Last Week We Urged Alaska Readers To Participate in Tonight’s Meeting With Chancellor Fran Ulmer (NGP Photo), NowFRAN ULMER Serving on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

See you there!

Mignon ClyburnWe’re delighted that Federal Communication Commission Member Mignon Clyburn (Photo, with author) is visiting Alaska this week, and further honored to have hosted her for informal meetings with Alaskans yesterday evening.  A quick study who has extensively researched Alaskan issues, she will join the ranks as yet one more Washington decision maker who has become familiar with our state.  -dh

Fairbanks News Miner.  A local audience put the heat under Alaska’s governor candidates during a rapid-fire lunch forum at the Carlson Center on Tuesday, grilling them on resource development, the economy and even their preferred candidate for U.S. Senate.  The forum, sponsored by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, attracted Republicans Gerald Heikes, Merica Hlatcu, Sam Little, Gov. Sean Parnell, Ralph Samuels and Bill Walker, along with Democratic state Sen. Hollis French.  Democrat Ethan Berkowitz and Republican Brad Snowden did not attend.  … Many of the questions veered back toward how candidates would deal with Fairbanks’ high energy costs and particularly their approach to bringing natural gas to the Interior. The issue sparked some of the feistiest exchanges between candidates, most notably between Parnell, Walker and Samuels.  

Walker, an attorney and former Valdez mayor, has made an “all-Alaska” pipeline route from the North Slope to Valdez the centerpiece of his campaign. During the 90-minute forum, he frequently brought up the importance of the project and chastised Parnell for moving too slowly. … Parnell said he isn’t bound to any particular pipeline route and that he’ll look at whichever route is the most viable. He defended his approach, which included a veto to a change to the oil and gas structure this year, as a way to create a consistent atmosphere for developers.  Samuels, a former state representative from Anchorage, said a smaller gas line to Fairbanks should be the top priority and would do more to help local consumers. The airline and travel industry executive touted his pro-business perspective during the forum, saying he was the only candidate willing to take a long-term look at the state’s economy. … French said Alaskans should insist on a high-capacity gas line, since it’s hard to make small quantities of gas economically viable. The project itself should be led by private industry, he said, not the state. …  Heikes, a Palmer contractor who described himself as a“Constitutional Christian conservative,” focused on having a state-run cooperative to stabilize oil and gas prices. Hlatcu, an Anchorage engineer, touted transportation projects, including an improved railroad network.