Alaska Dispatch by Craig Medred.  U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (NGP Photo) shocked even Shell itself by announcing the company could proceed with preliminary drilling of a single well in the empty sea 61 miles from this village.  Salazar did impose limits. The company must stop drilling nearly a mile short of any expected pools of oil and gas. Still, the conditional approval will allow Shell to finally get to work after six years of waiting. At Shell's headquarters in Anchorage, the mood was optimistic.       [...]

ADN, by Lisa Demer.  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (NGP Photo), R-Alaska, on Monday wrapped up an "energy tour" of Alaska with Democratic colleague Ron Wyden (NGP Photo) of Oregon that included a renewable energy fair, a geothermal plant at Chena Hot Springs, and an offshore oil platform in Cook Inlet.  ...  "You're looking at the chairman of the energy committee here. And we're not sure if I'm looking at him or he's looking at me."  Depending on how the November elections go, either she or Wyden is poised to become chair [...]

Vote 'No' on 2! ADN Op-Ed by Governor Frank Murkowski (NGP Photo).  The Coastal Zone Planning Initiative that will appear on the Aug. 28 primary ballot as Measure 2 is very different from the bill that passed the House 40-0 in the 2011 session of the Legislature.  As proof -- only 7 out of 60 Alaska Legislators supported Proposition 2 when it was proposed as legislation in the 2012 session of the Legislature. Remember: • There had been debate on coastal zone for two years, so Legislators were fully aware [...]

As we noted yesterday ("Shameful Management...."), the Financial Post report below represents a sharp contrast between comptently managed Canadian natural resource policy and incompetently managed U.S. natural resource policy.    Scroll down for additional evidence from Chairman Doc Hastings (NGP Photo) that the American Executive Branch is ill-prepared and/or ill-disposed to serve.   -dh Financial Post.  Stephen Harper is on his annual visit to the North this week, quoting Robert Service and boosting the region’s vast resource potential. “The North” holds a particular place in the Canadian psyche, somewhat similar to that of [...]

Publisher's Note:  Yesterday we commented (here) on Ballot Measure 2.  Several readers responded to our commentary here.   But we think today's ADN Op-ed by Consumer Energy Alliance - Alaska President Steve Pratt (NGP Photo) sums it up very well, below.   -dh   Ballot Measure 2, establishing an Alaska coastal zone management program, is bad for Alaska energy consumers. Energy costs in Alaska are high. In Southcentral, "cheap" natural gas has run its course. Fairbanks is suffering with very high fuel oil costs. Rural Alaska energy costs are even higher. A [...]