Voices from the Flats – Ethan Berkowitz – Beyond BP
By Ethan Berkowitz
Democratic Candidate for Governor of Alaska
What’s Alaska’s Plan for “Beyond BP”?
There’s a storm front on Alaska’s horizon. It’s blowing in from the Gulf of Mexico, and the sooner we get ready for it, the better we’ll be able to weather it successfully.
The spill in the Gulf has changed the BP Alaska knows, weakening one of the pillars in the oil patch.
Already rumors of takeovers, asset sales, federal seizure and even bankruptcy are spreading. Imagine the consequences for Alaska. Aside from rumors, the reality is that BP has to pay for damages and containment, and it probably won’t have the ability to operate or develop in Alaska tomorrow the way it did yesterday.
Preparing for that contingency means attracting new companies and new investments to Alaska, insuring that our business climate is competitive and that concentration of assets and corporate power do not create insurmountable barriers to entry. It means demonstrating a new commitment to safe oil and gas production.
We’ve got declining production on the North Slope, and we need an oil revenue system that takes a long term view, something better than the existing ACES. I’ve proposed an “All Royalty” solution to keep oil flowing through the pipeline — where we negotiate the state’s take from oil (and hopefully gas) on a field-by-field, project-by-project basis. Alaska gains, generating increased royalties from those projects that can produce while customizing royalties for marginal fields, especially because Alaskans get jobs and Alaskan businesses have the opportunity to prosper. The “All Royalty” approach is flexible, nimble and fair, and it lets the market dictate the value to the producers and the state. There are other advantages as well: because it is royalty as opposed to tax, under the Alaska constitution the “All-Royalty” solution adds money to the Permanent Fund, not the General Fund, putting dividends in Alaskan pockets and enforcing budget discipline in Juneau.
The next step is protecting Alaska’s interests and positioning the state to set terms for any merger, acquisition or disbursement of BP’s Alaska assets. Alaska needs healthy competition in the oil patch or we will become subject to monopolizing forces. At the time of the BP-ARCO merger, more than 10 years ago, Alaska’s approach ultimately protected competition and prevented consolidation that would have cost development and jobs. That’s why today we have to be prepared to enforce the state’s anti-trust laws should Exxon or Conoco seek too much market share in Alaska. We must seek out and attract new participants to acquire such assets and insist on protecting BP employees who live in Alaska.
Finally, we have to remember that Alaskan oil is an Alaskan resource and an Alaskan responsibility. We’ve learned the hard way that you just can’t count on the oil companies to self-police their own behavior. Being independent and self-reliant, being the sovereign owner-state, means we have affirmative obligations and can’t simply trust others to do the right thing, or not be negligent, when Alaska’s fate is tied up in their actions. We protect our oil, our environment, and our options with sensible oversight and vigorous oil field inspections. Interruptions and spills from broken pipes make it harder for us to make our own development decisions and play into the hands of those who would stop Alaska from moving forward with developing ANWR and other projects.
Successful navigation of Alaska beyond BP requires a proactive strategy. If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll get what we’ve got – declining oil production, no gas from the North Slope and diminished control over our economic future. We can do better. With the right decisions, we can point Alaska in the right direction: strong, successful and independent.
I can’t believe I just read an entire piece about “Beyond BP” and not one single mention of the potential for Alaska to lead the US in alternative energy resources.
The Gulf spill is an opportunity which Berkowitz has just demonstrated zero leadership on: the lesson we *should* all be learning is how to develop renewable alternatives, not how to best orchestrate a losing battle in the ultimately no-win scenario he describes.
Way to take the moose by the antlers, Ethan!
Ooops, misread the part about moving forward with ANWR. Thought he was looking for alternatives there. Could’ve done better there, Ethan.
I guess that plucky “can-do” spirit doesn’t exist in Ethan’s world (or mind) without oil, huh?
C’mon–give significant sustained funding to engineers and a go-ahead to come up with alternatives. They will. They already HAVE, to some degree.
Right now, I’m busy celebrating my $1 electricity bill. Every time I hang my clothes out on the line I smile as I’m busy sticking my thumb into BG&E’s eyes. I know it may be a one-time event, but celebrate with me, people. Months and months of using less and less, plus continuing to pay my budget billing. I may have to pony up real money in August (air conditioning weather, even with all of my trees), but today is a good day.
“Interruptions and spills from broken pipes make it harder for us to make our own development decisions and play into the hands of those who would stop Alaska from moving forward with developing ANWR and other projects.”
