Live Streaming of the Dept. of the Interior Hearing
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is in town and everyone is all a-buzz. He’ll be hearing testimony all day regarding resource development, and offshore drilling.
You can listen live HERE.
(Please save comments on this thread only for oil issues. There is a new post below as well. Thanks!)
Those who can listen, please post.
Silly question of the day : Because Gov. Sarah Palin projects and fancies herself an expert on energy , is she personally present at this hearing ??
click on sound effect please -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8E_zMLCRNg
Is Kim Elton there? Is he speaking?
New Politico Poll:
Most trustworthy politician in the U.S.: Obama
Least trustworthy politician in the U.S.: Palin
Link for that poll:
http://themoderatevoice.com/28990/politico-poll-obama-most-trustworthy-and-palin-least-trustworthy-political-figures/
Apparently she actually was: http://community.adn.com/adn/node/140541
I believe Elton is at the meeting.
I only caught the last few people. Did any one hear it all and do a tally?
I don’t care for Salazar at all…I missed a lot of the public commentary but I saw at the very last a woman from Anchorage, talking about climate change, polar bears and he totally cut her off! She was able to give him a petition of 52 thousand signatures, and all he could say is “wow…that’s a lot of signatures…” He is coming to SF and he will get a earful I’m sure! I missed the public commentary, but does anyone up there in Alaska care about developing geothermal energy, wind, solar(where applicable, or is it just oil, oil, oil? I heard Leg. wanting drilling in ANWR! We are supposed to be looking for alternate energy sources, but all I hear from Alaska, is drill, baby, drill. I am very disappointed in what I hear. I don’t hear change, I hear the SOS!
Do people know that drilling in Bristol Bay is mostly, 80% from my understanding, for natural gas, not oil??
They need the jobs, the road development that is purposed and cheaper power sources. (Yes, I know BILLONS of $ of seafood-WHERE MOST of the $$ goes OUT of STATE!!)
Do not allow the continued restrictions to hold this area back from the future.
Set strict enviromental controls and allow them to develop it.
It is supported MUCH more than is shown in meetings!!
Great AKM, so glad you went, I will impatiently wait for your take on everything. My computer won’t cooperate, I can’t hear or view the live stream video.
Seems the science on Global Warming hasn’t reached Alaska yet.
Hobos are Us Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Seems the science on Global Warming hasn’t reached Alaska yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That’s for sure! The only people that seen to know about it is….our progressive bloggers! The rest are oblivious like the queen.
If drilling is so good for bristol bay why don’t they want it there?
Do people realize that villages in Western Alaska pay an averge of 52 cents a kilowatt?
DO they realize that unemployment in many villages is 80% in the winter?
Do they realize that that they ARE AND HAVE BEEN developing wind and now tidal for years but it takes $$$$ to do so?
IF we told CA that you had to give up 50% of your cars in 5 years, would you let us do that? That puts more CO into the air than all the drilling in the world!
IF we can drill safely, provide jobs WHILE developing other RE sources this part of the US could join the rest in being sustainable.
I think it is funny on Global Warming, we live with it more than most any other state. We do NOT want to be diesel dependant so help us get off of it by helping you reduce imports AND develop our tidal- only in summer due to ice and wind – only for times and in certain areas.
Stop locking up the state to ALL development of resources UNLESS you want to have us keep SUCKING BILLIONS in $$ for supporting people WHO WANT to work, have kids, get them educated, and have a lifestyle that is MUCH simpler, and less carbon footprint, than a good portion of the rest of the lower 48.
Someone told me yesterday that there are some high-tech science stuff going on that will enable individual states to access natural gas somehow, so a gasline from Alaska would be obsolete.
Not put all our eggs in one basket.
Just Had To Jump In – thank you for your post.
“Stop locking up the state to ALL development of resources UNLESS you want to have us keep SUCKING BILLIONS in $$ for supporting people WHO WANT to work, have kids, get them educated, and have a lifestyle that is MUCH simpler, and less carbon footprint, than a good portion of the rest of the lower 48.”
