By ALEX GIMARC
As the price of gasoline here in Anchorage spikes over $4 a gallon, having more than doubled in the last 14 months, Alaskans increasingly are asking the congressional delegation what they plan on doing about it. And the responses have been stunningly feckless.
Our senior U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski claims that the Interior Secretary she supported, defended, and voted for as a historic nominee (Native woman, filling the diversity squares and pandering to Alaska Natives) is simply taking orders from the White House, excusing her actions.
She goes on to justify that Americans may endure some unspecified amount of pain at the gas pump in order to shut down imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and petroleum products.
For his part, Congressman Don Young, proposes legislation to steal yachts and other property from unspecified “Russian oligarchs.”
If we want to address the rapidly spiking cost of gasoline and other petroleum products, the solution is relatively easy and straightforward. Consider it as the policy version of the First Law of Holes (if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging).
The single cause of spiking energy costs is the Biden Administration’s war on fossil fuel over the last 14 months. Reverse all the anti-production Executive Orders, reverse decisions to cancel federal energy leases, shut down pipelines, and obstruct other energy projects, and we will quickly revert to an energy exporter, not dependent on Russian or Iranian oil just like we were under President Trump.
Easy, peasy, right?
Not for our senior U.S. senator, who is busily making excuses for her Interior Secretary, and issuing press releases describing her outrage after actions taken to shut down development, energy and infrastructure projects in Alaska.
The most recent example was the joint press release blasting cancellation of the Ambler Road.
Murkowski is not without ability to quickly act on things that anger her or that scare her. Two examples are her vote to convict former President Trump three weeks after he left office, and her full support of the political witch hunt following the Jan 6, 2021 riot. She is apparently uninterested in releasing 14,000 hours of video that is still hidden 14 months after the event, or investigating any incitement by FBI informants or other government operatives during the festivities.
Apparently Sec. Deb Haaland has not done anything sufficiently outrageous to Alaska to garner Murkowski’s ire like “Orange Man Bad” or his supporters managed to do.
One of the things I don’t understand about the delegation’s support for Haaland is that while a congressional member from New Mexico, Haaland was a well-known supporter of the Green New Deal. I expect some of the delegation asked the appropriate questions about what she was going to do as Interior Secretary. It appears that those responses were well received, as all of the delegation supported Haaland, celebrating her nomination. If Haaland lied, and is not doing what she promised to do for Alaska, why isn’t the delegation screaming bloody murder about her lies, demanding her resignation? If Haaland is being strong-armed into acting contrary to her promises to the delegation by the White House, why hasn’t Haaland resigned? That neither of these things has happened makes it appear the delegation was in on the scam all along.
What could the delegation do in response? They could support Sen. Ted Cruz’s effort to restore American energy independence. They could take steps to remove Haaland from office, just as quickly and painfully as possible. They could publicly renounce their support for renewables and other green energy, products of persuasion and propaganda campaigns funded by Russia.
The more energy produced in the United States, the less oil and natural gas Putin is able to sell internationally and the less money he has available to prosecute a war. Somehow this little fact has not yet penetrated the hallowed halls of our congressional delegation and their staff. Perhaps someone should tell them.
As to Congressman Young’s proposal to pass legislation to steal property from Russian oligarchs, this is an example of him being in Washington far, far too long. How soon do you think the Biden administration would use the newfound power on their political enemies?
There is a vehicle available to get this done, though: A declaration of war. Bring one to the floor of the House, Don, if you dare.
Personal message to our congressional delegation: I will not support any additional increase in the price of gasoline, oil, or natural gas for any reason. I will not support importing oil or natural gas from either Russia or Iran. I will support returning the United States to an energy independent nation. Sooner would be better than later. We did it as recently as 14 months ago. We know how it is done.
The path to cheaper energy is relatively clear and straightforward: Do anything other than what the Biden Administration and his political appointees have done over the course of the last 14 months.
Murkowski, use the same sort of passion you used to oppose President Trump and you will do well. Anything short of that level of effort and passion, and I will conclude that your outrage is proforma, crocodile tears, boob bait for bubbas. You had a central part in creating this problem. It is time to step up to the plate and do something about it.
Taking public responsibility for your malfeasance will be a good first step. Otherwise, we will get ourselves a new delegation one election at a time. The clock is ticking.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and information technology professional
All those words, and you never once mention Sullivan. Why?
He voted for Haaland too, making him every bit as culpable as Young and Murkowski.
Speaking to Gimarc, not you, Suzanne.
I’m guessing its cause sullivan has been making some cable news rounds spouting some rhetoric about oil production meanwhile the willow project remains shuttered
Maybe because Sullivan is actually speaking out against Biden and his most recent slew of political and economic blunders, unlike Murkowski and Young who continue to pander to Biden
Bravo!
Seconded.
New Oil and Gas explorers are needed now. Alaska has more oil and gas than any state. Change the system so Alaska can be #1 in production again. Let’s vote for pro-development leaders.
