Part 1:
Note: This was originally written shortly after we left Alaska in 2004, so the numbers given in parts of this essay were from that time.
If ever there was an emblem for the state of Alaska, the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline should be it. It didn’t take very long to learn that for the majority of the population of the state, pipelines are something of an obsession. People seem to long for the “golden years” of the 1970s when the pipeline was being built. And in fact, before that pipeline was even finished, people were talking about the natural gas pipeline that would be started in “about 5 years,” according to a 1977 newspaper article. They are still waiting. Even in 2004, the governor had a big press conference in which he announced that some companies had expressed interest. As of this writing, as far as I know, that has gone nowhere.
This does fit in with the general pattern of thought by many people in Alaska that if you can suck it out of the ground, uproot it, chop it down, or kill it, you might as well do so and make a few bucks in the process. Anyone who questions the wisdom of such ideas is immediately labeled a “radical environmentalist” and some other, less polite things. People want their money and they want it now. And they really do not seem to care how they get it. They long for another pipeline boom, even though Fairbanks was a horrible place then—crime was rampant; drunken people and prostitutes populated the downtown area, and there was a severe housing shortage. No matter—bring it on again is the mantra. Drill for more oil, get that natural gas, cut down the trees, bring people in to shoot wolves from helicopters—whatever it takes, just show them the money.
And people are very protective of the most personal artifact of the oil boom of the 1970s—their Permanent Fund Dividend checks. The permanent fund was formed out of oil revenues and at the heart of it is a payout once every fall to every eligible man, woman and child in the state. Eligibility is determined by residence—each year residents fill out a form attesting to the fact that they were not absent from Alaska for more than 90 or 120 days of the previous calendar year. There are some extenuating circumstances, but that is the general rule. In the fall, the checks are mailed out or money is directly deposited into hundreds of thousands of bank accounts. These checks have been for as little as $200 in the past, but around the turn of the century, they reached their highest level ever at the time we lived there—just shy of $2000 (there have been higher ones since, I think). Remember, that is for every eligible man, woman, and child. A family of 5 that year would have received $10,000.
There is a complex formula that determines how much money will be available in the fund and then the individual payouts are determined by how many people apply (believe it or not, some people “forget” to send in their applications!). Some of the money in the fund goes to pay for various state services, but any alteration in the formula or the breakdown of how the money will be spent, requires a vote. It has never gotten that far because there is always a huge outcry whenever anyone suggests such a thing.
video is (2m:08s)
