Alaska prosperity attainable

To the editor:

Congratulations, Gov. Bill Walker. History was made with your election, and with your leadership, change will come that will benefit all Alaskans for generations. We are at the crossroads of economic prosperity.

The Mat-Su Borough, the city of Houston and House District 10 are in a unique position, poised to play a vital role in securing Alaska economic stability. The development of Port MacKenzie, including a LNG plant, the Houston-to-Port MacKenzie rail spur, the proposed Knik Arm bridge, a commercial truck route to what will be Alaska’s largest deep-water port and the Little Susitna Moist Air Incubation are all opportunities within reach; the likes of which our state has not seen in decades.

As Alaskans, we want our children and grandchildren to be able to live in and enjoy this great state. We need to look now to the future and embrace a diversified economy with jobs that are not so reliant on the oil industry. We must explore opportunities in mining, fishing, logging, local manufacturing and in lowering the cost of transporting goods to and from interior Alaska. We should and must invest in economic opportunities that make sense and can be accomplished.

We can achieve great things for our children and grandchildren with modest investment today that will pay tenfold, a hundredfold, for future generations tomorrow. While we have the chance, let’s not pass it up and look back, regretting what should have been. Some of Alaska’s greatest opportunities since the pipeline days are right here, right now, in our own backyard.

Alaska is the Last Frontier. We are the wealthiest state in nation, and it’s time to stop acting like we’re members of a Third World nation and become the leader in a new age of prosperity.

Roger Purcell

Houston