So much this week...

 ...more stories coming next week.

AP by Becky Bohrer.  Alaska is pushing back what it says will be one of the biggest oil and gas lease sales in the U.S. this year, citing the potential for more acres to be added and a desire to give companies more time to prepare bids.

Deborah Brollini (NGP Photo) places on her blog this morning testimony she gave yesterday to the Alaska Senate Labor and Commerce Committee:  We can argue job numbers all day.  However, we are not going to have jobs for our children and grandchildren if we do not have a safely operational pipeline.   Alaska’s Supreme Court did decide on Alaska hire back in 1986 when Alaska’s economy crashed in 90 days.  January 1st 1986 oil reached $20 dollars, and by April 1st, 1986, our economy had totally crashed.   We were able to dig ourselves out after the crash because we had lots of oil in TAPS.  I’ve testified on HB 110 last session to House Resources, and House Finance.  I would like to caution you that if we are not careful, we might relive a painful past of our own making, where Alaskans were packing up their families and leaving in droves, and throwing their keys at the bank where I was foreclosing on those homes as a paralegal.  Alaska has a bright future if we think long-term, and with vision.  I attended the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and the Trans Alaska Pipeline forum back in May.  What stood out to me was that policy makers, Alaska Native people, and the public at the time thought not about themselves or their children.  But, their decisions were based on their desire to have a grand future for their great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren.  I believe we have lost our way.   We all need to un-dig our heels, get our heads out of the weeds, put down our swords, and think and believe in our children’s future.  By not doing so, we are only hurting ourselves.

ADN by Lisa Demer.  Lawmakers say too many well-paying jobs are going to people who live out of state. They express dismay over a state Labor Department finding that more than half of the new hires in Alaska oil and gas jobs during the third quarter of 2010 weren't state residents.