The Republicans and Gov. Sean Parnell are taking the Walker-Mallott ticket seriously. Good sources say that Republican strategist and political operative Tom Wright, who is considered to be one of the best in the state, will be taking a leave of absence from his position as COS to the Alaska Speaker of the House to join the Parnell campaign team. Other unconfirmed rumors suggest that some other top talent may be on board soon.
Parnell should be taking things seriously. The Dems are fired up about the Walker-Mallott merger. They smell a win, which is a new experience for many of them. Perhaps they should have long ago chosen a Republican to head their ticket. Why not, if you can win? Aren’t partly labels just labels, after all? Indeed, throwing off those labels seemed to make many of them giddy on Friday night at the Democrat’s Art of Politics, a art-auction fundraiser for the Democrat Party, which supposedly was the brainchild of IBEW’s Melinda Taylor. It was a big hit. About 200 or so showed. So many, in fact that there weren’t enough items to bid on, and people walked away with money burning in their pockets, which, because we aren’t doing labels anymore, might just show up in Republican coffers. Spotted: Vic Fischer and his wife Jane Angvik, who are treated like royally at these things. Travel guru Scott McMurran was there. Assemblywoman Elvi Gray-Jackson whose dress elicited oohs and aahs. A particularly ebullient Elsun Lawson; a dapper former Lt. Gov. Steve McAlpine, who likes to be called “Stephen.” Assemblyman Pete Petersen, Michelle Scannell and state Senate candidate Clare Ross huddled in the hallway, no doubt planning some sort of massive takeover of something. Lots of legislators were there. Congressional candidate Forrest Dunbar was a late arrival, and received a warm round of applause.
From an interview with KCAW in Sitka:
Begich said the unity ticket seemed to offer the best chance of beating Parnell and his running mate, who is also named Dan Sullivan.
KCAW: Did you have any role in the negotiations for the unity ticket?
Begich: I was happy to give my thoughts, I think it’s important, you know I know Byron personally, I know Walker personally…
KCAW: Were your thoughts supportive about the idea?
Begich: We had a good conversation.
CQ’s Roll Call, an inside the beltway political publication, updated their list of the 10 most vulnerable members of the U.S. Senate. Alaska’s Mark Begich is now ranked as the third most vulnerable senator in America. In the meantime, Larry Sabato moves the governor’s race from “safe Republican” to “lean Republican.”
Tuesday evening, the same day that the Walker-Mallott ticket was announced, a fired up Republican base showed up at a fundraiser for Gov. Sean Parnell at the Embassy Suites in Anchorage. About 75 people showed. Six of his cabinet members were there including: DOL Diane Blumer, DOA Curtis Thayer, DNR Joe Balash, DEC Larry Hartig, DOT Pat Kemp and AFD&G Cora Campbell. Others spotted at the event: Alyce Hanley, Aves Thompson from the Alaska’s Trucker’s Association, Scott Jepson, Tom Maloney from CH2M Hill, Connie McKenzie, Dick Stallone, Christina George, and AHFC’s Brian Butcher to name a few.
Hollis French might not be on the Democratic ballot in November, if there is even such a thing anymore. However, he’s far from forgotten. Vive la politico! People are trying to talk him into looking at a 2015 bid for the Anchorage mayor’s seat. Word is that he’s interested. He’s got a pile of money–around $100,000–that he raised and has on hand that could be carried into the city race.
Starting Monday, talk radio in Anchorage gets a whole lot smarter and sassier. State Sen. Lesil McGuire will be joining local talk show host Eddie Burke for the 4 – 6 pm drive time slot on KOAN radio.
On Friday, about 100 or so women gathered at noon at the Atwood Mansion for a “Women for Dan Sullivan” fundraiser. Sullivan’s wife, Julie Fate-Sullivan, was one of the speakers. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the other. Spotted: Former Eagle River legislator Nancy Dahlstrom, Angelina Burney. Anchorage Assembly member Jennifer Johnson were there. MSI communications made a good showing. Legislative staffer Kim Skipper wore the best dress of the event. Others spotted: Mary Ann Pease, Dawn Linton, Karina Waller, Cathy Tilton, Tara Sweeney, BP Alaska prez Janet Weiss. There was one man there. Someone named Daniel, who Murkowski called the smartest man in Anchorage. “He knows where to be,” she said.
The Gaslactic Empire, I mean the Gasline Development Corporation, keeps expanding. Leslie “Fritz” Krusen has been named Vice President, Alaska LNG with primary technical and project management responsibility for AGDC’s participation in the Alaska LNG export project. Krusen will be joining AGDC following a 36 year career with ConocoPhillips.
Sometimes there’s even spoils in defeat. Cale Green, campaign worker for the Treadwell for Senate Committee, has been given a job working with the lt. governor and Division of Elections ostensibly to help coordinate the required public meetings on the ballot measures that are scheduled to be on the general election ballot in November.
Thursday was the birthday of one of my favorite labor leaders in the state – – Joey Merrick. Vince Beltrami should have gotten a birthday cake for him, inscribed with the words, “We Are the Champions.” And they should have eaten it while voting on the Walker-Mallott endorsement.
GOP grande dame Myrna Maynard turned 80 years old on Saturday. If Merrick’s song is “We are the Champions,” surely Maynard’s is “Killer Queen.”
Amy Demboski’s song, whose birthday was also this weekend: “Under Pressure.”
Tweet of the week:
Now, Scott is a friend/hard working Legislator. But how do U get “New. Energy/Vision” from a 4-term incumbent? lol pic.twitter.com/INfILbufq1
— Kyle Johansen (@kylejo574) September 6, 2014
Here’s a tweet from Tom Bearup’s 2012 sheriff’s race when he was living in Pinal Count, Arizona.
