CBC/AP.  It’s a decision U.S. President Barack Obama put U.S. President Barack Obama, seen speaking in front of TransCanada pipes that have yet to be installed in Cushing, Okla., successfully put off a decision about the Keystone XL pipeline extension until after the recent U.S. elections. But pressure is mounting for his administration to deliver its final verdict.off during this year’s election campaign, but now that he’s won a second term, his next move on the proposed oil pipeline between Alberta and Texas may signal how he will deal with climate and energy issues in the four years ahead.  (Comment: Note the stacked, unused TransCanada pipe on the right, as Obama appeared in Cushing, Ok., during the campaign.  In the early 1970s Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) pipe rested for several years, stacked and waiting for Congressional authorization.  That authorization passed the Senate by one tie-breaking vote, cast by Vice President Agnew in 1973.  In this case, the Obama administration will make a political determination on future of the XL Pipeline after weighing the economic benefit it could bring a depressed economy against environmental pressures to stop the project.   Like the earlier Alaska case, the present pipeline decision will likely turn on one man’s decision.   -dh) 

Hastings to Continue Service as Natural Resources Committee Chairman – On Tuesday, Congressman Doc Hastings (NGP Photo), arguably the most important member of the House of Representatives to Alaska, accepted the post of House Natural Resources Committee Chairman for the 113th Congress. Of particular importance to the Pacific Northwest, the Committee has jurisdiction over the Bonneville Power Administration, Bureau of Reclamation irrigation projects (including the Columbia Basin Project and the Yakima River Basin projects), endangered species policies, federal hydropower projects, Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes (PILT) payments and firefighting on federal lands. Hastings began his service as the top Republican on the Committee in the 111th Congress prior to being selected Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee for the 112th Congress.

ADN by Kyle Hopkins.  A mysterious blob of frozen soil, rocks and trees is creeping toward the Dalton Highway, threatening to block the haul road that serves as a lifeline for Alaska’s oil and gas industry. It could happen as soon as end of the decade.   (Note:  We would also observe that when policy makers begin discussing the movement of a fleet of LNG truck tankers down the Dalton Highway from the Alaska North Slope to Fairbanks, the various traffic and road impacts have yet to be very well vetted.  -dh)