By ROBERT SEITZ
My commentary on Nov. 15, 2024, “Work on sensible legislation this next session — with solutions, not band aids” was obviously not read by the majority legislators in the Alaska House and Senate. They are not even picking the right bandages.
My recommendation was: “ One of the most important objects for Alaska to work on at this time is to get increased oil flow in the Trans Alaska Pipeline, with a goal of a million barrels a day or more so that we can have assured revenue sufficient to fund the necessary items of the annual budget well into the future. The way to ensure a balanced budget with the least hassle is to ensure future revenues. Oil and gas are the best revenue sources we have.”
With that guidance, a smart legislator who is experienced in Alaska would have gone to the oil producers in the state and asked them: “What projects do you have that are shovel ready, or at least almost shovel ready, with a design and a plan ready to go, and what do you need Alaska to do that would encourage you to get those projects going so we can get increase flow of crude oil to the pipeline?”
We know that the ESG (environmental, social, governance) influence on investors and financial institutions has put a block on financing of “fossil fuel” (hydrocarbon) projects. The Alaska Legislature could have proposed legislation that would instruct the Permanent Fund Corporation to not invest with any company not willing to finance oil and gas exploration and development in Alaska. Once they get moving on solutions like this they will undoubtedly come up some more incentivizing solutions.
The price of crude oil is going to drop, so we need to increase the quantity crude oil flowing down the pipeline to market. This would help increase the flow of crude and would likely get people behind John Hendix and Furie/HEX to ensure easy financing for drilling new gas wells to help ensure there is not a reduction in Cook Inlet gas.
We have demonstrated that the Kitchen Lights Unit has a large gas capacity, that accessible financing would be able to unleash to drill more wells and add more platforms to Kitchen Lights. I’m sure that some of the potential investors in the AKLNG project would be better encouraged to step forward to invest immediately, once the curse of hydrocarbon fuel is removed.
I’ve been surprised that after all the commentaries that have been written about the amount of Cook Inlet gas that is readily available, and that no one is shouting “Drill, John (Hendrix), Drill!” The basic idea is to keep our energy cost as low as possible. Going to LNG imports immediately increases our energy cost considerably, and immediately.
Hilcorp or S Corp tax will not get engineering and construction projects going, but when oil and gas production projects are encouraged to get a jump start, the engineering and construction efforts begin quickly and money flows in the economy. Then, move immediately to encouraging mineral extraction and timber extraction. Then, encourage the increase in energy production so that mines that are developed might be encouraged to refine their ore in Alaska.
It is time to chase dollars — billions of dollars and not pennies, nickels and dimes — so that we can finally get to where we can actually develop a meaningful budget that can be fully funded.
Then the legislators can properly attach the Alaska school system issues, and it sure isn’t lack of funding of the system. There is no point in paying more money into a broken system.
The 23,000 homeschool students exist because their parents did not want their children to be indoctrinated to America- hating ideologies being pushed in Alaska schools these days. No group (union) should have more control than Alaska parents in any school district.
With a Republican majority in both houses we should not be having some of these discussions, but with the few who abandoned their party affiliation with the misrepresentation of “looking for a balanced budget,” the legislative efforts are not directed to real solutions for real problems.
I see a few abandon the party platform just to torpedo the PFD payments to the deserving citizens of Alaska.
There is still time to see what can be done to get some crude produced and in the pipeline to get some real money flowing. And there is still time to get some policy changes into the Alaska education system. And now is the time to say “Drill, John, Drill”!
Robert Seitz is a licensed professional electrical engineer and lifelong concerned Alaskan.
We need cheap homes for workers.
Naaa we’d rather buy it from foreign countries. Make them rich so they can buy bombs to drop on us.