Meet Teddie Bearup! pic.twitter.com/uztVQFIw — Tom Bearup (@TomBearupAZ) July 10, 2012
Some things never change. Bearup’s now running for mayor of the Kenai borough. Here’s his campaign sign:
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
Walker/Mallott – 2014
Milestones for Alaska LNG Project……..
1971 – at UAF when BigOil was told they were stupid for thinking about burying a 150F heated crude-pipe 800miles across permafrost in Alaska…
…I began to advocate publicly that BigOil was stupid for not building a gasline first.
At the same time I was beginning to realize that gas is a superior feedstock compared to CRUDE.
1970-75 – I kept pushing this issue in Fairbanks to who ever would listen, until it earned me a bunch of bullet holes fired into my Ford van while driving it down the Steese Hwy.
…….. I shut my mouth after that.
—- the rest is history until today when we are still Stuck on Stupid & Stupider….
“””””The Alaska LNG Project partners – BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, TransCanada and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. – said the FERC process lays the groundwork for the environmental review required for the siting, design and permitting for project construction.”””””
……..truly a pipeline to the Permanent Fund, making Alaska into a corporate controlled resource extraction colony. Alaska’s crime&suicide rate will never be brought under control if this happens.
Walker/Mallott – 2014 …….. In Defense of All Alaskans
TOKYO, May 28 (RIA Novosti), Ksenia Naka – In an attempt to cut Japan’s energy costs after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a group of 33 Japanese lawmakers will soon submit a project for review to build a gas pipeline between Japan and Russia’s Sakhalin Island, project leader Naokazu Takemoto told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
=========
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli have launched the construction of the first part of Gazprom’s Power of Siberia pipeline – which will deliver 4 trillion cubic meters of gas to China over 30 years.
“The new gas branch will significantly strengthen the economic cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and above all – our key partner China,” Putin said at the ceremony outside the city of Yakutsk – the capital of Russia’s Republic of Yakutia on Monday.
==============
==============
……. so, by blowing $65billion on this bloated boondoggle pipedream; just how long do you think it will take to amortize this orgy of idiocy ???
$65billion for a gas-orgy in Alaska when the industry is still flaring off and wasting gas all over Fracking America/Canada..!!
******** Seems to me if you have $65billion burning a hole in your pocket you are much better off investing 80% of that in cleaning up Fukushima and putting all of the global nukemess in deep&safe retirement.
How many years of amortization have you calculated for this ramrod deal to pay itself off ???
All your big corporate monopoly gas plans will go up in smoke if you don’t prioritize your capital reserves with a sober and enlightened global perspective…
What happens when your market dries up because the average age of life expectancy for humans drops from 80 down to 50 ???
The same league of “experts” who have walked us into quicksand in the nuke-industry are also the league of “gas boomers” who are trying to dictate the architecture of all of Alaska’s resources, not just the gas-boom… Pebble and more until Alaska looks like the moon.
On 3/11/11 Fukushima Daichii NPP had about 2200 tons of fuelrods in inventory, over 6% of that was MOX plutonium…
Recently the Fukushima Fallout in seawater on the coast of AK,BC,WA,OR,CA has been tested to have double the concentration of the 2010 EPA max safety levels. Now EPA has offered a fig-leaf to DOE by raising the allowable limit to much higher than the previous standard.
Japan’s 55 nuke-powerstations represent just 1% of the entire global threat…
350 of the nukeplants & fuelpools worldwide are under great risk of failure if a Carrington Event or other major disaster happens [quakes, volcanoes, ebola, etc]
……..GET REAL; $65billion is a pipeline straight to the heart of the Permanent Fund and more.
It’s a bank robbery first, then it’s a gas-orgy, then it’s silence for the next million years until most of the radioactivity wears off.
……..we still have an opportunity to keep from wrecking the entire earth, but from here on out, in both Time & Capital, Alaska &USA can only afford one more megaproject.
And, this $65billion goofball gas-orgy is not the smart way to manage our future.
Much more important than Alaska’s BS……..
America desperately needs a viable replacement to the failed WIPP facility in Carlsbad,NM.
For those of you who only follow Alaska’s flatulence; WIPP was America’s only operating nukewaste repository, it was of very poor design, and it had a fire/explosion this past Valentine’s Day.
WIPP leaked plutonium & americium, etc etc all over 5 states in detectable amounts.
WIPP is now closed, probably permanently.
……..we do have sensible and profitable alternatives to fix this terrible nuke-mess trouble we are in.
>> Stuff a cork in the mouths of 90% of the nuke-mob who are in a panic yelling at the top of their lungs, and listen to the quiet 10% who do have several very good plans to solve this wreckage.
Get The BIG PICTURE……..
WALKER/MALLOTT – 2014
Milestones for Alaska LNG Project
The partners in the Alaska LNG Project have submitted a formal request to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission to start the pre-file process for the project, the companies said in a statement issued this morning.
Later in the morning the governor’s office issued a statement confirming news reports from earlier in the day that the state and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry signed a memorandum of understanding on the Alaska LNG Project and other Alaskan natural resource development opportunities. Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Balash signed for the state.
The Alaska LNG Project formally entered the pre-front end engineering and design, or pre-FEED, stage in July, during which hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on design and engineering, and the producers and the state will begin to engage the LNG market.
The MOU with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry “is yet another key milestone in the State’s rapid advancement of the commercialization of our world-class North Slope natural gas resources – to Alaskans first and then to markets beyond,” Gov. Sean Parnell said in today’s statement.