I think most people would agree that there is a middle ground, i.e. not to stop ALL development of resources but not to disregard the environment completely. Balance is the key. IMO.
It takes money to do anything: $500 million minimum AK state subsidy for natural gas.
Many Alaskans are trying to put forward ideas relating to new and renewable energy projects where the long-term outlook is economic, job, and community sustainability. Hard to get past the boom and bust mentality of Alaska.
To bad our society is so $$$ driven, the same dollar that made politicians and their friends rich in the past, has now driven this country to where it is today. The technology that should be in place (alternative energy sources) could have been near perfection by now, if not for the greed in our society. I am personally opposed to the pebble mine, and am not that keen on offshore/onshore drilling. I got a 25 ft, tide out back that has seemingly been unstoppable for quite some time. Can’t that energy be harnessed?
Which is the lesser of the to evils?
Now only Salazar can decide that fate.
Maybe the least fragile ecosystem?
Who really has an answer?
Just had to jump in this is for you:
This is Alaskas time to get off an economy based on fossil fuels, we have a President that will help states do this and we need to do it.
And the people in the villages can move into the 21century and find work to survive just like the rest of us have to!
@ Just Had to Jump In
Having inexpensive, locally produced natural gas for Western AK villages would be AWESOME! There are a lot of people who would like to see natural gas extraction in Cook Inlet as well (like CIRI regional native corp). I know so much of the resistance, esp. from outside, is because these huge extraction companies have such bad reps – you know, like Exxon. And they seem so unchangeable – as though we could never rely on them to self police, cooperate w/ creating controls, and to develop more environmentally sound and safe procedures.
If Western AK could “hold the cards” and get these companies to be accountable and responsible, even if it’s forcing them into it, then that would be a dream world (but it still sounds great)! Folks outside probably don’t realize that even within our state, many of us do not understand the needs & economies of regions so different and far away than our own. I can’t be any expert on oil since I’m in Southeast, but DARN wouldn’t I LOVE to see tidal power generation here! We don’t ice over, and the tides are HUGE in the Inland Passage. I think actually that we are getting some sort of experimental tidal generation something or other soon, I should look that up.
It will be interesting to see what this meeting brings!
@ Lorraine,
As a part native Alaskan whose grandmother was born in a village and was ripped away by religious folks to be raised as “white and baptist” – I can’t agree with you at all on your post about villages moving into the 21st century (using YOUR methods, I assume). We are the newcomers here, and have imposed our way of life, once again, on indigenous people. in our greed and attempt to justify that our life is better than “their life”, we belittle the grace of the human race by forcing others to do as we have done. There is no greater hubris.
The villages deserve support for finding their own way “into this century” and I completely stand behind their efforts to do so. “Move or Die” is getting old and it has no realistic bearing here.
@ Just Had to Jump In
I meant to add that I am extremely supportive of alternative energy sources being developed in Alaska, including somehow the very remote areas, as the FUTURE of our energy sources. But it takes time and money to develop that infrastructure, like you said, so we just have to keep pushing for new energy sources in every way that we can as Alaskans.
I kind of liken the complete and sudden lock down of carbon energy sources as what it would be like with a sudden implementation of a federal FLAT tax based on percentage of income. It SOUNDS like a great idea, but it has to be approached with reason and a plan because it is already so entwined in our systems and the ripple effect if done too quickly could be catastrophic. The infrastructure needs to be built or adjusted while a realistic migration begins to new methods.
What I want to see in the energy debates for our country is courage, sound science, cooperation, innovation, and to drop the blame game between conservation and business for profit. Times are changing!
@the problem child:
I can understand your frustration with Salazar’s response to the petition, but- as Colorado’s AG and then Senator- Salazar has been a consensus builder and a moderate, reasoned voice for energy development, as well as holding companies accountable for environmental damage. I think he is still working (as he did as AG) to help resolve the major Super Fund site in our state, caused by destructive mining practices. Companies declare bankruptcy, thus dragging it on ad nauseam-plus the Republican administration attitude of the last eight years.
I hope you will be patient, and give him a chance. He did put a halt to Bush’s last minute oil/gas leases; he’s now conducting a series of meetings to get public input, as well as scientific/environmental data before deciding what to do.
