Be self-reliant — produce energy we can afford
October 16th, 2006
As Alaskans, we pride ourselves for being an “energy state,” but we pay too much for energy. This problem hits rural Alaska particularly hard, packing an added punch because communities already suffer from the loss of municipal assistance and revenue sharing, and our seniors have had their Longevity Bonuses taken away. While the state treasury counts billions in extra cash from the high price of oil, rural heating bills have gone through the roof, and in hub communities gas at the pump costs almost $5/gallon. In the most unfortunate cases, elders have had to chose between heating and eating, and some villages report paying almost $1 per kilowatt hour, ten times the price in Anchorage. That’s why it’s important that the debate over the gasline include solutions that will lead to lower cost energy.
Ethan at the Talkeetna Dialogs
September 9th, 2006
You know, America’s greatest generation had its rendezvous with destiny and Alaska’s greatest generation had a rendezvous with destiny and the challenge for this generation is to keep that promise. And that’s what campaigns are all about, is maintaining the principles of those who came before us with the programs that are going to serve as legacies for our children. And the issues that the people have raised today are going to be issues that we’ve talked about in Juneau, the issues that we have talked about across the state, they are issues that people talk about at their dinner tables all the time.
Alaskans’ Health Care Concerns Demand Action
April 2nd, 2006
I’ve participated in discussions across Alaska about our health care system. The conversations don’t usually start out about health care. They are stories about life – about our families, our businesses. They’re about money and the quality and availability of medical treatment. They’ve taken place in villages and hospitals, on city streets and in rural clinics, in homes, businesses and airports.
Ethan at the Democratic Leadership Council’s annual National Conversation in Columbus, Ohio
July 23rd, 2005
Friends, kindred spirits, fellow dreamers, the American dream is also an American promise and an American responsibility. It’s a dream of prosperity and justice, a simple dream that our children will lead better lives than we do today — safer, healthier, materially more secure, intellectually more enriching and spiritually more fulfilling. It’s Dr. King’s dream that one day we’ll judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
Berkowitz address transportation workers at the United Transportation Union, National Convention
June 14th, 2005
Welcome to Alaska, the Last Frontier… where moose are a road hazard, fish are a way of life, and where people know not only the bus schedules, but the train schedules, the ferry schedules and the plane schedules. Transportation matters to us and on behalf of Alaska, thank you for moving our freight and our people. We don’t know where we would be without you, but it certainly would be somewhere else.
Ethan Berkowitz at the 48th Annual NEA-Alaska Delegate Assembly
January 30th, 2004
I figured I’d get Noah started the same way the rest of us grew up in the family, which is with education all around us. I come from a line of teachers. My grandmother taught for a long time. She told me many times that if it hadn’t been for the NEA she’d have never gotten a job. And my sister-in-law teaches here at Bartlett. My mother-in-law teaches. So for me this is a little bit like a family dinner, except there is a lot more people here, and I don’t have to clean dishes afterwards.