Hmm… play into the hands? This is not a game and as long as most Americans aren’t willing to cut back on use of fuel, electricity, etc and take a serious step towards fighting for a stronger alternative energy source, stay the hell out of ANWR.
Just as we are hearing from Louisiana, Democrats can’t seem to get elected without drill,baby,drill in some parts of this country. So disturbing to hear a Democrat endorsing drilling in ANWR.
Mr. Berkowitz you are way too worried about BP, whatever happens to them is well deserved and a long time coming. I understand your concern for your citizens but how about a little imagination, we can’t drill ourselves into the future, it will wind up killing us. Look at the gulf.
I don’t like Ethan’s lingo. Pillars of the oil patch? Hopefully gas? Not even a fragment about alternative energy. Although he certainly is looking out for AK I must say.
I am very disappointed in this ‘business-as-usual-after-we-massage-it’ outlook from Mr. Berkowitz. Turn back the clock 100 years, change a few names and Berkowitz could easily be arguing for continuing to harvest whale oil, since pesky ‘petroleum’ will never catch on….
We *are* going to be faced with declining production no matter what and market variables outside our control may well keep gas from being developed. But, I believe that we can increase our control over our economic future by investing in all the alternative sources that Alaska has such easy access to.
If nothing else, we should develop a world-class testing location for all forms of alternate energy, because if our engineers and scientists can make something work in Alaska’s extreme climate, they should be able to make it work anywhere.
Sorry, Mr. Berkowitz–this is a deal-breaker for me. Thought you’d have my support through the campaign, but no longer.
Developing ANWR is a myopic approach, it will not help the country become energy independent or reduce fuel costs for consumers. It will only provide limited jobs for Alaskan’s and help the oil companies bottom line. While generally liking Ethans views, he fell way short on this one. Even though my wife works for BP on the slope, I am not in favor of “protecting” and assisting the long term viability of oil companies in Alaska. Ethan should have talked more about natural gas and the alternatives to carbon based fuel.
“I am not in favor of “protecting” and assisting the long term viability of oil companies in Alaska.”
The long term financial future of any state or country is in its ability to feed itself and have enough left over.
For the Gulf and for Alaska that means clean lakes, rivers, Gulfs and Oceans. Sea food is renewable if not over harvested or poisoned or its habitat destroyed.
At the moment we are doing everything we can to do the exact opposite.
Other countries are developing means of using the energy of moving water in the oceans and bays to generate power. We aren’t even talking about that yet.
I agree. Not sure what your quotation is saying. Ethan said we need to protect the oil development, I disagreed.
I think Marnie is agreeing with you Cortez, especially since protecting the interests of oil companies far-too-often interferes with protecting the environment.
Me, personally… I kinda’ see what Ethan’s talking about. With BP out of the game, so to speak, the remaining oily operators in AK become that much ‘bigger’. If they merge, they become the only game in town; they can more-or-less hold your economy hostage.
That could be very not-good.
Hmmmm. I have heard Ethan talk before about alternative/clean energy. I am surprised he did not mention that. Now would be the time. Alaskans need to know how we will survive once the oil is gone, which is most certainly will be at some point.
If we had listened to Jimmy Carter, we’d be 20% renewable by now. Instead Reagan ripped the solar panels off the White House.
We need someone to have vision for the future of Alaska and of the country.
Ethen is totally playing to the hard core conservative’s in this state- without which he hasn’t a prayer of getting elected to the Governor’s seat. He even put the tidbit in there about the permanent fund and keeping Juneau fiscally responsible. I was thinking of voting for him, he certainly is much better than SP2, but there’s too much Blue Dog dem in him for me to be totally comfortable.
I’m not impressed.
It’s a well done piece and Ethan stayed on subject. Alternative resources is another whole subject. We also have tourism and commercial fishing industries that need to stay healthy.
I’m glad he has some solutions to be proactive in the way the oil industry moves forward, and how Alaska does business with them.
Drilling in ANWR is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Yes we need oil now, but we need alternative sources of energy even more.
He’s a DEMOCRAT???
” We protect our oil, our environment, and our options with sensible oversight and vigorous oil field inspections.”
That statement just floored me.
That is not true according anything I have read FROM Alaska……..
HeadsUp! Readers might want to weigh in here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/11/newsweek-cover-features-s_n_609697.html
It’s great to hear all the support for renewable energy — I am a big proponent and have written and spoken about it extensively in other forums. I’ve even helped develop wind projects in rural Alaska. Renewables are critical to transforming our long-term future. This article, however, was simply meant to alert Alaska to the immediate changes that are coming to our existing economy as a result of the BP blowout in the Gulf.
