Politics interfering with tourism

Seems there's a bit of tension between Alaska and Washington state. An Alaskan state representative wants to make a point by suspending a popular ferry service between a northern Washington port in Bellingham to Alaska - all because a couple of WA senators fought against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (read the Seattle-PI article)

According to the article, this isn't the first time the states have been at odds with one another over an environmental issue - disputes over fishing and timber plagued the states in the past, but this is the first time the ferry service has come into play.

Eliminating a revenue generating service to make a point seems rather silly, especially when both sides would be hurt by the move. Imposing sanctions and penalties on other governments to gain a desired outcome isn't new obviously - but perhaps a bit much on the domestic front.

It is unlikely that the Alaskan legislature will pass this resolution. Which is good news for the ferry service, a red state, a blue state and ANWR.