Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Message Board

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Gold/Mining/Energy : Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline

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From: Snowshoe	9/21/2006 6:14:39 PM
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Help wanted: Campaign to fight reserves tax ___________________________________________ adn.com This is not an easy time to round up support for the oil industry in Alaska. People are angry about prices at the pump, and they're reminded of that anger every time they see a news report on corporate profits. A lot of Alaskans are frustrated that North Slope producers haven't committed to building the proposed natural gas pipeline. Too many Alaskans believe the companies somehow cheated the state in the oil tax rewrite adopted by legislators last month. And then there are those corroded oil lines at Prudhoe Bay. Given that lineup of hot emotions -- regardless whether they're fair -- it's not surprising that many of Alaska's business, community and political leaders are reluctant to run a campaign against the natural gas reserves tax initiative on the Nov. 7 election ballot. Some say they are against the punitive tax, but they're not eager to volunteer for an unpopular campaign against the popular measure. But someone had better step forward soon, or it will be too late. Actually, several someones need to raise their hands and start working to defeat the initiative. Emotions are a lousy reason to impose taxes. And frustration over the gas line project -- driven by unrealistic past and present political promises -- is a bad reason to pass the initiative, even if it's more popular than the evil oil empire. The billion-dollar-a-year tax would sink the state and major North Slope producers into a lengthy court battle, taking down with it the proposed gas line. Meanwhile, Alaskans would have little choice but to sit and twiddle our thumbs, waiting for a verdict and waiting even longer for a gas line. The right answer is to negotiate a better gas line deal than Gov. Frank Murkowski put together with the producers; one that will get the project built and the money flowing into the state treasury. The better answer is to elect a governor who can put together a smart team to negotiate an acceptable contract for the project's state tax and royalty terms. The better answer is to vote against the reserves tax. But for that to succeed, some of Alaska's big-name leaders need to step forward and tell voters why they should vote no. Not just volunteers representing the oil industry -- which is on the downhill side of public opinion these days -- but credible non-oil leaders who can stand up on their own and tell Alaskans the tax is the wrong way to go. BOTTOM LINE: Speak up now, or suffer the consequences.

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