Scott Goldsmith, Alaska, Economist, Oil and Gas, taxes, spending, Photo by Dave HarbourCordova Times.  A University of Alaska Anchorage economics professor is cautioning against state government overspending in fiscal year 2014, saying hold the line at $5.5 billion, based on its petroleum nest egg of about $149 billion.  That’s the most recent estimate of the level of general fund spending the state can sustain over the long run, says Scott Goldsmith (NGP Photo), professor emeritus of economics at UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research.  (See our earlier story.)


Calgary Herald.  Progress Energy has awarded a $5-billion natural gas infrastructure project across northern British Columbia to TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP), the Calgary-based pipeline company.  TransCanada will design, build, own and operate the proposed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project for Progress. It will also extend an existing transmission line to connect with the Prince Rupert line to serve Progress and other gas suppliers. 


EnergyBiz by Ken Silverstein.  The obstacles blocking the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline are falling one-by-one. The presidential encounter was huge. But the next biggest would be that of the state of Nebraska, which had put the brakes on the original deal.  Now, a state agency there has completed a report that says the pipeline would involve “minimal” risks to the Nebraska’s overall environment. Basically, the developer, TransCanada Corp., rerouted its line to avoid sensitive areas — although not enough to placate the green opposition.  “The proposed Nebraska Reroute avoids many areas of fragile soils in Northern Nebraska,” says the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. “Keystone would have financial and regulatory responsibility for any spill associated with the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline,” it says, adding that the project’s economic benefits would far exceed its environmental risks.  


Today’s Consumer Energy Alliance Links: 

 

Florida Political Press: Comprehensive Energy Policy Is Needed 
The “Energy Policy After the Election” forum, sponsored by the Consumer Energy Alliance-Florida and the JAX Chamber, featured discussions of the issue from both federal and regional perspectives. Despite their different vantage points, the experts were united in their view that America is on the verge of an energy renaissance in which we can lead the world – but only if our policy makers do their jobs right.

 
More than 70 green groups urged President Obama in a Monday letter to kill the Keystone XL pipeline to make good on promises to address climate change. Obama has publicly pledged to tackle climate change a handful of times since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, though without detailing specific policy plans. In their letter, the groups said Obama should speak out more often on climate change, impose emissions limits on existing coal-fired power plants and focus on creating clean-energy jobs.
 
After a couple of months during which larger issues were grabbing headlines, the Keystone XL pipeline is back in the news again. Recall that in the fall of 2011, Congress attempted to force the Obama Administration to come to some sort of a decision on the pipeline—a project that would deliver oil from Canada’s Alberta tar sands to a pipeline junction in Steel City, Nebraska and then ultimately on to refineries in Illinois and along the Gulf Coast. President Obama rejected the pipeline application in January 2012, citing the Congressional deadline as being too tight to allow for a thorough assessment.
 
The Obama administration ordered a broad review of Shell’s Arctic drilling program on Tuesday, following a series of mishaps that culminated with the grounding of the company’s Kulluk rig on New Year’s Eve. The move calls into question whether Shell Oil Co. will be allowed to continue its hunt for crude under the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska, after spending $5 billion and more than six years on the quest. In announcing the probe, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stressed that the Obama administration “is fully committed to exploring for potential in energy resources in frontier areas, such as the Arctic.” But some analysts suggested the inquiry nevertheless could mark a shift in the administration’s support for a new generation of Arctic oil exploration, possibly affecting plans by ConocoPhillips, Statoil and other companies to drill in the region.
 
Oil and gas industry leaders are urging President Obama to forgo tax increases in his second term and instead embrace more domestic energy production as a way to jump-start the economy and create jobs. “Energy access, not taxes, is the key to unlocking new revenues for our government,” said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, in his annual “State of American Energy” address Tuesday afternoon.
 
Four years ago, President Barack Obama said his energy and environmental advisers would work to develop a “new hybrid economy” based on wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. Lisa Jackson has announced her exit as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who faced congressional criticism over green-energy programs, could follow. Obama may end up assembling a second- term team for a different task: how to manage the boom in U.S. production of oil and natural gas.