The Alaska LNG Project partners – BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, TransCanada and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. – said the FERC process lays the groundwork for the environmental review required for the siting, design and permitting for project construction.
– KRISTEN NELSON
See story in Sept. 14 issue, available online Friday, Sept. 12, at http://www.PetroleumNews.com.
Has he laid out his vision somewhere else?…
…a rising tide floats all boats,
if those boat owners keep their boats leakproof,
including including BigOil’s big leaky mess of a stupid stuportanker boat.
Loose Lips sinks Ships.
We are doing this for your own good,
it’s a win-win-win for everybody…
I have intentionally leaked a lot of clues so that the young up and coming smart ones know where to look for opportunity in career placement.
The big global corporations have the entire planet in a dysfunky tailspin, like a drunk pilot flying a jetliner.
If I totally laid it all out for you in a 10,000page report it would create another insider trading scandal.
Wally Hickel did say once the only reason he got the Capt Cook Hotel built is he kept it a secret so people could not find a way to stop him.
Walker/Mallott-2014
Stockholder,
For some reason I cannot reply to your posts below. Two quick points. I wasn’t referring to the Expression of Interest in 2012. I was referring to the opportunity to PURCHASE capacity in the AGIA line in 2010-2011. TC and Exxon were willing to build a pipeline to Valdez at that time. Walker had an opportunity to move the project forward. In fact, if Bill Walker had customers ready to go, like he said he did, they would have signed the precedent agreements. He didn’t. When the rubber hit the road, Walker, AGPA, and his Asian customers were absent.
Walker’s op-ed in the News Miner doesn’t say how he will advance the project. I wish he would provide more details. Has he laid out his vision somewhere else?
I hear some pitiful pleading for Parnell from the petroleum crowd…
The time has come for REAL Alaskans to show the petroleo-pistoleros that CRUDE-feedstock is OBSOLETE, and it has been obsolete stone-age since before TAPS was built.
The petroleos are like the buggy-whip makers marching & protesting when the entire world was in the grip of the Great Horse Manure Crisis of the 1890’s.
goog: horse manure crisis
…in the 1890’s there was a small group of progressive visionaries who were busy developing automobiles, but the bigshot politicians and corporations were slow to see the real potential of the automotive transport industry until Henry Ford got going on mass production.
The way BigOil has been operating in Alaska over the past 50years has been terribly inefficient, sloppy, & shamefully arrogant.
The total thermodynamic efficiency of the industry has been no better than 10% over the past 100 years, and it’s long past time for that to change.
Walker/Mallott-2014
Let’s hope that the governor gets his act together quickly and gets a new campaign team that is competent and up for the task. We can’t afford Walker.
You should be a little more curious as to why some people have fled the administration. If you knew the answers (and I suspect you do) you’d be singing another tune.
You are simply not correct in your assertions. Bill Walker brought enough market interest to Alaska that there were at least seven different companies that were trying to advance a project under AGIA. The AGIA, Exxon, TC, solicitation of interest was in the fall of 2012. The combined, public market interest was over 5 billion cubic feet of gas per day.
Sean Parnell NEVER responded.
Exxon NEVER responded.
TransCanada NEVER responded.
But Parnell did write checks for about $300 million dollars to these players. What does Alaska have to show for it, Jon?
Please be specific. Tell us in details what Alaska owns for that $300 million.
Also, readers should be interested in this article written by Bill Walker that explains the multiple steps he took to advance a gasline for Alaskans- the project Alaskans asked for:
http://www.newsminer.com/opinion/community_perspectives/exxon-goes-too-far-with-gas-line-claim/article_fea58fec-194e-11e4-a50b-0017a43b2370.html?mode=jqm
Jon,
The crime was creating the job not hiring the sitting legislator. Governor Parnell, a lawyer himself, should be able to read and not have to ask the Department of Law for permission. Sean Parnell cannot be so stupid that he couldn’t understand the intent of that Constitutional provision. If he was that stupid he should have been able to understand the language telling him, in no uncertain terms, he simply could not create a job to offer to a sitting legislator, regardless of the intent of the Constitution. I submit he understood both the language and the intent of the language, and then he conspired to evade both the language and the intent. More, there are witnesses who have stated on the radio they knew that the plan was discussed before the hire. Parnell’s plot was exposed and he did nothing but accept her resignation. He should have faced impeachment and well might have if he wasn’t able to appoint the Attorney General.
Again, his conduct was something a “good a decent man” would not do.
Jon,
I don’t know how familiar you are with the Department of Law or AG opinions, but I spent about a decade dealing with them in a previous position.
I would hear State officials brag about how they could get an AG’s opinion to suit whatever position they wanted. And these people weren’t the Governor either. One woman that I worked for who was the biggest abuser that I dealt with was a fairly low level manager who was simply a friend of an Assistant AG. Lets just say that some very unethical and inappropriate things happened with the Department of Law’s blessing.
I have read many of these opinions that are about 180 degrees out from the respective statute. I have seen multiple AG opinions that contradict one another. You can take your pick. And if none of them fit, go to a friendly Assistant AG or the Attorney General and get one to support your position.
The reasoning on some of these reads like something a five year old would come up with when rationalizing why they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Many of them were just embarrassing to read. Insane stuff like Clinton used, “What is the definition of is?”. Hard to believe an educated person came up with some of this stuff.
You see, the Attorney General works at the pleasure of the Governor. Therefore, if the AG wants to keep their job, they pretty much have to write an opinion that supports whatever position the Governor wants it to support. If the AG says, “That’s illegal, I can’t do that.” The Governor finds someone who will.
