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 [...]

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....

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Assault on Alaska megaprojects skips inconvenient facts, ignores benefits by: Win Gruening

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 Kate Troll FOR THE JUNEAU EMPIRE Last Tuesday, over 8,000 Alaskans took hours out of their day to crowd together in schools and civic centers all across Alaska to caucus for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.   See Our Earlier Commentary re: Socialism vs. Free Enterprise Juneau Empire, by TASHA ELIZARDE.  ... In Alaska, as well as Washington and Hawaii, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ colossal win has added more flame to his revolution. But, we are in dire need of another political revolution.... [...]