Anchorage Daily Planet: EDITORIAL: Time is running out
When U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is right, she's right.
She told a joint session of the Legislature that Alaska is going to have to do its part in getting its stores of natural gas to market. She says the window for a gas line remains open, but there is no time to procrastinate.
"Maybe America can wait for Alaska's natural gas. Perhaps industry can wait," she said. "But Alaska cannot wait. We can't wait because other parts of our state's economy are not strong enough - they're not strong enough - to carry our state."
Murkowski said she is doing all the can: Pushing for $30 billion in loan guarantees for pipeline construction; fighting new taxes; trying to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration and drilling; getting Alaska out from under the thumb of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Alaska needs to do a little "soul searching," as she suggests, and do whatever is necessary to become competitive in the world energy markets again.
Time is running out.
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Source: Originally published by the Anchorage Daily Planet on February 20, 2010