This is all fine and well. Other than some very inappropriate things get the AG’s approval. At some point though, I would think that someone with a juris doctorate and an understanding of the law may decide that in the event the shoe drops and the are held accountable (usually this type of thing happens when the Department of Justice i.e. the Feds look into it), they may not be able to justify their opinion.
I often wondered it this is not what happened with Dan Sullivan when he was AG. Out of the blue, he was suddenly Commissioner Sullivan. I have often wondered if Sean asked him to do something that he couldn’t reconcile and bowed out. Then was given the DNR Commissioner position because he knew too much.
The remedy would be to have the AG as an independent entity. Not that the AG couldn’t still do inappropriate things (they’re lawyers for christ sake. Finding one with a moral compass is a rarity), but the Executive branch wouldn’t have control of the AG.
So, my point is that just because the AG says it’s okay, doesn’t mean that it’s legal or the right thing to do. It just means that the AG won’t prosecute you for doing it. But if a higher power comes in and holds them accountable, there could be trouble.
I am convinced that if the DOJ/ FBI came in and scrutinized the AG opinions, that there would be grounds for prosecution. Then again a good lawyer could come up with an argument like “What is the definition of is”. That one still kills me and is a sad commentary on our legal system.
It’s no wonder that these guys are against “federal overreach”. The Feds looking into their actions could mean incarceration for many of them.
I don’t work for the state – I left about two years ago. I have no idea why Burns quit.
AGPA had an opportunity to purchase capacity in the AGIA line and get gas to Valdez – this was always an option. Bill Walker talked a huge game but never showed up with the customers when he had the chance. If he had, we would have had precedent agreements in place and AGIA would not be a dead letter. He had a pipeline company ready to build him a gas line. Walker said he had the customers, but what he didn’t tell Alaskans is that his customers were only willing to give us a non-binding expression of interests and nothing more.
Walker had his chance. He never delivered. So how much money has Walker made off of AGPA and what does he have to show for it? Is this publically available? Walker says he is a big fan of transparency. Maybe he should let us all know.
Lynn,
As usual, you’ve left out some import facts. First, before hiring the sitting legislator, the Governor’s Office asked the Dept. of Law if the hire was legal. An Assistant AG issued a short memo relying on longstanding practice going back to the 1970s and told the Governor’s Office that the hire was legit. AG Sullvian was not involved in this initial advice provided to the Governor’s Office. (I was working at the AG’s office at the time, which is why I know this.) After the uproar, AG Sullivan personally investigated the matter and issued an AG’s Opinion that found that the practice – which again was something Governors had been doing for decades – was likely prohibited by the Constitution. I can send a link (again) of the opinion if you’d like.
McGuire is now a talk show host? It will be interesting to see if she takes listeners from her ex.
Jon,
I too am encouraged by the producer’s efforts. I won’t ague that they are not very good at what they do. That said, their motives are not the same as that of the sovereign, nor should they be. Why do we think a lawyer and a bunch of part time legislators can be useful “partners” with them other than as a source of money? We have no business in their league. We are like 12 year olds wearing NBA jerseys now; however you can’t see our shoes because we are standing on the bottoms of our new jerseys.
As to Cook Inlet, charging me twice as much instead of three times as much could, I guess, be described as good deal. But, as to not having firm supply contracts before any pipeline can be built to Cook Inlet – not so much.
Jon,
Your arrogance is apparent. The answer to your question is that the Port Authority was doing what the voters asked them to do, and Bill Walker respected those wishes.
Your boss is doing the opposite of what the voters wanted. How many hundreds of millions have been wasted on the Pipeline to Poverty- aka the bullet line? How about the $300 million Parnell wasted on AGIA (which included a LNG option).
AGPA spent money raised from the private sector, and they brought the markets to Alaska multiple times. Too bad Exxon would not sell natural gas, and your boss would not enforce the lease provisions. If Parnell had done the job the people elected him to do, we’d have a gas line today.
Maybe you would care to explain, in detail, why the last attorney general really quit? Was it because Parnell ordered him to do something unethical?
Lynn,
Several more points I forgot to address: prior to the resurgence the utilities did not have sufficient gas supplies through 2015. Now they have enough gas through 2018. This date will get pushed back to 2019 soon. And with more producers moving discoveries into production prices will begin to come down as well.
“Parnell’s own Department of Revenue project that by 2021 the AKLNG project could consume 21% of the state’s Unrestricted General Fund Revenues? Answer: Yes.” But you are also forgetting where they said once you have gas supply contracts we can enter into finacing agreements where we do not have to dedicate 21 percent.
“Did two of the major producers, under oath, testify to the RCA in July that they couldn’t foresee a reversal of the decline in oil production? Answer: Yes.” But you are missing where, according to Dermot Cole, these folks were relying on DOR’s very conservative production estimates. There is a ton of activity on the North Slope. It will start paying dividends soon.
Is this what a “good and decent man” would do? In 2010 Governor Sean Parnell created a new state job position for a sitting legislator. The State Constitution specifically prohibits this action: Alaska State Constitution, Article 2, Section 5: “…During the term for which elected and for one year thereafter, no legislator may be nominated, elected, or appointed to any other office or position of profit which has been created, or the salary or emoluments of which have been increased, while he was a member…” That is a very purposeful restriction intended to prohibit sitting legislators from being rewarded for performance while in office. Most constituents of that, or any, legislator simply cannot outbid the Governor for attention any more than I could have outbid Bill Allen for the attention of my legislator who went to prison for accepting favors.
