About wpnorthern

Dave Harbour, publisher of Northern Gas Pipelines, is a former Chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, a Commissioner Emeritus of NARUC, NARUC's Official Representative to IOGCC and Vice Chairman of NARUC's Gas Committee. He served as Gas Committee Chairman of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners. He also served as commissioner of the Anchorage Bicentennial Commission and the Anchorage Heritage Land Bank Commission. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree: English, at Colorado State University, a Master of Science Degree: Communications-Journalism at Murray State University and graduated from Utility Regulatory School for Commissioners at Michigan State University. He served as a Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs at Alaska Pacific University, taught bank marketing classes at the University of Alaska and was an English teacher at Los Alamos High School. Harbour served in ranks of Private - Captain during a 4-year assignment with the Army in Korea, Idaho, Georgia and Fort Meade and received the Meritorious Service Medal among other commendations. Harbour is also a past Chairman of the Alaska Council on Economic Education, the Alaska Oil & Gas Association Government Affairs Committee, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the Export Council of Alaska and the Department of Commerce's District Export Council. He is a past President of the Alaska Press Club, American Bald Eagle Foundation, Consumer Energy Alliance-Alaska and Common Sense for Alaska. Harbour was instrumental in founding the American Bald Eagle Research Institute (UAS), the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, the Downtown Anchorage Business Partnership, and Arctic Power. He also served as CEO of several small Alaska organizations, including the Anchorage Parking Authority and Action Security, Inc. Harbour is also Chairman Emeritus of the Alaska Oil & Gas Congress. Harbour's wife, Nancy, is a professional, performing arts administrator and his three boys, Todd, Benjamin and William work in the fields of environmental management, energy marketing and medicine.
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Alternate Energy Under Attack re: high cost, environmental impact, subsidies, unsustainable, negative economic impact

See yesterday's posting here: “Why carbon dioxide is a good thing” More coming.... 1) Polish Government Plans To Kill Wind Industry Financial Times, 18 April 2016 2) German Government Bill Threatens Renewable Energy Revolution, Green Lobby Warns Solar Server News, 18 April 2016 3) Norway To End Renewable Subsidy Scheme By 2021 Reuters, 15 April 2016 4) Europe’s Energy Crisis Poses Warning For The U.S. Breitbart, 14 April 2016 5) Coal’s Future Shifts To Developing World The Australian, 16 April 2016 6) Michael Lynch: Fossil Fuels’ Value [...]

By |2016-12-22T22:27:27-09:00April 18th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

4-18-16 ALERT BELOW – BLM Seeks To Increase O&G Regulatory Burden

Alberta's 2016 budget: Ignoring lessons from Alberta’s history (Appeared in the Calgary Sun) by Ben Eisen and Charles Lammam Alberta expects to rack up $37 billion in new debt over the next three years.   Notley following Wynne’s failed Ontario strategy on deficits and debt (Appeared in the Calgary Sun) by Ben Eisen and Charles Lammam Ontario has seen its net debt increase by $126.5 billion since 2008/09.   Will B.C. ever export LNG? (Appeared in the Vancouver Sun) by Kenneth P. Green and Taylor Jackson The regulatory approval [...]

4-17-16 Canadians Protest Pipelines, Lose Pipeline and Export Revenue

BP planning to cut Prudhoe Bay development drilling by half of 2015 levels Caelus suspending drilling; laying off 25 percent of Alaska work force   Calgary Herald by Chris Varcoe.   A lack of pipelines to ship oil out of the province will tighten the financial squeeze on Alberta’s treasury in the coming years, warns the new NDP budget. The fiscal plan released by Finance Minister Joe Ceci on Thursday predicts the “light-heavy differential” facing Alberta oil will widen in the next two years, cutting into the price domestic petroleum producers receive for their crude. More....

By |2016-12-22T22:27:28-09:00April 17th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

4-16-16 Gas Board Member Barely Confirmed

Journal of Commerce By:  Elwood Brehmer and DJ Summers Former Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins narrowly escaped the Legislature’s joint confirmation process and kept his seat on the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. board of directors. Legislators voted 31-27 in favor of Hopkins, who is Gov. Bill Walker’s latest in a string of appointments to the board charged with leading the state’s role in developing a North Slope natural gas pipeline project, namely today the $45 billion plus Alaska LNG Project. An appointment must receive 31 votes — a [...]

By |2016-12-22T22:27:28-09:00April 16th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

4-15-16 Op-Ed: Alaska’s Budget Talk: All Bark and No Bite?

The Road Less Traveled by Dave Harbour A path less taken.... A road more oft taken. Yesterday's editorial may seem like the writer has no empathy or regard for elected leaders. Au contraire. We have run for public office twice ourselves and lost twice.  We know the dedication and loneliness required to enter the political arena.  We appreciate the courage and focus and determination one musters to run for office.  One appreciates the long hours of candidate work, the door-to-door, the fund raising, the volunteer coordination, the interviews [...]

4-14-16 Alaska/Alberta Citizens Are Both Victims Of Elected Official Overspending!

Yesterday's Headline:   Will Alaska & Alberta punish taxpayers with more taxes —  or — reward bureaucracies and entitlement beneficiaries with tax increases?  You decide! Today's Alberta Headline, below:  "...a budget deficit above $10 billion, which is scary by any standard...." Today's Alaska Headlines, and our commentary below: "Is Alaska Still America's Last Frontier of Freedom?" We genuinely like and respect almost all of the elected officials we have come to know after over four decades of Alaska residency and Alberta interaction.  Nevertheless, in business we would say that reward does not result from [...]

