Alaska teens oppose 20,000 acre industrial park proposal

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority’s plans to develop industrial facilities on land that currently belongs to Alaskan citizens has generated extensive criticism for many reasons. As a group of teens working to preserve our environment to the best of our abilities, we feel that it is our responsibility to inform Alaskans about how our land is at risk. 

The Department of Natural Resources has proposed transferring nearly 20,000 acres of land near Houston, Alaska to AIDEA. That state agency finances and promotes development projects, and the new land transfer could give them control of public lands to be sacrificed for another “industrial park.”

AIDEA is a corporation with a history of bad investments that have resulted in nearly $233.3 million in losses over the last 35 years, according to an analysis by economists Milt Barker and Gregg Erickson in 2022. These investments included an Anchorage fish processing plant (now ChangePoint Church), the proposed Ambler Road and Mustang Oil. These projects, and more, misused Alaskans’ money and received major community backlash or failed on their own.

AIDEA says it plans to build roads, manufacturing pads and a data center on the land. Those plans could affect nearly 41.8 miles of trails used for running, biking and gathering firewood, along with supporting salmon, moose and other wildlife.

Data centers are being built in places all over the country to train and store data for artificial intelligence systems. A single medium-sized data center uses about 300,000 gallons of water a day along with lots of electricity, putting strain on the local communities’ power and water sources. Additionally, researchers have found that data centers harm the environment through carbon emissions and pollution from PFAS, chemicals that don’t break down in the environment over time. 

Alaska Youth for Environmental Action teens from Anchorage are concerned because the proposed industrial park could be vastly harmful. We should not sacrifice our land, water and communities to power an industry serving distant demands. This for-profit development and industrialization can permanently alter the land which is the foundation of our food, culture and livelihoods. Rather, the state of Alaska should prioritize our Alaskan ecosystems and the people that depend on them.

The deadline for public comment is September 14th. It is important to have our voices heard.