Parnell’s actions after his hiring of her was revealed to the public are what might even more reflect on the actions of a “good and decent man”. Parnell claimed he only created the job after she resigned from the legislature. When the legislator in question told Dan Fagan that her and Parnell had discussed the job prior to her leaving, that alibi fell apart. The bottom line is that she soon resigned her new job. Parnell refused to stand by her and Parnell refused to accept full responsibility for his actions. That is not what a “good and decent man” would do in my book.
Lynn,
I forgot to put my name on the last comment. As to the gas commercialization effort, here’s what is different this time:
(1) we are getting to the point where the producers don’t need to keep injecting 8 bcf/d back into Prudhoe to get oil. Until recently, it made a lot more sense to keep the gas at Prudhoe so we could get more oil. But now we are beginning to reach the cross-over point where we can take 2 or 3 bcf/d from Prudhoe without losing too much oil. Put simply, the timing was never right for a gas line because we would lose way too much value by blowing down the field and seeing the oil dissipate. With less oil in the ground at Prudhoe this is becoming less of an issue.
(2) Point Thomson – this is a massive gas field that is finally moving into production. The producers are spending billions right now. And they are not spending this kind of money for 10,000 barrels of gas condensates. This is all a pre-investment for gas commercialization. Exxon always said that they would not develop the field until there was a gas pipeline. Well, now they are developing it.
(3) AGIA provided momentum for this effort. Exxon and TC did a tremendous amount of work on the gas treatment plant and the pipeline. Much of that work is being utilized for the current AK LNG effort. We are a lot close to a final investment decision because of AGIA.
(4) None of the projects you listed had all of the stakeholders aligned on a project. The progress to date is unprecedented.
(5) Exxon has put its top LNG team on this project. Why would they waste their best talent working on a pointless project? If they wanted to do this for show they could have easily put some third tier hack to lead the effort. The producers are also spending hundreds of millions to advance this project. Again, why would these companies waste money, resources, and personnel on a project that they don’t think is real? Why would they file for an export license? Why would they acquire hundreds of acres of land in the Kenai?
(6) The state’ equity stake benefits the project and Alaskans because it (i) improves the IRR for the producers and (ii) gets the state a lot more value — assuming LNG sells for 12-16 dollars or so.
As to your gas bills, you keep missing the point. The simple fact – which is a fact that you keep ignoring – is if MEA had to burn diesel at Eklutna (and they were considering it because gas supplies were dwindling) or if ENSTAR imported LNG (and they looked hard at this option in 2012) your utility bills would be two to three times higher. So yes, you should be grateful for the Cook Inlet resurgence, which is the ONLY reason why Eklutna isn’t going to be burning diesel and ENSTAR cancelled its efforts to import LNG.
I’ve offered a sign location to the Parnell campaign at my commercial property two times and they never showed to put one up as they said they would. Now, there’s a Walker sign there.
If he and his campaign are too inept to get a sign up, how in the world do you think they’ll ever get a gas pipeline built? Well, that’s why there’s a Walker sign there now.
Rob G,
Thank you so much for saying what needed to be said. Gov. Sean Parnell is a good and decent man and he is not a politician. All of the ugly, spurious accusations that the dems throw at him and the names they call him are mean. The bully mentality among his detractors is astounding. Do you hear any of the conservatives talking about Hollis French with such venom? I don’t.
Gov. Parnell does work hard and he keeps his head down, even when the ugliest of people call him Capt. Zero. All the Parnell haters lose their credibility when their words are purely hateful and involve name-calling and lies. What I admire most about him is his grace and peace to even those people who don’t deserve it. He doesn’t respond to the name calling or false accusations. What shocks me is that anyone gives credence to the attackers who use that language or who lie to smear him. If they can’t attack him on principle and policy, they go below the belt every time and, sadly, even this forum allows it. The liberal media — and it is liberal — has been so unfair to him.
Gov. Parnell is a good man, an honest man, a humble man of integrity and character. He truly loves this state and he truly loves people. You can see it in his eyes and the way he treats people. Walker is not a good man. Walker clearly has no character, as is evident by his political games and the people he has now aligned himself with and the people he threw under the bus to get where he is today. Birds of a feather flock together. Walker only cares about himself and getting the power of being governor and he was willing to do anything to get it.
When did character and integrity become so low of a priority in electing a governor or state official? When you have someone who is humble and good with strong integrity — like Gov. Sean Parnell — then you have someone who is teachable, listens to his constituents, uses his conscience and strong moral compass to do what is best and who is truly working for the good of the people. That is Gov. Sean Parnell. Isn’t that what we want, Alaskans? Otherwise, you have someone who has an agenda and who has no character to guide his/her decisions. At the end of the day, it is the character that is the most important.
I am hopeful that Alaskans will choose character over this bogus and self-serving unity ticket.
I appreciate Gov. Parnell and his hard work and love for this state and most of all, its people.
Anonymous,
You betcha! Let’s just wait another year until after the election. That is what Sean Parnell told us in 2010 as the AGIA project vaporized under his very nose. Now here we go again. Your friend Parnell will hold the football and promise not to pull it away. As I have said, regarding either gas line project, I see little hope for any gas line based on what I have heard.
