Dear Editor:
Federal Judge Sharon L. Gleason of the United States District Court of Alaska blocked construction permits for an expansive oil drilling project on the state’s North Slope that was to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 30 years.
“The multibillion-dollar plan, known as Willow, by the oil giant ConocoPhillips had been approved by the Trump administration and legally backed by the Biden Administration. Environmental groups sued, arguing that the federal government had failed to take into account the effects that drilling would have on wildlife and that the burning of the oil would have global warming.”(NYT 8-19-21, A16)
Also, a United States District Judge ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) OR Bakken Pipeline is 1,172 miles-long, $3.78 billion project, underground oil pipeline in the United States to be shut down because farmers are concerned about disturbing of the land and impact on the environment and to the sites sacred to Native Americans.
The solution to solve the problem, should be the responsibility of the oil giant ConocoPhillips and the Dakota Access Pipeline to bypass the sites sacred to Native Americans. That will be the end of the chaos.
Suppose your family lived in a house for over hundred years, under Eminent Domain the government has the power to take your property and convert it into public use.
Apparently, wildlife and farmers’ land is more important than the citizens of the United States of America. Democracy (in Greek- Demos=People; Cracy =Rule) means rule by the people, not some people, but all the people who live on American Land. The government must not allow a small group of people to request from a Federal Judge to block any project whether in Alaska, North Dakota, or anywhere else. The American voter must have the final say, not a Federal Judge.
Any project that affects the life of Americans should go for a vote nationwide by all the American citizens. That is why, last year, we were paying $2.00 per gallon of gas and now we are paying over $3.00. This is highway robbery first class. Democracy means a government that is run by the people who live under it and must stand behind the welfare of the people all the way.
I am speaking my mind, now I need the Democrats and Republicans in Washington to listen. Where there’s a will there’s a way, it is the will of the people.
May God Bless America
Sincerely,
Joseph J. Jacob
Joseph J. Jacob is the former corporate controller for the Hamilton Digital Controls, Inc., former president of the National Association of Accountants in the Mohawk Valley, former president of Upstate NY Regional Council of NAA and former National Director of NAA.
