7-25-16 Alaska's Governor Better Not Use State Savings To Double Down On His Pipe Dream!

7-25-16 Alaska’s Governor Better Not Use State Savings To Double Down On His Pipe Dream!

Block, Molly <Molly.Block@mail.house.gov>

2:16 PM (1 hour ago)

to Elise

Fourth Estate –

With just the click of a mouse, we can soon watch offshore lease sales from the comfort of our own homes. Instead of shelling out cash for a last-minute flight and schlepping out to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the livestream format expands access to anyone with access to a computer. Anyone, anywhere can watch.

Last week the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced it will hold its first ever live-broadcast for an offshore oil and gas lease sale over the internet. While this change follows the passage of H.R. 5577, the “Innovation in Offshore Leasing Act,” out of the Natural Resources Committee, there are some important distinctions.

More than live-broadcasting, the bipartisan bill moves offshore lease sales online – something that has never been done by BOEM. This concept is not new though. The Bureau of Land Management is holding an online-only oil and gas lease sale for parcels of land in Kentucky and Mississippi in September. Online vendors already work with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and multiple states including Texas, North Dakota, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.

H.R. 5577 at its core is about greater public access and greater transparency in government. There are no changes to lease requirements or physical restrictions in the bill introduced by Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), it simply allows the Secretary of the Interior to conduct internet-based oil and natural gas lease sales. This straightforward change will bring greater efficiency and competition for our offshore energy resources. Using the internet ensures the overall process will be fully transparent and readily available for the public to view.

Livestreaming is just the beginning. Moving leases online will be the real champion for transparency and access.

We’re not sure where you’ll be watching the August 24 sale – the possibilities are endless – but we’ll be watching from Longworth House Office Building, unfortunately without a beignet in hand.

Molly Block

Deputy Press Secretary

House Committee on Natural Resources

1328 Longworth House Office Building

(202) 226-9019

If Alaska”s governor succeeds in having his appointees on the Alaska Permanent Fund board provide policy support for investing Permanent Fund savings into a risky, financially unproven Alaska gas pipeline/LNG project when LNG prices languish at a third the threshold, economically feasible, we predict Alaska’s entire constituency will rise up to call this self-anointed gasline guru socialist leaning governor out of his ever loving mind! -dh

Alaska Dispatch News

About the Author: wpnorthern

Dave Harbour, publisher of Northern Gas Pipelines, is a former Chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, a Commissioner Emeritus of NARUC, NARUC's Official Representative to IOGCC and Vice Chairman of NARUC's Gas Committee. He served as Gas Committee Chairman of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners. He also served as commissioner of the Anchorage Bicentennial Commission and the Anchorage Heritage Land Bank Commission. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree: English, at Colorado State University, a Master of Science Degree: Communications-Journalism at Murray State University and graduated from Utility Regulatory School for Commissioners at Michigan State University. He served as a Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs at Alaska Pacific University, taught bank marketing classes at the University of Alaska and was an English teacher at Los Alamos High School. Harbour served in ranks of Private - Captain during a 4-year assignment with the Army in Korea, Idaho, Georgia and Fort Meade and received the Meritorious Service Medal among other commendations. Harbour is also a past Chairman of the Alaska Council on Economic Education, the Alaska Oil & Gas Association Government Affairs Committee, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the Export Council of Alaska and the Department of Commerce's District Export Council. He is a past President of the Alaska Press Club, American Bald Eagle Foundation, Consumer Energy Alliance-Alaska and Common Sense for Alaska. Harbour was instrumental in founding the American Bald Eagle Research Institute (UAS), the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, the Downtown Anchorage Business Partnership, and Arctic Power. He also served as CEO of several small Alaska organizations, including the Anchorage Parking Authority and Action Security, Inc. Harbour is also Chairman Emeritus of the Alaska Oil & Gas Congress. Harbour's wife, Nancy, is a professional, performing arts administrator and his three boys, Todd, Benjamin and William work in the fields of environmental management, energy marketing and medicine.