To help me understand my level of confusion, are any of these responses incorrect? How much did the State of Alaska invest in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) mega project? Answer: Nothing. Did the expensive consultants offer anything but hope that the AKLNG project “might” work? Answer: No. Were there experts working on Yukon Pacific, AGIA, Denali, Port Authority gas line projects and the former “bullet line”? Answer: Yes. Did the “Cook Inlet Resurgence” raise my ENSTAR Bill for the year by the end of the third quarter 48%? Answer: Yes. Has MEA told me to expect a 23% increase in my electrical bill to pay for gas to fuel the new Eklutna Power Plant? Answer: Yes. After the “resurgence” do we have firm supply contracts from Cook Inlet later than 2018: Answer: No. While we hear that we barely have enough unrestricted revenue now, did Parnell’s own Department of Revenue project that by 2021 the AKLNG project could consume 21% of the state’s Unrestricted General Fund Revenues? Answer: Yes. Did two of the major producers, under oath, testify to the RCA in July that they couldn’t foresee a reversal of the decline in oil production? Answer: Yes. Does that bode well for all this necessary unrestricted revenue to partner on a gas line project? Answer: No. Has the AGDC/ASAP line now increased to a 36″ diameter while the AKLNG line is projected at 42 inches? Answer: Yes. If we blow our Permanent Fund Savings on promises by politicians do we have a plan to recover? Answer: No. Will the people of Alaska vote to spend the Corpus of the Permanent Fund on a gas line project? Answer: No. Will they involuntarily give up their PFD for a gas line project? Answer; No. Will they tolerate an income tax to pay for a gas line project? Answer: No. Finally, is a sovereign like Alaska who is not a separate country and with a constantly changing political landscape equipped to “partner” with multinational energy producers and pipe line construction companies taking years to complete? Answer: (You tell me)
Jon K… Do you know what a FLNG is ??
What do you know about the latest of GTL technologies ??
Do you know how to package a polyolefin plant into mobile modules ??
What do you know about hi-volume undersea gaslines ??
Do you know how to strip hydrogen from water supercheap & efficient ??
What do you know about supercritical electro-activated water ??
Do you know how to access North Slope methane hydrates without building more roads ??
What do you know about Plasma-Gasification ??
Do you know how to build a LNG plant without using a GE-L1000 gas turbine ??
What do you know about the existing A-to-Z thermodynamic efficiency of the oil industry ??
….by the way, gas & gold is not the only way for Alaska to make $500billion, we have easier methods that make less of a mess and raises the standard of living for everybody putting more people to work in a perpetually sustainable economy, bring an end to the Boom&Bust resource extraction mentality.
Stockholder,
Without the shale gas revolution, are you certain the market for our gas would be Asia? The US gas demand is huge. Many companies were permitting and building LNG import facilities in the U.S.to meet this demand in the mid-200s. Even Bill Walker was talking about getting our gas to the lower-48 in 2005 -2008 time period – he just wanted to do via LNG in Valdez instead of a gas line to Canada. Everyone, even Bill Walker, thought the US was going to be short on gas. The dispute at the time was the proper route.
Anyway, how much money has the Port Authority spent on Bill’s grand plans? What do they have to show for it? And what exactly is his approach to getting an LNG project constructed?
…says the registered Republican claiming to be a Democrat. Come on, you guys, you’ve got no game!
Tell the whole story. “A write-in campaign for Hollis French is being organized […by Tom Wright…]. ”
hahahaha…Parnell HAS to make that 37% work for him, doesn’t he? What a joke.
Rob G. …….. Sean Parnell might be a good and decent man, but throughout history good&decent politicians have marched their constituents into quicksand…
I don’t think Parnell can sort the psychopaths from the geniuses.
Mild psychopathy is often expressed by tricky individuals in the biz-world..
If you are stupid enough to shout $65billion in front of the news media long enough you will attract all the worlds nutcases.
goog: hare psychopath
……..this old pipeliner does NOT want to repeat the TAPS folly/circus
I’m not a fan of centrist government, I like Bill Walkers insights into making as much as possible done in Alaska on the local level…
Two good heads are better than one sleepyhead in the governors office..
We are all in this together, TEAM ALASKA means everybody, not just a few industry monopolists dictating the terms thru their paid shill.
Bill Walker does know how to build gaslines..
old pipeliners on his team are ready to begin plowing..
8″ flexpipe gasline can be installed for $200/ft……..
…..not $1200/ft as Parnell’s goofy AGDC/ASAP would want you to believe
you can’t beat the amortization rate of flexpipe…
Alaska should be building it’s own flexpipe..
there are many different kinds of flexpipe..
good for everything; dredge slurry pipe, sewerpipe, hi-pressure frack-pipe, small-hydro penstock, fiberoptic conduit, waterpipe, etc etc etc…
Why does Alaska import almost all manufactured materials??
..Alaska’s last in everything, even CEMENT, we have a zillion tons of coal and limestone, and Alaska is still bickering on how to build a better dock for importing zillions of $$$ worth of cement from Indonesia…..
We should be exporting cement products to Indonesia for petes-sake..!!
goog: flexsteelpipe
watch a viddy, see how it’s done……
search youtube for “tile plow”
goog: alaska $65billion
A $65billion megaproject is a pipeline into the heart of Alaska’s Permanent Fund
This is why we call Parnell “Capt. ZERO”.. because he’s just a lawyer with ZERO experience in major infrastructure development, industrial architecture, international commerce, civil-engineering, etc.
…if you want a megaproject, help me go clean up Fukushima and build a LNG terminal there.
Reply ↓
Sean Parnell is a good and decent man. These allegations of being owned by Big Oil are ridiculous. Sean Parnell may be lots of things but dishonest and unethical he’s not. What he is, unfortunately, is a very bad politician, which occasionally actually hurts his ability to govern at times. He keeps his head down and works hard. He’s not great at blowing his own horn or at promoting himself. Nor is his campaign. His campaign manager, Jerry Gallagher, brings little or no political experience or acumen to the job. His hires have been people who know, if you can imagine, even less than he about politics. I was thrilledd to read that Tom Wright is being brought in to help the campaign. If the Governor were wise, he would let Tom take over and run the campaign. Goof luck to Tom. We need a Governor who has integrity. We don’t need Bill Walker.
