Calgary Herald by Rebecca Penty.  As the final hours of public hearings on one of North America’s largest energy projects were set to begin, Russ Girling was taking in a bird’s-eye view of his company’s planned megapipeline route through a key battleground – Nebraska.  Having ditched his suit and tie for work boots after meetings in Washington over the $7-billion, 2,700-kilometre cross-border Keystone XL, the TransCanada Corp. CEO tracked the pipeline’s right-of-way over the state 30 metres up in a helicopter.

ADN by Sean Cockerham.  A new report from the University of Alaska Anchorage says the transition to Dr. Scott Goldsmith, ISER, University of Alaska Anchorage, Economist, Oil and Gas, TAPS Throughputa "post-Prudhoe economy" will be the biggest challenge for Alaska over the next decade, a warning that comes as the state’s politicians bicker over what to do about oil taxes and a natural gas pipeline.  The report by UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research (download PDF here) says the dollars coming to the state treasury as a result of high oil prices have masked the long decline in Alaska oil production and given the state a reprieve to find a solution. The report found reason for optimism: Alaska still has great potential in petroleum resources and, if high oil prices hold, the state could collect many billions more in oil revenues "before the conventional reserves on state lands are used up."  …  "But any number of roadblocks could derail a smooth transition. We all have a natural tendency to avoid decisions that require sacrifice in the near term to achieve a longer term goal," concluded ISER economist Scott Goldsmith (NGP Photo- above-left), who wrote the report.  …   This comes as the rhetoric among politicians over oil taxes is ratcheting up. Gov. Sean Parnell (NGP Photo-upper right) seems to take every opportunity to push his plan to slash state taxes on oil companies, saying it will make the state more competitive for investment.    …  Rep. Les Gara (NGP Photo-r) argued the state could be doing more to encourage a natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48, through providing more Bob Wilkins and Army Kirschbaumloan guarantees or becoming a part owner of the pipeline to lower its tariff and make the project more economic. Oil production will also go up if companies are out exploring the North Slope for natural gas, he said.

Personal:  The ADN noted a story about Alaskan Arts Icon Dr. Robert Wilkins (NGP Photo-l) and honored your publisher by first illustrating the piece with his photo, and, second, by including a series of his event photos, here.