I don’t have anything to add to the discussion of offshore drilling. One thing I have grown tired of is having the same discussion over+over again about opening ‘only 2000′ acres in ANWR. I would like to know why there is such a huge obsession w/ 2000 acres East of Pt. Thompson, while there are 40 million acres in NPRA – land set aside specifically for drilling.
Obviously this debate has more to do w/ what ANWR represents than actually developing oil that may or MAY NOT even be there (ADN reported that Anadarko’s Jacobs Ladder well came up dry).
Alternative energy solutions in Alaska are already becoming attractive to international corporations:
http://www.adn.com/money/story/576507.html
We need to continue developing our oil resources, we need to start developing our geothermal resources, we need infrastructure, WE NEED WORK. We need leadership and sanity restored to government SOON.
I just received a copy of “Aurora”, the UAF alumni magazine. It’s cover story is entitled”Biofuels – Alaskas’s new power plants?” It’s interesting!
Their website is http://www.uaf.edu/aurora/ With SP so down education and one UAF professor in the “dog house”, I doubt she will pay much attention. After all, you can’t drill for grains!
So is this why Palin said nothing on the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez spill, the worst environmental accident in history? The one WAR says get over? And what about that oil the Gov allowed to stay stored in tanks threatened by Redoubt volcano? is that how she says it’s been proven safe?
I just got through reading the transcript of what Palin had to “share” it’s on the state web site.
plus I found this a bit disturbing……..(at least she didn’t use the hungry markets term, lol)
“And related to this is the potential the North Aleutian Basin will provide to Alaska’s Bristol Bay Region. In recent years this region of the state has seen significant decline in the fisheries that have supported its economic base throughout our history. The changing economy in this region has led to support from the regions’ local government and some native organizations, as well as the state of Alaska, for continued lease sales in the Lease Sale 92 area. The North Aleutian Basin may provide this region its only viable economic opportunity, if development there is allowed to mature.”
New thread…
Word salad, I tell you, word salad…
http://www.alaskarenewableenergy.org/
This is a great site, and you can peruse or download the Renewable Energy Atlas of Alaska pdf by following the link.
50 cents a kwh is common off the road system everywhere , not just western alaska. Alaska is NOT locked up for resource extraction.
Not oil, but international mining news.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6094393.ece
Anglo American seeks Alaska mine approval – “Anglo American will face protests today over its proposed new mine in Alaska but a more serious clash may be brewing with Sarah Palin, the state Governor.
[snip]
However, it will be the potential for conflict with the high-profile Governor of Alaska that will most concern Anglo.
The Governor has said that she will take no official position on the mine until a development application has been submitted but campaigners are hopeful that her connections to the bay will win her support.
In a statement, Mrs Palin’s office said: “The fishery provides the State significant economic benefits from commercial and sport fishing. The State of Alaska is committed to ensuring that this fishery will be protected.” ”
http://ak2uk.com/Alaskans_Head_To_London.html
Alaskans Head To London To Confront Anglo American – On April 15 Alaska Native leaders from Bristol Bay will attend Anglo American’s annual meeting in London to voice their opposition to Pebble mine. The delegation has requested a meeting with Anglo American CEO, Cynthia Carroll.
“The delegation, which also includes Thomas Tilden, Chief of the Curyung Tribal Council and Bobby Andrew, board member of Nunamta Aulukestai, will participate as shareholders in Anglo American’s annual meeting on April 15, 2009. The group plans to raise important questions about the mine’s viability, given the ardent opposition and the environmental, engineering, and legal challenges it faces.
The Alaskans have also formally requested a personal meeting with Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll. And while street protests are not on their itinerary, the Alaskans fully intend to speak their minds.
“Traveling thousands of miles to London shows how strongly we feel about protecting our salmon, our families, and our way of life,” said Bobby Andrew, spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of our Land), a group of eight Alaska Native village corporations opposing Pebble. “The people of London, and the entire world, need to know that Anglo American’s Pebble mine would ruin the greatest wild salmon fishery left on Earth and the cultures that depend on it,” he said.”
