By Dave Bronson and Josh Church
Alaskans are watching the state they love become more expensive, less affordable, and harder to build in every single year.
Energy prices are crushing families.
Housing costs keep climbing.
Young people are leaving.
Major projects are stalled.
Government keeps growing.
And politicians keep talking while Alaska falls further behind.
The political establishment has had years to fix these problems. Instead, they gave us delay, excuses, bureaucracy, and managed decline.
Alaskans are tired of it.
This state was built by tough, independent people who believed in growth, hard work, resource development, and opportunity. Alaska was never meant to become a state where leaders apologize for development while families struggle to pay heating bills.
We are sitting on some of the largest resource wealth in the world, yet many Alaskans are paying some of the highest energy prices in America. That is political failure.
The Alaska gasline should already be under construction.
We should be aggressively developing our resources, opening more land for housing, building roads and infrastructure, strengthening our ports, supporting mining, growing timber, expanding energy production, and creating jobs that allow young families to stay here and build a future.
Instead, too many politicians have become professional obstacles.
The truth is simple: government does not create prosperity. Workers do. Builders do. Entrepreneurs do. Miners do. Fishermen do. Truck drivers, welders, mechanics, contractors, and small business owners do.
Government’s job is to stop getting in the way.
Alaska also desperately needs fiscal discipline again. For too long, politicians have spent money irresponsibly while refusing to address long term structural problems. Families across Alaska are forced to budget every month. Government should too.
At the same time, we can protect hunting, fishing, wildlife, and Alaska’s outdoor traditions while still supporting responsible development. Conservatives should reject the false choice that Alaska must either produce resources or protect the outdoors. We can and should do both.
Most importantly, Alaska needs leaders willing to fight again.
Fight for affordable energy.
Fight for jobs.
Fight for development.
Fight for working families.
Fight for the right of Alaskans to build wealth, own property, raise families, and succeed in their own state.
Alaska’s future does not belong to the bureaucrats, the permanent political class, or the people trying to shut this state down piece by piece.
Alaska’s future belongs to the people willing to build it.
It is time to get Alaska building again.
This op-ed was voluntarily submitted by the Bronson-Church campaign and not solicited by Must Read Alaska. All candidates running for elected office are welcome and encouraged to submit articles for publication. Must Read Alaska unequivocally supports the election of a conservative candidate to the Office of Governor but does not endorse a particular candidate.