Why is Alaska, especially its University, not leading the way in tidal power research???
We have some of the biggest tidal changes in the world here. We have the longest coastline in the US. We have a great number of rivers that look to have potential. WHY NOT USE THEM??
From everything I have read we should be leading the way. Most of this research needs to be put to use and the kinks worked out. A number of trials are already being conducted here, why not more and with the companies that REALLY do this for a living??
I am tired of hearing of the little consultants firms getting a village to try something, many times doing something already done, when there are a number of bigger firms that are using ex-military methods and REALLY moving forward.
We also have current power in many of our rivers. The issues with fish can be worked out and debris is also a doable thing.
Ethan you disappoint me on your discssion of only oil issues. We need a leader who can keep his feet planted in the ‘now’ but working towards the future. More oil drilling, or changing our tax/fee structure, is not the only way to do it.
Come on Alaska…..get with it!! Show the world some of that ‘can do it’ that we do each day in our personal lives but as a state industry!!!
There have already been tidal projects in the East River (which, as part of the Hudson, is an estuary); apparently tide turbines are ideally suited to Alaska for all the reasons UgaVic points out. C’mon, Ethan, be a futurist!
I have heard Ethan before, too. Lots of talk, no substantive ideas, no programs, no discussion of trade-offs; in short, there’s no there there! Ethan is a perennial candidate/loser in his quixotic quest for statewide office. Go Hollis!
I could never support drilling in ANWR.
Responsible development is a joke.
How long will it take us to figure that out?
Incredible lack of creativity.
Ethan. You lack the foresight we all need. Of course we need the funds from the oil that flows now. We don’t need to continue to rely on it. Oh sorry perhaps YOU do. This state is blessed with the opportunity to develop local bio-fuels. Wood pellets are clean. Steam to electric generation is well known as easy at this point. This could be as simple as per house. But we know the electric companies don’t like that and the oil companies don’t like that at all. Let’s make a deal you get more oil when WE DON’T NEED ANYMORE. Then the oil we do get is used only for what is necessary. Not to forget they have leases they have as yet used. Sorry Ethan your just a bit behind.
Ethan should take a hike. I’m sick and tired of his waffling ways. This way for fish – that way for oil. He is a slimy politician and his record backs him up I think. Can you say blue dog Ethan?
Just my .02 – I don’t think Ethan is a good choice for Alaska’s future if you give two shi*s about the environment. Speak truth to power I say.
Basically, I just called Ethan Berkowitz a “two faced” Blue Dog slime ball – where did my message go? It wasn’t posted here.
What I basically said was – Fish or Oil? I’ll go for fish.
FWIW, when I think of Sarah – in an abstract way, I think of Ethan. No doubt Ethan is smarter, but what would that mean for Alaska?
Maybe Etan should just switch parties and stop trying to convince progressives to vote for him so he can do the bidding of the corporate community.
Wake-up Ethan that model is on the way out. With 10% + unemployment in the United States, a massive oil spill caused and not abated because of the cozy relationships between government and business – both of which used the excuse that our nation needs to have those sorts of relationships to survive. It’s BS Ethan – get a life and stop trying to claim you are a “progressive,” because you are not.
P.S. Yeah, I’ve spoken with Ethan – he mums up when you mention anything progressive.
Just wondering, when is your primary in Alaska? What do the other Dem. candidates think about drilling in ANWR?
Jumping all over Ethan, one of the good guys, BTW, is why we have had 3 consecutive R governors who have put Alaska and our energy policies, back 50 years. Give the guy a break. He is thoughtful, experienced and cares about Alaska. He has spoken many times about alternative energy. I believe he is actually invested in an alternative energy company. He has no raging narcissism, has never exhibited any great friendship relationship with the oil execs, speaks his mind clearly and displays a willingness to actually study and understand what he is speaking about. One does not have to agree with everything he says to want to see him in the Governors Manse. The ANWR discussion will rage for decades. We need a governor this year and we have some very serious problems now. Ethan has been willing to work across the aisle to get things done, without sacrificing his principles. This winter we will be talking about energy scarcities in the villages again, and fish failures and a myriad of other immediate concerns, including the push for oil off shore.
Bob Poe has bowed out. Let’s get together and get a good guy elected. Divide and conquer has worked for AK R’s since oil took over our state in the 70’s. The worst opponent in these elections of Alaska Dems have been Alaska Dems. Let’s quit falling for this old trick.