Alli's final paper topic

Next semester I'll write a paper based on my research in and about Alaska. In an epic (and Nevin-encouraged) moment of non-procrastination, I wrote a proposal for my research topic. It's subject to change over the course of the summer - who knows what influence locals, newsies, and midnight sun could have on my argument - but for now it serves as a launch point.



Proposal for Final Paper
Alli Harvey

In “Frigid Embrace”, Stephen Haycox argued that Alaska’s economy has been developed primarily by outsiders. Time and time again, ‘pioneers’ interested in making a quick dollar have re-enacted the celebrated story of the old American west by traveling to Alaska, tapping a resource, and extracting as much as possible. The profit from such development – ie from gold, fish, timber, and most recently, oil – has not stayed in Alaska. Essentially, Alaska’s resources have been extracted by non-Alaskans for sale to non-Alaskans. As a result, Alaska has frequently been identified by outsiders as either a) a site with seemingly unlimited resources that can be extracted and sold or simply go to waste, or b) one of few remaining vast and unspoiled rich wilderness whose value is inherent.

These conflicting visions of the state are problematic for several reasons. First, development and preservation are identified as having opposite effects on the economy. Development is labeled as ‘pro’ economy, while preservation isn’t. The second problem is that identifying Alaska solely through merits of its natural resources, whether pro-development or not, does nothing to account for the people living there. Non-Alaskans dominate the Alaskan landscape; much of the decisions made about what takes place there are made in the lower 48. How to best utilize the state is always subject for argument.

Recently the topic of debate has been the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge in the northwest part of the state. Much of this debate has taken and will continue to take place in Washington D.C., playing out the same way many other outside-Alaska debates have – pro-development for oil vs. pro conservation for wilderness. However, attention to this issue may be overshadowing concern about projects with potential for greater environmental/economic impact. In Alaska, it’s clear that concern over local off-shore oil drilling projects is building; the rest of the country needs to catch up.

Offshore drilling, which takes place in the same region as ANWR albeit underwater, has considerable potential for oil extraction. A recent lawsuit filed successfully against Shell Oil (who had plans to drill offshore) brought some light to this issue. However, Shell’s attempt to drill is only the beginning of such planning. Ancient ice is melting, fast, opening up possibilities for drilling where there wasn’t any before. In fact, the Northwest Passage which was always fabled as a treacherous ice-ridden passage has been opened up by global climate change. This territory, which nobody cared about ten years ago, is now being fought over by the U.S., Canada, and Russia, for both ownership of the trade route and the rich resources which lie beneath.

Alaska is in a unique position, both geographically and symbolically, compared to the rest of the States. The legacy of ‘wild west’ resource extraction, which has proven time and time again to generate quick wealth for a clever few while destroying the local environs it takes advantage of, is unsustainable. Nobody recognizes this better than the locals, who are greatly affected by the climate change Alaskan oil has contributed to. However it is likely that Alaska will continue to be used as a staging ground where U.S. policy and planning quickly clarify economic aspirations stemming from oil. Yet, if the Passage is claimed, policed using Alaska as the nearest base, and subsequently drilled for its oil, it implies a U.S. support for the bull-headed adherence to the Alaskan legacy of resource extraction for a quick profit. This mistake does not need to be made again.

References

Haycox, Stephen, ‘Frigid Embrace: Politics, Economics, and Environment in Alaska’, Oregon State University Press, 2002.

Gimbel, Barney, ‘The hunt for oil beneath the ice’, Fortune 500, < cnn="yes"> 2008.

Petricic, Saša, ‘Northwest Passage: Northern Logbook’, CBC News, <>, 2006.

Byers, Michael, ‘The Need to Defend Our New Northwest Passage’, The Tyee: A Feisty One Online, <>, 2006.

Buncombe, Andrew, ‘The Northwest Passage: An Awfully Big Adventure’, The Independent: World, <>, 2006.

Burkeman, Oliver, ‘A very cold war indeed’, The Guardian, <>, 2008.

Borgerson, Scott, ‘Arctic Meltdown: The Economic and Security Implications of Global Warming’, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2008.