate change is adversely affecting the planet.
Columbus Day is increasingly being replaced by a celebration of indigenous peoples and their central role in our history and in our future.
As long as the U.S. and other nations cling to neoliberal economics, their citizens will continue to drift toward far-right authoritarians.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.