Remember former Gov. Frank Murkowski's assertions of a "contract" to build a pipeline to the Midwest? That turned out to be nothing but a PR ploy and wishful thinking. Now, Sarah is telling us that she is "keeping all options" open.
Unfortunately, those options are AGIA and an as-yet-undetermined route for a 24-inch bullet line to Southcentral, which will not be completed until the production in Cook Inlet has dropped beyond keeping Chugach Electric's natural gas turbines running all year.
At some point, if a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope does not deliver natural gas to Southcentral, there will not be enough natural gas to both provide power and heat homes. A bullet line from the North Slope is essential to keep Southcentral Alaska in heat and power.
As a candidate for governor, Sarah Palin supported an all-Alaska route for a natural gas pipeline. Why did she change her position after taking office?
AGIA is a dead end, no different than Knowles' or Murkowski's large-diameter pipe dreams. New drilling technologies and strategies have tripled production from massive shale natural gas deposits in the Lower 48.
With increasing shale deposit production, and the increase in receiving capacity for LNG in the U.S. to 4.5 bcf per day, where does Alaska natural gas fit into the domestic U.S. market?
Answer: It does not.
We missed the proverbial boat.
It does not take a genius to figure out that AGIA is now a dead end.
Yet, Alaska could have had a pipeline transporting natural gas to Valdez down the TAPS corridor and to the world market by LNG tanker within this decade, had Sarah followed through with her support of an all-Alaska option.
Unfortunately, Gov. Sarah Palin has joined her predecessors in their predilection toward the colonial economic model of extracting Alaska's resources without any in-state, value added use of gas liquids from the North Slope deposits. Under both AGIA and the Denali pipeline proposal, the gas liquids all go to the Canadians, with those jobs and infrastructure lost to Alaska.
The 2-billion-cubic- feet-a-day pipeline down TAPS to Valdez, with a spur to Palmer from Glennallen and provision for in-state use of the liquids, could be built within five years. ANGDA was created to manage exactly this sort of project.
Gone out of Sarah Palin's vocabulary is much of what she campaigned on. In its place is vagary and specious promises all too familiar from the Murkowski days. In this regard, she has become what she replaced.
AGIA is dead.
Larry Wood is a businessman who lives in Palmer. He supported Sarah Palin for her run for governor.
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