Parnell lays out path to gas line

In his state of the State address last week, Gov. Parnell set out a path for reaching Alaska’s hoped for natural gas development. Its two pronged approach looks at getting Alaska gas for Alaskans, and as an ambitious new economic project to serve for years to come.
Let’s hope this new momentum holds so that the community goal in Homer to gain natural gas becomes part of the entire picture. Fairbanks also shoulders its energy burden, and would like to pursue broader natural gas distribution for its citizens.
Other remarks by Gov. Parnell place Alaska in the context of great changes and challenges ahead. Yet, we go there in a stable frame and for the most part, the governor imparts a great deal of optimism.
Parnell contrasted Alaska’s stability with a period of global challenges. In the Middle East and Africa, revolutions have swept across the region, while Iran’s nuclear ambitions “cast a menacing shadow. In Europe, a debt crisis threatens to plunge the global economy into an abyss. Meanwhile, America’s economy teeters between recession and recovery,” he said.
Amid this sea of uncertainty, “Alaska has emerged as a rock of stability.” Millions of Americans go without work, yet Alaska’s unemployment rate remains nearly one and a half points below the national average. While the dream of home ownership has turned into a nightmare for many American families, Alaska has posted the nation’s lowest foreclosure levels.
“While more Americans slip below the poverty line, Alaska’s median income has remained among the highest in the country. And while many states face unprecedented budget deficits, we have preserved surpluses of nearly $13 billion. As Alaska leads our nation to a new era of growth and opportunity, our friends in the Lower 48 have more reason than ever to look north to the future,” he said.
“The upheaval in the Middle East can seem a world away, but Americans pay the price for our heavy dependence on foreign oil. The debt troubles in Europe can sound distant, but our fishermen – and their families – depend on these nations to buy their seafood.”
With these challenges looming, the governor warns that Alaska shouldn’t be complacent.
Parnell made an appeal to Alaskans to stand with him. How we do that is to understand the downward trend of flow in the Trans Alaska Pipeline, he said. Unless we act to reverse this decline, Alaska will pay a stiff price in lost jobs and lower revenue. How that bears out in his quest to grant incentives in the form of lower taxes is the battle in the weeks ahead.
How the governor frames that is a continued insistence that Alaska needs to give up short-term gains for long-term growth. For legislators and citizens to say yes to his proposition, there needs to be give and take.
“So tonight I’m asking each of you to vote yes on meaningful tax reform. The logic is clear: Meaningful tax reform means Alaska will have a more competitive economy. A more competitive Alaska economy means more investment in Alaska. More investment in Alaska means more oil production. And more oil production means a bigger economic pie for Alaskans.”
We will see how legislators analyze the governor’s plans in the give and take ahead, what exactly emerges as Alaska’s tax policy on the oil companies whom Alaskans are forced to depend upon.
As the governor has asked, Alaskans will stand beside him with the hope of a stable future, jobs and a diversified economy. We hope he stands by Alaskans as well, as they point out any fair gas development in the future needs to include supplying it for Alaskans.