Bill Walker does know how to build gaslines..
old pipeliners on his team are ready to begin plowing..
8″ flexpipe gasline can be installed for $200/ft……..
…..not $1200/ft as Parnell’s goofy AGDC/ASAP would want you to believe
you can’t beat the amortization rate of flexpipe…
Alaska should be building it’s own flexpipe..
there are many different kinds of flexpipe..
good for everything; dredge slurry pipe, sewerpipe, hi-pressure frack-pipe, small-hydro penstock, fiberoptic conduit, waterpipe, etc etc etc…
Why does Alaska import almost all manufactured materials??
..Alaska’s last in everything, even CEMENT, we have a zillion tons of coal and limestone, and Alaska is still bickering on how to build a better dock for importing zillions of $$$ worth of cement from Indonesia…..
We should be exporting cement products to Indonesia for petes-sake..!!
http://www.flexsteelpipe.com/
watch the viddy, see how it’s done……..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djdw0Wvff3E
goog: alaska $65billion
A $65billion megaproject is a pipeline into the heart of Alaska’s Permanent Fund
This is why we call Parnell “Capt. ZERO”.. because he’s just a lawyer with ZERO experience in major infrastructure development, industrial architecture, international commerce, civil-engineering, etc.
…if you want a megaproject, help me go clean up Fukushima and build a LNG terminal there.
Lets compare the resumes of Bill Walker and the oil company lobbyist governor:
Bill Walker- successful in the private sector for his entire life. Bill is a lifelong Alaskan who could build a house with his eyes closed.
Seanaco- Parnell- spent his life mostly as a politician. Was rewarded with an industry job for selling out Alaskans when he was in the legislature, doing things like trying to raid the Alaska Permanent Fund. Seanaco would not know what to do with a hammer, except hurt himself.
Bill Walker, for over 15 years, has been patiently explaining the only gas line project that makes sense is one of a large diameter gas line with economy of scale, and LNG export.
Seanaco, for almost the entire last 15 years has been telling us, incorrectly, that the pipeline that made sense was one to the Lower 48. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Bill Walker, works 16 hour days. One of the hardest working guys many of us have ever met.
Seanaco, who barely works banker hours- and the records prove it.
Bill Walker, brings smart, honest people together.
Seanaco, hires “yes” men who are not qualified. The “yes” men tell him what he wants to hear, and they get to keep the jobs that they are not qualified for. (Alaska National Guard is the most recent, putrid, example.)
One thing about Seanaco, he sure is a great at uniting Alaskans. Alaskans have united in unprecedented ways to get Bill Walker and Byron Mallott elected.
Right … stick to your principles and elect Parnell, cuz that’s what’s going to happen.
And I think the former Lt. Gov. would prefer to be called by his full last name, McAlpine.
A write in campaign for Hollis French for governor is being formed. Stick to your principles Democrats!
Along with long-suffering spouse and lots of friends I have been going door to door. I guess I am reluctant to give any insider information to the Begich and Walker camps so I won’t relate what so many are telling me. But if someone could guarantee me that Sullivan and Parnell are going to work hard right to the end, and if there are no huge scandals or skeletons emerging that today cannot even be imagined, then I think that Republicans need not be concerned. For those that know me, I would put up a new in the box Colt Gold Cup from the 1970’s on that, and I would give the other party 3 to 1 odds.
Lynn,
Wow. There is a ton if confused thinking in this rant. Let’s start with the fact that nobody thinks the AK LNG is a sure thing.
Next, to have any chance to move this project forward we need to spend money. That’s just the nature of things. Our option is to partner with the producers and TC and leverage all of the expertise and knowledge we’ve accumulated over the last several years to see if the project is feasible (Parnell’s approach) OR we can kick all of the experts out of the room, start over, and try to do this on our own (Walker’s way). Parnell’s approach requires the state to contribute about 1/4 of the costs. Walker’s approach requires us, I believe, to pay for the whole thing.
I have repeatedly explained why the AOGCC isn’t an issue. If the AOGCC says taking gas from Prudhoe will result in the loss of too much oil, the Alaska legislature will have a decision to make: do we want a LNG project or do we want to prevent the loss of some oil? I’m pretty sure I know what the answer will be – what brings the state more value?
Regarding the Cook Inlet resurgence – it has turned out very well. How soon you forget that the utilities were running around with their hair on fire saying we didn’t have enough gas for 2015. Anchorage was running emergency brown out drills. A gas shortfall would have been catastrophic to the region. The only alternative was to import LNG. Your utility bills would have tripled. So yes, the resurgence is real. There is a ton of activity. There have been major discoveries of gas. Oil production has doubled and we have sufficient gas supplies for years to come.
The ASAP project will not be the same size as the big line. It is a back up plan – if the producers walk away, then this project will continue to move forward so we can commercialize north slope gas and get cheaper energy to Alaskans. We will likely know within the next 18 months if the AK LNG project is moving forward. If so, that will determine the fate of ASAP.
Finally, and most importantly, how do you think you get financing and gas supply contracts? Do they appear when Bill Walker goes to Asia and uses his charm? Do customers sign on the dotted line if you mention Wally Hickle’s name and tell them that Alaska is gojng to control its destiny?
Or do you need to go through a rigorous feasibility study that takes years in order to determine the projects costs? What has a better chance of gettin project financing and gas supply projects – the Walker approach of saying we will build this by ourselves or the Parnell approach of working with the experts to get a real cost estimate on the project?
