Commissioners to Begich: Please try to keep up

In a letter to Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), two of the state's commissioners said that they were "surprised and dismayed" by comments made by the junior senator at a World Trade Center Alaska luncheon Monday. Begich had said that the Obama administration was frustrated by lack of progress on the Alaska natural gas pipeline project.

Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin and Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin provided a progress update in their letter and urged the senator to keep abreast of the latest developments. They told Begich that the project, known as AGIA, "is making significant progress toward becoming a reality" on a daily basis. The two also said that if the president in disappointed in the pipeline's progress, he hasn't told anyone in the Palin administration about it:

"President Obama has been supportive of the Alaska gas pipeline project from the very beginning of his presidential campaign to the present, and we applaud that support. Also, we have heard nothing from him or members of his administration that reflects frustration with the significant progress that is now occurring. Finally, an overwhelming majority of Democrats and Republicans in Congress have supported the pipeline as an essential element of a comprehensive energy policy."

The commissioners also challenged Begich to do something constructive rather than just throw brickbats from the sidelines:

"...if you have specific ideas that are not already on the table, we remain available to you and your staff to discuss ways in which the federal government can assist in the further development of the project."

Gov. Palin released a statement today in which she said that "substantial progress" had been made both of the competing projects to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope into Alberta, Canada:

"I am so very proud of our gasline team which works hard every day to make progress on this vital project for our state, without any need to seek publicity or achieve political advantage," Governor Palin said. "With no need for grandstanding, they have moved this project along with stakeholders and federal regulators, and that is going to pay enormous dividends in the future."

Rather than respond directly to Begich's contention, the governor let the two commissioners make the case, and her statement included a link to their letter to the freshman Democrat.

Now former Gov. Frank Murkowski, who was defeated by Gov. Palin in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary, has joined Democrat Begich in criticizing the Palin administration for what he contends is a lack of progress on the project. In a Daily News-Miner op-ed, Murkowski contends that as governor he had the the right approach for getting a natural gas pipeline to the lower 48 off the ground.

In her battle with Murkowski for the GOP nomination for governor, Palin had called the former governor's plan a giveaway to Big Oil:

In 2006, then-Governor Frank Murkowski championed legislation that would have gotten a new pipeline going. Independent consultants hired by the state, however, concluded that the royalty and lease incentives in his proposal were worth some $10 billion to the oil companies. The deal would have also hampered the state's ability to raise taxes on the producers for decades.

Alaska's voters tended to agree with Sarah Palin, as she crushed Mukowski in a humiliating primary victory and went on to win the general election in November 2006. The new governor immediately pushed for a gas deal of her own. Rather than continue negotiations with the big three oil companies, Alaska's legislature passed a bill offering tye inducement of reimbursement by the state of up to $500 million in start up costs. Of the five companies which submitted proposals, Gov. Palin chose TransCanada, America's largest pipeline operator. Legislators agreed and awarded TransCanada the license. Gov. Palin formally signed the AGIA bill on Aug. 20.

Once Big Oil realized that its hard line on taxes had worked against its own interests, it took a new approach. BP and ConocoPhillips announced plans to construct Denali, their own major pipeline project. It was exactly what Alaskan officials had originally asked from the producers, only gone now was their demand to be locked in at a given tax rate for 25 years. Kurt Gibson, deputy commissioner of Alaska's Oil & Gas Division remarked:

"Now the story they're telling is 'We'll figure out the taxes later.' That's a pretty stark departure."

The bottom line is that former governor Murkowski's gas pipeline agreement with the oil companies was not approved by Alaska's legislature, either during its regular session or during the additional special sessions he called in 2006. It was not approved by the state's voters that same year, which is why he finds himself no longer in the governor's office. He can continue to claim that his was the better way, but events have proven his argument to be without merit. Like Begich, the best he seems able to do is criticize Gov. Palin, and also like Begich, he's not fooling many Alaskans.  

- JP