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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (309671)	6/15/2009 8:13:02 PM
From: Snowshoe	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793958

>>I do think this is all a feather in Palin's cap.<< Brumar, The previous Alaska gasline negotiations under Governor Murkowski foundered over fiscal terms. The major oil companies (BP/COP/XOM) made it absolutely clear that they could not proceed on a project that isn't profitable. The Palin administration passed the AGIA (Alaska Gasline Inducement Act) that tried to bypass the major oil companies. This process has been forcefully criticized by conservative Republicans and the oil industry. The AGIA process is now traveling on a roundabout path that will end up next year right back where we were in 2006 - dealing with the fiscal terms. And what has changed since 2006? 1) Sarah Palin palled around with the Democrats and moderate Republicans to jack up the taxes even higher. Alaska's tax regime now cuts off most of the upside for the oil companies. This revenue stream can be insanely lucrative when profits are high. During the gasoline price surge last summer, Neeka and KLP were paying $4/gallon in Washington State. Of that amount, $3/gallon was going straight to the State of Alaska! 2) The world turned out to be "full of gas." The North American natural gas industry is booking tremendous reserves of shale gas. This combination of less favorable industry fiscal terms and lower gas prices does not bode well for pipeline economics. So guess what happened back in March? Sarah finally blinked... Governor offers pipeline olive branch on gas taxes By SEAN COCKERHAM Last Modified: March 19th, 2009 01:54 PM JUNEAU -- Gov. Sarah Palin surprised state legislators Wednesday by indicating she is willing to negotiate how much the state taxes natural gas in order to attract oil companies to a pipeline project. "We are open to changes in the state's fiscal structure to allow this project to happen. ... We are open to whatever it takes to make sure that this project happens for our state and for our country," Palin told reporters. more: adn.com Yep, we are heading right back to where we were in 2006, discussing fiscal terms with the oil majors. If this pipeline is going to happen, Palin is going to have to slash the very taxes that she helped to raise! When that happens, she'll finally be a full-fledged Republican again and I can quit complaining about her hypocrisy! :O) -Snow