John Harris

We often forget to be grateful that we live in the greatest place on the planet -- Alaska.

If the Alaska Gasline Port Authority can't get it done, they should move over so a force of can-do people can assemble a winning proposal by next May's open season.

The other day at lunch, I listened to two business people talking about where the state is going. They summed up what's in store for the economy by saying, "There isn't going to be a gas line, probably no bullet line; there probably won't be a Pebble Mine or a Donlin Creek mine; and, what will happen to the Anchorage airport if the North Pole oil refinery shuts down?"

If we want to make a difference about our economy, then we need to get back to focusing on oil production.

I'm writing this update on September 11 - the eighth anniversary of the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon and the crashing of United Flight 93 in a remote field in Pennsylvania.

We shouldn't go back to the late 1990's when legislators bragged about cutting budgets while ignoring maintenance and other basic costs.

There have been some strident observations made recently regarding the $2 million the Legislature has appropriated for a conference on polar bears and climate change. The Anchorage Daily News has gone so far as to discredit the proposed conference and encouraged Gov. Palin to veto the money.