I realize it's fashionable among the Alaska resource development crowd to bash just about anything the federal government does, except when it comes to the federal government giving us lots of money. Sometimes it's justified. Often it's some politician trying to justify their existence.
Take the outrage being spewed by Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan about the decision not go forward on the Keystone pipeline. Sure, the pipeline would be great for the oil companies who have invested billions in the Canadian tar sands, and for the Koch Brothers, whose refineries would refine that oil, but how would this pipeline benefit Alaska? How would 830,000 more barrels on the market competing with Alaska's oil help Alaska? Answer: it wouldn't.
In fact, it would probably exacerbate our financial situation -- already made bad by paying the oil industry more than $640 million more in tax credits than we got in production taxes. So once again our federal delegation shows its allegiance to their financial benefactors rather than to Alaskans. This brought to you courtesy of the less than Supreme Court decision to give us a "pay to play" political system.
The meaningless resolutions coming out of Juneau are becoming a joke also. During the last special session, the session was likely extended by at least a day -- at a cost of over $30,000 -- to take up resolutions filed by Sen. Bill Stoltze and Rep Lynn Gattis to criticize the Obama administration for acting like an Owner State. Really?
What did the president do? He refused to extend Shell's leases after they found no oil worth developing and publicly stated they were not going to be doing any more exploring or drilling. Apparently he should not have taken Shell at their word and done what most Alaska governors have done for decades: ignore the legal terms of the lease and just tell the company to do whatever it wants.
As for cancelling the two lease sales in federal waters, it was not done for nefarious reasons. In fact, they were canceled, "In light of current market conditions and low industry interest." Here's the truth the oil plunderers don't want you to know: In one lease area, a call for companies to express interest on the leases was put out in 2013. Exactly zero companies expressed interest. Not sure if this is breaking news, but zero is less than one. On the other area, one company expressed interest. And with oil around $45 per barrel and companies cutting investment -- is this really the best time to be going out for leases? Not for the state, but certainly for the oil industry.
The past seven years have given us predictable behavior from both the Republican party and most industries. It's all Obama's fault. Who will Murkowski and Sullivan blame when a new president is elected next year? I don't know. Maybe it will still be Obama's fault. It's tiresome and boring and basically just red meat for the people still supporting their fact-free ideology. Maybe President Trump or President Carson will do better. (Good grief, I can't even believe I could even type that word in front of either of those names.)
For those of us who follow politics, and yes, I realize it's a thankless job, the Super Bowl that happens every four years is coming up. Thanks to all the money involved, the campaigning for president lasts almost as long as a presidential term. I'm already sick of watching the debates, where there is a varsity and junior varsity squad of men trying to out-crazy each other. Another news flash: Obama isn't running in the next election.
Okay, this is starting to feel like a rant, so I'm going to go with it. I'm no longer a resident of Anchorage, but I am so happy that Amy Demboski isn't the mayor. This week she blamed the people who actually do God's work, Brother Francis Shelter and Bean's Cafe, for drug usage in the homeless community. That's about as misplaced as our lawmakers blaming Obama for oil companies deciding the Arctic wasn't as welcoming as they'd have liked. Instead of calling Amy names, I'd rather make a donation to Bean's Cafe in her name. She reminded me those fine people aren't just fighting poverty and hopelessness -- they also have to fight ignorance.
Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.