By |2016-12-22T22:27:28-09:00April 14th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Alaska Legislative Budget Consensus Close – Canada Debates Pipeline Policy – We Revisit The Science/Religion/Politics Of Climate Change

Calgary Herald by Deborah Yedlin.   It’s rare to hear a coast-to-coast perspective on the importance of market access and pipeline infrastructure as delegates were offered Tuesday at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ annual investment symposium.  A four-member panel brought representation from British Columbia (Kinder Morgan’s Norman Rinne); Saskatchewan (Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd); Quebec (Eric Tetrault, head of the Manufacturers and Exporters) and New Brunswick (Irving Oil president Ian Whitcomb).   More.... Alaska's Legislature Approaches Budget Consensus (Story Below) ADN by Nathaniel Herz. The Alaska House and Senate on Tuesday unveiled identical [...]

By |2016-12-22T22:27:28-09:00April 13th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Governor’s Alaska Tax Proposal Scares Independent Oil Investment

Alaska leaders try to agree on budget plan; oil prices hurt The collapse in oil prices has left oil-reliant Alaska with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit and few palatable options for digging its way out. Alaska Governor Bill Walker (NGP File Photo) Photo Courtesy: Caelus Alaska Public Media.     North Slope oil producer Caelus Energy announced Friday it will lay off 25 percent of its 80-person work force and suspend drilling at the Oooguruk oil field, potentially affecting hundreds more contractor jobs. In a sharply-worded [...]

By |2016-12-22T22:27:28-09:00April 11th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Alaska – Alberta Tax Challenges Persist Today

Alaska and Alberta: Punish taxpayers for wealth/job production with more taxes --  or -- reward bureaucracies and entitlement beneficiaries with tax increases?  You decide! Many public officials and special interests are negotiating spending cuts vs. tax increases in both Alaska and Alberta this weekend.   Will the wealth/job producers win?  Or, will the beneficiaries of tax supported subsidies and entitlement programs win?  The result will determine whether these two great energy producing areas continue contributing to their respective country's economic power, or whether liberal forces bring free enterprise to its knees.   Our [...]

By |2016-12-22T22:27:29-09:00April 10th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Alaska’s Budget Crisis Dominates Legislature’s Weekend – Alberta’s In A Similar Boat! Will Alaskan and Albertan Officials Seek To Keep Government Special Interests ‘Whole’ At The Expense of Taxpayers, Ratepayers and Consumers?

Alberta Premier Rachael Notley, CBC Photo "Tax it, regulate it, subsidize it" Added by ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET Editor on April 8, 2016. Saved under Editorial Watching some of Alaska’s most wealthy, powerful people and organizations with a dependency on state government as they push for all manner of taxes and offer plans to tap into the Permanent Fund earnings to help the state make ends meet and protect their bottom line is not a pretty sight. Ronald Reagan Sculpture Rather than suggesting we should [...]

Alaska Is Making Critical Decisions That Affect Its Long Term Investment Climate

Alaska is making critical budget decisions that will affect its investment climate for a generation! With its unsustainable spending we have long recommended that Alaska decision makers not increase taxes or impose new taxes until significant cuts are made in entitlement programs and employee costs. As the current legislative session nears an end, we see pressure mounting for new taxes.  We see no decisive movement toward containing employee CPI and step wage increases or negotiating more prudent state employee contracts.  And, we see no significant effort to cut entitlement programs [...]

Alaska And Alberta Struggle To Save Oil Patch Economies – Scroll Down For Today’s Commentary, “U.S. & Canadian Environmental Laws/Regs Have Moved Beyond ‘Reasonable’ To Becoming Weapons Against Capitalism”

Calgary Herald/CP.  Canada’s environment minister won’t say if the country can meet its climate change commitments and at the same time green-light new pipeline projects.  Catherine McKenna told reporters.... Larry Persily, former Alaska gas pipeline federal coordinator. NGP Photo. See Larry Persily's just released energy links, mostly dealing with Alaska's LNG competitors.  Meanwhile, we urge readers to absorb the wisdom in the AK-HEADLAMP report below: Increasing oil & gas taxes in a low price or any environment is not a strategy that will attract investment [...]

Enviro Activists Stage OCS Side Show

For more information on the remaining Alaska hearings and how readers can participate, please review Monday's posting.  Please send in your comments; your opinion matters.  -dh Alex DeMarban File Photo Polar Pioneer Rig, Chukchi Sea, Courtesy: Shell Oil       ADN by Alex DeMarban (NGP Photo).   The federal government isn’t expected to hold an oil drilling lease sale in the U.S. Arctic Ocean for at least a few more years, but a meeting on the topic in Anchorage on Tuesday drew [...]

By |2016-12-22T22:27:29-09:00April 6th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Action Alert: Testify Today!

Dear Readers:  Please review our OCS hearing post yesterday...right here.  Below is an RDC alert dispatched today, on the same subject! Dave   TODAY'S OCS HEARING ALERT FROM RDC: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is holding public meetings in Anchorage (Tuesday, April 5) and Ninilchik(Wednesday, April 6) on the new five-year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas leasing program for 2017-2022. The program evaluates 13 potential sales in six planning areas, including three potential sales off the coast of Alaska. We need to defend the Alaska lease sales and show Alaskans [...]

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