Mega projects don’t get gas supply contracts and financing over night. They require project proponents to spend a ton of money on engineering, permitting, and commercial efforts to get a firm handle on the costs of the project. A project is not going to discuss in earnest financing and gas supply until pre-FEED is completed. This is exactly what is happening right now with AK LNG. Wait a year or so and then we will see the conversations begin. Or elect Walker and let’s just build it – who cares if we don’t know what it will cost, study hall is over. Bill walker can get it done because he speaks an global LNG conferences.
That’s a good question Frank, I’d also like to know if it was more, or less than what VECO paid to buy the Republicans ??
you need to look up the word “disenfranchise” oh wait, let me do it for you:
deprive (someone) of the right to vote.
The word you meant to use was “disappointed” or “disillusioned”
and then you need to vote for Walker/Mallott because Parnell is an oil-soaked scumbag
I am amazed that some will claim Parnell’s gas lines (yes there are two of them) are a “sure thing” while Walker’s hasn’t the chance of a snowball in hell, others will claim just the opposite. This is an election canard kind of like a German “wonder weapon” that was going to turn the tide for them – you only had to have “faith”.
Forget the current “love fest” between us, the Producers, and Trans Canada. Absent a supply of gas authorized by the AOGCC, financing for the project and firm contracts for purchase over time you won’t get a gas line, from Parnell, Walker, or anyone else. God knows we have tried haven’t we?
Now how many long term gas projects are well in development world wide? Also, what have been the cost overruns on these? Lastly, if we invest as “partners” and go bust, where else will Alaska go to make up our loss for a foolish decision? Our “partners” will simply go to their other investment locations as BP is doing to cover the Gulf of Mexico disaster – we can’t do that.
After we agreed to “partner” (read pay ransom) with Trans Canada on the AKLNG project, they let us out of AGIA. Remember Parnell kept supporting AGIA long after shale gas effectively killed the project. Because they saw AGIA dying legislators, facing the supply threat in Cook Inlet, created the “bullet line” concept which has now morphed into “AGDC/ASAP” project. They meanwhile hedged their bets (with state money) by dumping another sack of cash into the “Cook Inlet Renaissance”. And how is that working out for local consumers?
The AGDC/ASAP project was only created to get gas to South Central and stay within the 500 million cubic feet per day anti-competition restriction of the AGIA agreement. If the AGIA restrictions are gone, why spend another nickel on AGDC/ASAP? The AGDC/ASAP will now be almost the same diameter as the AKLNG project, follow the same right of way, appeal to the same customers, and cost just as much. Yet, we continue to pay for parallel projects. Perhaps the real reason is to provide post-retirement employment to Conoco executives. Oh well, there is always the Kodiak Space Port as a source of state revenue.
It looks to me like Vince was the high bidder at the auction….can you find out for us what he paid to buy the Democratic Party in AK?
Somebody please do a timeline on Bearup. His Arizona and Alaska
Voting records seem to crossover. You have to be a registered voter to
run for political office.
Bearup’s PFD history is in question as well.
His Bankruptcy case showed he hid his church money.
Total fraud, grifter. Bearup is an embarrassment.
I am a registered Democrat. The Walker/Mallott ticket is best described as the Jackass Ticket. I hope that thoughtful Democrats will think twice before going to the polls and pass on voting for Walker. From my perspective, our party wrongfully disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters. Walker does not represent the values or the platform of our party. Furthermore, he could win and be in office for 8 years pushing his pro-life and anti-LBGT agenda. If Walker is elected, it will sit the development of a gas line back years. The leaders of the Democratic party disappoint me. Instead of reaching out for a Republican to head up our party’s ticket, I wish they would have been introspective and do an analysis of what is wrong with our party and why Alaskans aren’t embracing it. I won’t be voting for a single Democrat this year as a protest.
Kyle – loved the tweet. You are on dude.
Governor Parnell’s campaign hopefully will be energized and up for the battle against Mallott and Walker. A few of us were talking just the other day, in essence, writing the Governor off. None of us in the group, all political junkies, felt that the Parnell campaign had any hope od waging a successful camaign. The current group in the headquarters probably represent the least qualified and most inexperience campaign staff that any incumbent in the nation has. As a Republican and someone fond of Governor Parnell, I would suggest that this would be a good time for his current campaign manager to ride off into the sunset or at a minimum get the hell out of the way. Extremely pleased that Tom Wright is coming on board and look forward to hearing about a few more folks who bring proven experience to the Parnell-Sullivan campaign joining the team.
Walker is a flip flopped who will do anything for power. Not only has be betrayed the Republican Party but now he is going back on what he said about his pro life beliefs. Seriously that merged ticket isn’t going to work running off slogans and opposite values and beliefs… What a joke. Parnell is defintely the better option then two guys chasing eachothers tail….. Spare me the disaster
Thank goodness Parnell is waking up and putting together a real campaign. I hope the rumor about Tom Wright coming on board is true as he’ll do a good job. Parnell’s campaign manager, Jerry Gallagher, is totally a non-entity in terms of a political operative. Without bringing in a few operatives, Parnell doesn’t have a chance. I hope that Parnell is able to turn things around because I find Walker scarey and a huge impediment to continuing to develop the gas pipeline.
Parnell should be worried. Good luck to Walker/Mallot. If they prevail I suggest they not turn the state over to their confidants, donors and like thinkers thinking the machine will run itself. Also, don’t assume that when you set a bad example you’re subordinates won’t see that as license to follow suite.
We seem to have had that situation for the last five years and now, as the National Guard scandal is revealing, there now exists a serious vacuum in leadership and, while some might have demonstrated self control without supervision, the miscreants were allowed to run wild.