Gov Palin has opportunity to educate Ken Salazar

KTUU's Jason Moore reports that US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will visit Alaska next week to learn more about offshore oil and gas development in the state's coastal waters:

On Monday, Salazar will travel to Dillingham to hear concerns about plans for a lease sale in the outer waters of Bristol Bay.

On Tuesday, the secretary will hold a hearing in Anchorage on the pros and cons of that development.

Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska's congressional delegation are expected to attend Tuesday morning's hearings at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center.

According to television station KTVA and the Interior Department, the morning sessions of the hearings will be carried live by webcast.

It's an excellent opportunity for the governor to make Alaska's case for domestic energy security to a cabinet-level official of the Obama administration, which is widely expected to be less receptive to industry than the Bush administration which preceded it. As Moore observes, "the verdict on how it will handle the offshore debate is still out."

Hopefully, the governor and the state's congressional delegation will present a compelling case to the secretary for the importance of Alaska's energy resources to the lower 48.

Barron's, meanwhile, is not convinced that Salazar is willing to give the argument for increased domestic oil and gas production a fair hearing.

- JP