Opinion

Dear Editor, Re Governor Bryan's Debt Refinancing Proposal: We Don't Need to Reinvent the Wheel

Dear Editor, We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Matthew Johnson in his scholarly and well researched paper titled “Black Gold of Paradise: Negotiating Oil Pollution in the US Virgin Islands” has laid out the research, data and justification for the return of gasoline taxes paid by HOVIC/HOVENSA, collected from 1966 through 2012, and paid to the U.S. Treasury. Naysayers would see this as a pie in the sky attempt to have the federal government bailout GERS, WAPA and the debt-ridden Virgin Islands from the brink of financial disaster. To quote the abstract of the article, “The refinery destroyed the territory’s largest mangrove forest, fouled coastal waters, contaminated groundwater, and sent clouds of carcinogens into neighboring communities.” Why should the Virgin Islands and oil industry concern the Biden administration? Recall that during the 2nd presidential debate, a major issue raised was environmental concerns with communities that were considered fence-line high risk, facin...