Why Is Sullivan In Trouble In AK? Surprise, Surprise - His Corrupt Support Of The Pebble Mine
But with just weeks to go before Election Day, the impossible is beginning to seem possible. Gross, an independent running on the Democratic ticket, finds himself a rising star with a deep-pocketed campaign, just as Sullivan finds himself in the midst of a controversy that could be his undoing in the race.
Sullivan has been caught up in the uproar over the so-called Pebble Tapes: A series of secretly recorded conversations released last month by the Environmental Investigation Agency—a watchdog group—that were made by actors posing as potential investors to speak with the heads of the two companies behind the contested Pebble Mine project.
Pebble Mine would bring large-scale mining to the headwaters of Bristol Bay, which supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world. It has been in the works for years, and has been opposed by a majority of Alaskans, including Gross, because of its potential to damage the fishery and the industries, tribes and wildlife that depend on it. Before the tapes were released, Sullivan had publicly remained mostly on the fence, only coming out clearly against the mine after federal regulators in August delayed issuing a key permit because of concerns about its environmental impacts.
In one recording, Tom Collier, who resigned as CEO of Pebble Limited Partnership after the release of the tapes, said that Sullivan's lack of a firm public stance on the mine would work in its favor. Collier indicated that he was in touch with Sullivan's camp, and that they supported the project—albeit from the sidelines. "He's gonna try to ride out the election and remain quiet," Collier said. Since the release of the tapes, Sullivan and his campaign have pushed back, expressing vocal opposition to the Pebble Mine project. But the incumbent's troubles aren't over. In early October, an investigation by journalists from Popular Information found that Sullivan had received $34,150 in campaign contributions from the mine—about 3.5 times more than what had been previously reported.
EDIT
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16102020/alaska-senate-race-election-2020-dan-sullivan-al-gross
