Upon inquiry, ConocoPhillips provides us with the latest status on its Kenai Peninsula LNG export facility, below.  We regard this as very good news because it helps assure Cook Inlet explorers that they might have both domestic and foreign markets for their gas discoveries.  Absent foreign markets, the domestic market alone could be insufficient to provide adequate, long term gas exploration incentives.  -dh 

With support from many local stakeholders, and in consideration of a request from the State of Alaska, ConocoPhillips Alaska (COPA) has submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Energy to resume exports of LNG from the Kenai Facility.  The application was submitted Wednesday, December 11, 2013, and will be available on the Department of Energy website: http://energy.gov/fe/services/natural-gas-regulation

ConocoPhillips Alaska remains committed to meeting its local gas supply contracts and putting local gas needs first.  COPA affirms its commitment to divert its equity and third party gas from the Kenai LNG Facility to local buyers during times of peak need.


Foxes in the Arctic Hen House

by

Dave Harbour

​We ask readers today if they have ever considered that sly foxes forage in our Arctic hen house, in our home, our breeding area, our safe haven.

Doc Hastings, ESA, Settement, Photo by Dave HarbourToday, the House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing entitled “ESA Decisions by Closed-Door Settlement: Short-Changing Science, Transparency, Private Property, and State & Local Economies.”  This hearing examined the impacts of the Endangered Species Act’s (ESA) closed-door mega-settlements on listing and critical habitat decisions and the need to reform this law to ensure that its focus is on recovering species while protecting jobs and local economies.

This oversight hearing is the fifth in a series this Committee has held on the Endangered Species Act this year.  House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (NPG Photo) announced at the hearing today that the Committee intends to advance common sense legislation to improve the ESA for the benefit of both species and people.

Anyone who has observed rookery refuges of any kind, from chickens to penguins to seals, knows several things.  Danger surrounds individuals day and night; most are vigilant and ready to flee or fight at a moment's notice.  Peaceful surroundings are required to procreate then feed and nurture the young.  They require God-given or man-given natural resources to sustain life.

Americans and Canadians have created a free enterprise rookery throughout North America that is surely envied, yes coveted, by many.

So far, we have defended our shores from foreign enemies and assisted friends and former enemies alike in recovering from war, famine, flood and other misery without seeking financial or territorial retribution.

We have believed that "Right Makes Might" not the reverse.

We have sustained life from the bounty of God's resources and the talents with which He has blessed us.

Today, we have evidence that foreign and domestic special interests — that mean us harm — are alive and well.  We define "harm" as internal strategies to seize political and economic control and external strategies to seize control over us.

And we fear that complacency pervades our historically safe abode.

The purpose of this essay is to alert citizens and their leaders of a few contemporary threats to domestic tranquility and urge immediate action.

Threat one.  On November 1, we alerted readers to the effort by Russia and America's federal government to, potentially, further restrict human activity within Alaska's lands and waters.  We provided a copy of a draft "Beringia" agreement which the two governments withheld from public view until recently.  We provided readers with an analysis of the agreement (i.e. called a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, we believe, to avoid the criticism that the Administration is unilaterally creating a treaty with the Russian Federation without the Constitutionally required consent of the United States Senate).  To date, we have seen no dramatic, highly publicized effort to demand approval of the MOU by major stakeholders: the State of Alaska and the United States Senate.  The Governor, Alaska Legislature and Alaska Congressional Delegation should immediately create a New Year's Resolution requiring advance stakeholder approval before the agreement is consummated.  They should activate bully national pulpits and take legal action, if necessary, to assure that the rule of law is respected and that the Senate ratification process is employed.

Threat two.  Yesterday, we provided an Associated Press report on one of Russia's "top priority" commitments to harden and strengthen military outposts and capabilities in the Arctic.  We noted from a Canadian Press story that Canada is rising to the challenge of defending its interest in the Arctic and we have followed the Prime Minister's annual, Arctic inspection tours of military assets.  Over a year ago, we laced these issues together, warning that while American leaders, were attempting to establish new controls over American commerce and human behavior, the Canadian leadership was at the same moment in the Arctic defending its jurisdiction there.  America's naive and inexperienced leaders are not keeping their eyes on the ball.  They are consumed day and night with shutting down free enterprise and resource development as their Russian and Canadian counterparts are carefully moving their Arctic chessboard pieces into place.  

Threat three.  America's government is populated with environmental extremists and socialist activists determined to "change America".  We have seen the changes being implemented via counter-Congressional Executive Orders, Senate rule changes to destroy opposition, government takeovers of key sectors of America's free enterprise economy.  In yesterday's post, we highlighted John Podesta's return to the White House.  We provided readers an analysis of Podesta's significant and successful efforts to merge contributions from George Soros, et. al. into a rainbow of social and environmental activist 'non-profit' organizations intent on eliminating, blocking, controlling or delaying free enterprise activity of all kinds, and natural resource exploration and development in particular.  Podesta's return to the White House means much more than simply the addition of another executive opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline.

Threat four.  We lack time and space today to more fully analyze this threat, but give readers a hint: "Consider the networked environmental/socialist organizations and efforts to further socialize Canada and diminish her great natural resource and energy transportation industries."  (Were we less focused on the Arctic, we would also analyze other coordinated challenges from Middle Eastern, North Korean and Chinese belligerents designed to cause a demonstrably weak US government to blink in response–with catastrophic outcome.)

Today, as we connect the dots of these few current events, we see that both internal and external forces pursue missions that threaten the continuing prosperity of the United States and Canada.

America is vulnerable to a loss of Arctic sovereignty due to its naive understanding of Russian actions and capabilities.  Many of its own regulators, with some heroic exceptions, are consciously and irresponsibly undermining the natural resource engines of wealth that have both prospered and protected its people.  

Canada is more responsibly viewing Arctic challenges but shares the liability of the internal cancer of environmental/socialist extremism.

*     *     *

We believe it is time for voters, mayors, premiers, governors, legislatures, legislative assemblies, parliament, congress, campaign contributors and other North American influence leaders to rationally note the elevated threat level and take responsible, legal and decisive action to deal with the foxes around and among us. 

Absent action against the clear and present dangers and threats noted here, Arctic prosperity, our North American safe house, our peaceful way of life, our economic future and even our freedom are at risk.