25. ziggybutterfly Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 3:14 PM
I don’t have anything to add to the discussion of offshore drilling. One thing I have grown tired of is having the same discussion over+over again about opening ‘only 2000′ acres in ANWR. I would like to know why there is such a huge obsession w/ 2000 acres East of Pt. Thompson, while there are 40 million acres in NPRA – land set aside specifically for drilling.
—-
Kind of sounds like the article in this month’s Vanity Fair about the logging in Bohemian Grove. I read it last night: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/05/bohemian-grove200905
“Bohemian Tragedy
Members of the ultra-exclusive Bohemian Club—2,500 of America’s richest, most conservative men, including Henry Kissinger, George H. W. Bush, and a passel of Bechtels, Basses, and Rockefellers—are known to urinate freely against the ancient redwoods that cover their 2,700-acre property. Have they been chopping down the trees as well? According to one former member turned whistle-blower, the San Francisco–based society may have logged some of its old-growth forest. Drawing on his own Ivy League ties, the author investigates, with a daring sortie into the ceremonial kickoff of the Bohemians’ annual encampment. ”
My guess is that is why….They need to pee on ANWR. Bunch of old, filthy rich white guys haven’t figured out how to use flush toilets or hold their liquor. Jes’ sayin’…
I can only speak to Bristol Bay opportunities in AK although I have lived in various states with these types of industries. My family members are in that area.
There are MANY who are pushing and working darn hard for RE to help our villages and economies of many areas. They have been for years. (90% of Western AK is ‘off road’ and most people in the US do not live with the energy costs these villages deal with). We have many barriers here to work through and are doing it.
All of this, RE, gas drilling, bringing more fish jobs BACK to the state, and especially mining all take lots of time and $$.
From what I observed this winter it does not look like Western AK has lots of that left IF the tide is not allowed to start to change. People are not asking for huge cars, or even a car, but to feed, educate, cloth and take care of their families. People live simply there and I doubt that is going to change greatly for some time with the jobs these things provide.
The key is developing these things well and keeping what is important to the people and area workable.
If we do not challenge ourselves to work it out no one will progress.
Issuing Presidental orders that close off whole areas DOES lock up resource development. I am against it. Allow the states, maybe with some federal oversight IF they show they can’t do it without bribes, etc., to work through this.
We have to get off fossil fuel BUT it will not happen overnight in CA or AK so allowing for drilling AND RE development is important for that ALL of us to move into forward in the style WE choose.
CO almost native Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 3:07 PM
@the problem child:
————
I think you mean someone else, I don’t know enough about Salazar to comment intelligently.
But I can find links. Here is at least part of what Bob Poe had to say to Salazar today: http://www.divasblueoasis.com/diary/533/candidate-for-governor-bob-poe-on-the-department-of-interiors-5year-plan
natural gas drilling is driven by the selling price of gas…….and the cost of extracting.
period. end of conversation.
if oil is low, natural gas is low — not feasible to drill.
there is more natural gas in six other states than there is purportedly in ANWR and that is not even proven because the only exploration well drilled has its boring logs under lock and key — no one has seen it in 20 years.
a lot of talk about a very unlikely scenario.
@Martha Unalaska Yard Sign
——-
@ Lorraine,
As a part native Alaskan whose grandmother was born in a village and was ripped away by religious folks to be raised as “white and baptist” – I can’t agree with you at all on your post about villages moving into the 21st century (using YOUR methods, I assume). We are the newcomers here, and have imposed our way of life, once again, on indigenous people. in our greed and attempt to justify that our life is better than “their life”, we belittle the grace of the human race by forcing others to do as we have done. There is no greater hubris.
The villages deserve support for finding their own way “into this century” and I completely stand behind their efforts to do so. “Move or Die” is getting old and it has no realistic bearing here.
——–
Thank you Martha, The villages do deserve support in their efforts and not be called the enemy by the ilks of WAR. Too many people have been spewing that “move or die” crap for months.
Wow, this is a really thoughtful, informative string of comments. Thank you, all who have contributed so far!
Beware of The Drill, it will KILL