Who pays for the anti-oil and gas groups, Russia or others that don’t want the competition from Alaska?
Alaska needs leadership that will change the broken system that allows oil and gas laws that NOW keep Alaskans and small competitors out and that seems wrong. Now is the time to act and make Alaska great again.
In a world where all has been exposed corrupt oath breakers have no respect for themselves the citizens the oath there is just so much corruption for all to see. If we can’t police ourselves and our oath takers have no integrity and it’s all for the cameras. So help me GOD has no meaning. Imagine what Jesus feels like today. Look at what we are doing ALL.
All Three of our Representatives are Dog Robbers and need to be shown the door! Read up on the Great Re-Set and you will see the agenda.
Senility – it’s not just for Democrats anymore!
Don Young is a dinosaur who forgets what he ate 5 minutes before he dined. An Alzheimer’s candidate incubating, like his good buddy, Joe Biden (both in DC politics for 50 years).
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Lisa Murkowski is a goofed-up old woman who says she is a Republican like her dummy old man, votes and conducts herself like a left-wing Democrat, and then tries to cover her treasonous prior conduct like no one is paying attention. Murkowski confirmed Haaland who’s goal as Interior Secretary is to do away with Alaska Oil in every way she can. Idiot Murkowski supports her and then tries to tell Alaskans differently (while the feckless, demented Joe Biden invites the US into war with the world’s communist dictators).
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A real needed change for Alaska has never been more obvious.
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Begich for Congress .
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Kelly Tshabaka for US Senate.
Excellent! Yes, Begich and Kelly!
Look at the photo accompanying this article. Dan Sullivan is asking God’s help:
“Please relieve me of the company of these idiots, and I promise I will be of better conduct.”
Good catch, Ted. There’s an old musket above Don’s head. Can he just do the job now. And if he has time to reload, can he do the Princess too?
LOL…..and if Don forgets how to reload, he can always call his good buddy Joe Biden for instructions.?
Alex … Your piece here is spot on, as well as, both of the terms you used within … “Feckless” and “Malfeasance.” The only other terms I believe you could’ve used to further illustrate the theme in this piece, applicable to the entire “Ski, Sully & Yung” team, are: Willful Intent, Abrogation of Fiduciary Duty of Care, Culpability, and of course the obvious “Lack of … Courage, Discipline, Fidelity, Honor, Honesty, Hospitality, Integrity, Industrious, Perseverance, and Truth.”
What exactly are any of these three doing to advance meaningful resource development projects, infrastructure, and.or preserving freedoms for “ALL” Alaskans and Alaska?
I see and hear lots of Hot Air and Grand Standing, all of which, that’s great for personal egos and entertainment awards but, that really doesn’t pay dividends to Alaskans and Alaska.
Ultimately, none of the three have offered any opportunity to build my confidence in their utility. And, many of the people in my circles are of the same opinion.
All three of our elected federal representatives are useless. Two of them can be replaced this year.
It’s all about money, sent them to Washington broke now look at them, wealthy beyond imagination, and I would bet none of them has pulled up to gas station and forked out bucks to fill up in years, and us still working to keep things going have to pay, pay and on top of all the they keep telling us they are working for us, BS we need new blood, and term limits!
At both State and Federal levels.
When I fill my pickup I try to get it done at COSTCO AT 6 am to avoid any line or wait time but admit I was somewhat shocked at the $96.00 dollar fill up last week and although I had seen the Gasoline price increases coming my bigger concern is what is going to happen to our food supply down the road as Farmers face higher fuel prices and more importantly high fertilizer costs and maybe shortages of fertilizers for crops this spring…I read Bloombergs ‘follow the egg prices’ piece which was very informative on where food prices and shortages are headed this summer and into the fall world wide….Something needs to be done and done quickly to avoid deepening the disaster we are facing on many fronts, most of which are self-inflicted….
Do what the progressive left does: Defy the law. Antifa and BLM owned leftist enclaves around the country while Biden and the rest of the progs looked the other way. Dunleavy should broker deals with the oil companies and start pumping the hell out what Alaska has to offer. Don’t wait for permission that you’ll never receive from a destructive administration. At the cost per gallon at the pump, how many people will run to the aid of the filthy feds? No one would.
Oh Brad. The PROGRESSIVES defy the law? Have you read anything about the Republican standard bearer Donald Trump, soon to be remembered as defendant Trump?
whataboutism
The excuse for shutting down Alaska has been climate change. That is now out the window with the Ukraine crisis. You can see the smoke from outer space. All the war machinery, thermobaric bombs, and now an explosives laden 5 core nuclear plant. Add to this murders, rapes, refugees numbering in the millions, it goes on. Time to take action, I don’t know Murkowski and Sullivan sleep at night.
