Yesterday, the Standard printed our editorial on OCS.  Today, we offered the comment, below, on citizen propensity to tell gas pipeline and other investors what to do with their money:

Who’s "We"?

Submitted by Dave Harbour on Tue, 09/22/2009 – 4:12am.

When to use, "We".

 

"We" can go out to dinner, buy a car, raise our kids and do many things constrained only by law and our personal finance and judgment.

 

Pipeline investors can and should do what they wish with their capital, constrained only by law and their financial ability and judgment.

 

To often, we well-meaning citizens say, "we" should do this gas pipeline thing or that–meaning, really, that someone else with money should do what "we" want them to do and what they do not necessarily want to do.  

 

It’s fine to express opinions but don’t "we", as reasonable adults, know our limitations?  

 

Here’s a recent example.  When using "we" translates into a hotel-owner/legislator telling investors via late night cable advertisements that, "we" should consider liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports an insult, it is a political tactic.   But, it’s great that "we" have the freedom to put our own personal views on cable television no matter how foolish they may be.   Heck, if some LNG investor wants to land LNG in Southcentral Alaska for a lower cost per molecule than families would pay for North Slope molecules, why should that idea be criticized before investors even have time to perfect the concept? 

 

Ms. Pease and Mr. Keithley are both good thinkers: the law allows all energy options to be on the table and consumers benefit when all concepts are in the marketplace, competing.  Citizens and politicians can all take a deep breath and know that–even without "our" well-intentioned ideas–those with dollars to invest will bring the most efficient project(s) forward.  

 

Do "we" really want to encourage projects to materialize from "our" non-investor or political motivations?  Think of grain elevators, Alaska Seafood International and the beautiful Maid of Matanuska.   Those were all projects spawned from ideas of people who wanted their dreams realized with government money when true investors failed to see the value.