Here is a piece we have posted in the last 24 hours on our NGP Facebook and Twitter pages re: Alaska's economic future.

Today's Wall Street Journal Editorial: "A new report takes apart the EPA’s veto of a mining project" (Thanks for the tip, Dan Kish.)    

In an accompanying piece the WSJ notes:

Our columnist Bret Stephens writes that at the President’s Friday press conference, Mr. Obama described alternatives to his Syria policy as “mumbo-jumbo,” “half-baked ideas,” and “as-if” solutions. “So it is with this president. It’s not enough for him to stake and defend his positions. He wants you to know that he thinks deeper, sees further, knows better, operates from a purer motive. His preferred method for dealing with disagreement is denigration,” says Mr. Stephens.  

…

One for the annals of overbearing bureaucracy—the EPA issued a rejection of an Alaskan mining project before the mine’s owner had even applied for permits. A Journal editorial says that a report due to be released today finds that the EPA’s decision to ignore regular procedure led to basic scientific flaws. As a result, other government agencies refused to cooperate with the Beltway regulator.

It is by now beyond dispute that the Environmental Protection Agency went rogue when it halted Alaska’s proposed Pebble Mine project. And yet, there’s more.

The more comes via an independent report that criticizes the agency for its pre-emptive 2014 veto of Pebble, a proposal to create the country’s largest copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska. Under the Clean Water Act, the Army Corps of Engineers evaluates permit applications for new projects. The EPA has a secondary role of reviewing and potentially vetoing Corps approval. Here, the EPA issued a veto before either Pebble could file for permits or the Corps could take a look.

Pebble CEO Tom Collier didn’t take this lying down. He filed a lawsuit. Then he asked former Senator and Defense Secretary William Cohen to conduct an outside investigation. Mr. Cohen agreed, as he writes, “on conditions of independence. I would follow the facts wherever they may lead, and any conclusions would be mine alone.” His 346-page report, released to be Tuesday, is a straightforward yet withering takedown of EPA’s conduct.  Read more, here.

  NGP Facebook Page  NGP Twitter Feed

 

Alaska's Economic Survival.  Certainly part of the State's economic survival rests on the outcome of federal treatment of Alaska natural resources, as in the recent Pebble and Shell matters.  But a big part of Alaska's future rests in the judgment of Alaskan public officials.  

On that latter score, here is a recent post we have made on our Northern Gas Pipelines Facebook page and NGP Twitter feed:

Some, like me, will say, "Alaskans, their governor and legislature need to help our biggest investors become MORE competitive in a low price environment."

Others will say, "We need to take more from our biggest investors in a low price environment NOW so we don't suffer."

The first group is dedicated to the long haul and to a sustainable economy.  The second seeks maximum transfer of wealth "from them to us" NOW, at the expense of the long term, at the expense of our kids' generation.

The first approach offers an economic spiral up, leading to a brighter future for all.  The second leads to an economic death spiral down, wherein the hope of the future is mortgaged for the temporary pleasures of the present.

The same principle of a sustainable and hope-filled future applies to national taxing, spending and economic sustainability issues.

Dave Harbour, former Chairman
Alaska Council on Economic Education