Alaskans are beginning to ask the multi-million dollar question about their veteran politician, and oil-industry stooge, Don Young. At the end of last month, one journalist writing for the Alaskan Dispatch newspaper asked “Are Don Young’s political antics an Alaska asset or liability?” The trouble for Alaskans is that Young, whose slogan is the “Congressman … Read More
ANWR
Good Riddance, Uncle Ted
So ends a political era. The Alaskan senator Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in history and a force on Capitol Hill for decades, yesterday finally conceded the re-election race to his Democratic rival, Mayor Mark Begich. This brings us to the end of the “Uncle Ted” era in Alaska, when billions of Stevens’s “pork-barrel” … Read More
Bush: Open ANWR to Ease Gas Crisis
Like a record stuck in a bad groove, President Bush has reiterated his call for Congress to open more areas for drilling, including ANWR. “If Congress is truly interested in solving the problem, they can send the right signal by saying we’re going to explore for oil and gas in the U.S. territories,” starting with … Read More
Land Deal Could Open Alaskan Refuge to Drilling
A controversial land swap proposal could open portions of an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, but the scheme is already dividing native Alaskans. Supporters of the plan to exchange land in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which lies just south of the more-famous ANWR, want the plan approved before the pro-oil Bush Administration … Read More
Democrats Unveil New Energy Tax Package
In the US, Democrats have unveiled a new wide-ranging, $17.5 billion renewable energy and building-efficiency bill even though Republicans have repeatedly blocked their efforts in the Senate. In renewing their push, Democrats are relying on the same financing plan that produced Senate opposition last year, repealing tax breaks granted to oil and gas companies.
North Slope Still Holds Billions of Barrels of Oil (but watch out ANWR)
Oil and natural gas production at Alaska’s North Slope may have been declining since 1988 but the region holds promise if energy prices stay high and Congress opens key areas to exploration, the U.S. Energy Department is arguing. The North Slope could yield up to 36 billion barrels of oil and 137 trillion cubic feet … Read More
Shell Hires ANWR Drilling Advocates
Ok – so not to be outdone by Exxon that hired Bush advisor Philip Cooney, the former chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Shell has now appointed Gale Norton, a former interior secretary for the Bush administration, as a senior legal advisor. Gale Norton supports opening up the Arctic National … Read More
Devils in details: State of the Union
If you listened to, or read, President Bush’s speech last night, you might be thinking that a 20% reduction in gasoline use over the next decade sounds pretty good. That is, until you go to the White House website to read the details of the plan, in which they use a word the President conveniently … Read More
Democrats Move to Protect ANWR
The Anchorage Daily News reports how “opponents of oil drilling in ANWR – the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – are going on the offense after playing defense for a quarter of a century. They want the new Democratic Congress to make an oft-challenged drilling ban permanent.