Anchorage Daily News

JUNEAU -- Democrats on Saturday called on the House leadership to go ahead with a vote on the proposed natural gas pipeline license, saying hearings on the matter have become "repetitive."

In a letter to House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula of Juneau asked that a final vote on the license to TransCanada Corp. be held by Tuesday.

That's the day before some lawmakers are scheduled to take a break from hearings in Juneau to attend a multi-state government conference in Anchorage.

Delaying the pipeline vote until after the five-day conference would mean "we lose valuable time" to address energy relief legislation before the special legislative session ends Aug. 7, Kerttula said.

Lawmakers have held hearings in Juneau and around the state since June 3 to consider whether to award an exclusive license and up to $500 million to TransCanada, which has proposed a 1,715-mile gas pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta.

Awarding the license under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, which lawmakers passed last year, is a high priority for Palin, and many Democratic legislators have lined up behind the Republican governor.

Members of the Republican leadership in the House and Senate acknowledge the votes probably are there to pass the AGIA license now.

Still, they are holding long and often highly technical hearings on pipeline design, economics and regulation.

In recent days, lawmakers also have heard from executives with major oil companies who are working on a competing gas pipeline into Canada.

Harris did not return a phone call Saturday seeking comment on Kerttula's letter.

In a side development Saturday, Palin delivered a sharp rebuke to a group called Backbone III that is threatening to publish an advertisement supporting an "all-Alaska" gas line routed entirely within the state, and not the TransCanada license.

The ad would associate Palin administration officials and any lawmaker who votes for the TransCanada license with convicted players in the state bribery scandal, including former Veco Corp. owner Bill Allen and the "Corrupt Bastards Club."

"We have had our differences over the direction we are going with the natural gas pipeline. Now you have gone too far," Palin wrote in a Saturday e-mail to Malcolm Roberts, listed on the ad as coordinator for Backbone III. Roberts is a longtime aide to former Gov. Wally Hickel.

When she ran for governor, Palin counted Hickel as an avid supporter. But in recent weeks, Hickel has come out strongly against her top priority -- an AGIA pipeline license for TransCanada.

Find Wesley Loy online at adn.com/contact/wloy or call him in Juneau at 1-907-586-1531.

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