President Biden shutdown the Keystone Pipeline one day one of his administration then he continued by shutting down numerous other energy related projects in the US. In the early stages of his administration President Biden was for Nord Stream 2 and supporting Russian natural gas going so far as to lift sanctions on Nord Stream 2 in May 2021 and then actively opposing sanctions in January of this year, while Putin was amassing troops on the Ukrainian border. Putin along with the Chinese have been funding environmental organizations in the US and Europe for quite some time. In 2014 Hilary Clinton said “We were up against Russia pushing oligarchs and others to buy media. We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand against any effort, ‘Oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you,’ and a lot of the money supporting that message was coming from Russia,”
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The Biden administration hasn’t approved of a single oil lease, except that of a single court ordered lease. The Biden administration has now authorized the release of 80,000,000 barrels of oil from the US Strategic Reserve since November, while Democrats are begging Saudi Arabia to produce more oil and hoping that Iran will agree to a new nuclear deal and free up some oil so we can turn around and support even more authoritarians and war mongers.
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The last time we beat Russia in a cold war we did so by growing our energy production and disturbing the power base that the USSR had built up, we’ve allowed Russia to get to this point by shutting off our domestic production and importing Russian oil. Europe has put themselves in this position by going green and farming their energy production out to Russia, they are funding this war with blood stained oil and gas. We have enough of both here in the US that we could supply Europe and end this war.
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We know that Russian and Chinese lies are being spread all over through environmental groups and even through people claiming to be conservatives just to sow discord. It’s beyond time for our elected representatives to represent us, the American people.
Lucky thing the villages will be paying more too I guess. But the squares were checked. Their prices are already high. Guess the state will be supplementing the generators.
Ahem – I noted the “declare war” by Alex Gimarc, specifically: “There is a vehicle available to get this done, though: A declaration of war. Bring one to the floor of the House, Don, if you dare.” Is Gimarc serious? As soon as a declaration of war is issued, we all go up in nuclear dust, or fallout, or something. Nothing will be left on this planet. The best thing we can do is avoid war. Russia is not Iraq. They have nukes, lots of them. In fact, they apparently have the most on the planet. Also, it was Victoria Nuland, as Under Foreign Secretary who set this present problem up under the Obama Administration. She is back with Biden. We went ballistic when Cuba was armed by the Soviets, threatened to nuke them, and finally settled for a trade, taking ours out of Turkey on the “quiet” and the Soviets removing any on Cuba. So why are we surprised when the Russians did not want NATO on their doorstep either? Why not give up NATO in Ukraine for the Russians pulling out? Maybe we could throw in Right Sektor as well. Also maybe we could stop bankrupting Russia (That was the real reason for Russia going to war against Napoleon – he wanted to control the continent and tell the Russians who they could sell their wheat to), and get our own oil and gas back under production and lower these energy costs so we can afford food and fuel again? Just saying…
Oil and gas are the least of our problems. Russia also has gold, neon, paladium, platinum, and other minerals that we need for cars, cell phones, medical devices, solar panels, and everything else that use chips. Russia and Ukraine are also major exporters of wheat, a stapple for people around the globe. Russia also has a lot of the fertilizers that ALL of our farmers need, and without fertilizer, smaller yields and thus less food.
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Most important, Ecuador is moving to bitcoins; Russia, China, French Guinea, India, and Pakistan are now only trading with Chinese yuan instead of American dollar; and both Russia and China already use their own credit card system. The American dollar is worth less and inflation will continue to soar while we can’t afford gas, heating, chips, or even food.
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America should have been trying to make friends with Russia, but every single administration since Reagan have done everything possible to strengthen ties between Russia and China. Did no one notice that not a single Middle Eastern country voted to condemn Russia, even Saudia Arabia? Let’s not forget about India, Pakistan, and many Latin American and African countries also abstained.
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This war could have been avoided if it hadn’t been for this current administration, and both Antony Blinken and Victoria Nuland have a long history of foreign policy disasters (Nuland was under George W Bush, Obama, and now Biden). This whole crisis is 100% America’s failed foreign policy and the oligarchy class that wants to colonize Russia the way they did Ukraine, and the three feckless folks we have in DC are part of the endless corruption known as “Democracy”.
This is ideology, not reason speaking: “This whole crisis is 100% America’s failed foreign policy”. Nonsense, but anything to attack Biden.
No Alaskans lifted a finger to give cover to Murkowski, Young and Sullivan to allow them to push back against Haaland’s nomination; not ASRC, RDC, AGC, Alaska Chamber, Nana, CIRI, AFN, etc. Haaland was untouchable because she is part Native American – a minority. We’re all scared to death of being called racist. In the political arena today a minority woman is the safest pick in the world, and that is because we’re all intimidated to speak up! Since the majority of minority women in the political world are Democrats this social phenomenon is very partisan. So I don’t blame Murkowski, Young and Sullivan, but I do blame all the Alaska organizations that would have you believe they are pro-development.
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