Alaska and her Canadian provincial sister, Alberta... ... both face similar economic/political challenges.  1) Both have an overdependence on volatile petroleum income, though Alaska's dependence is greater.  2) Each has a liberal leader who understands the importance of natural reource revenue; but, some of their major constituencies actually oppose natural resource development and support higher energy taxes.  3) The Governor of Alaska and Alberta's Premier both preside over large bureaucracies whose funding has been slashed by a two-plus year energy price decline.  4) Meanwhile, energy competitors all over the world are [...]