(Personal note: We thank the Los Angeles Times and Mike Kupper for bringing us news of Bud Greenspan {Photo}.  Here's a great AP story by sportswriter, Jim Litke.     Sometimes we take a personal privilege prerogative, here, and note the passing of dear friends.  One such friend is Bud Greenspan who became a steady friend of Alaska and this writer as our Anchorage Organizing Committee fought to become a venue for the Winter Olympics twenty years ago.  Rick Mystrom (NGP Photo-r), Anchorage's former Mayor, and advertising executive Rick Nerland led [...]

On Christmas, I always remember how an old friend, Bill Tobin, used to include this "Christmas Tree" every year on the Anchorage Times editorial page.  I'm honored to carry on the tradition and reprint Bill's Christmas Tree below as a tribute to our great Alaska predecessors and as a commitment to honor and propagate their pioneering spirit.   (NGP Photo, holding Evangeline Atwood's book: Two years before his passing, Bill invited me to lunch at the Petroleum Club.  I took the opportunity to ask him to put a note in Evangeline's book, [...]

Yesterday we commented on the Obama Administration effort to shut down Alaska.  Today, we make note of two things: Governor Sean Parnell's determination to keep Alaska open for business (See ADN), and the need for all Americans to send in comments this week regarding next summer's planned Beaufort Sea exploration program.  If the preponderance of comment is from activist environmental groups rather than from Alaskans and Americans everywhere interested in national sucurity, jobs and a recovering economy, the Obama soldiers could say, "Well, the preponderance of opinion on the record [...]

Calgary Herald by Dina O'Meara.  TransCanada Corp. will be lowering 2011 tolls on its vast natural gas main line after reaching a last-minute agreement with shippers battling sharply reduced prices for the resource.  Tolls will fall to $1.23 per gigajoule from $1.60 per GJ this year on the venerable Alberta to Ontario system, TransCanada said Thursday. ... "We are pleased with the progress we have made in our discussions with stakeholders and believe the proposed tolls will provide significant benefits," added chief executive Russ Girling in a statement. ...  Analysts predicted [...]

Earlier today, we notified readers (HERE) of the importance of providing a pre-Christmas comment to BOEMRE and how to do it.  Several readers are beginning to respond and we urge a massive response!  Please comment to BOEMRE and then send us your comment! Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, by President Sami Glascott (NGP Photo-l) Bill Noll ADN Editorial Senator-elect Cathy Giessel Dave Harbour  Steve Pratt Reed Christensen Chris Bell Representative Mark Neuman Maynard Tapp (NGP Photo-r) Peter Macksey Bob Cox Pat Carter Mayor Darcie Salmon Jeff Jones The RDC's Carl Portman [...]

Anchorage Mayor's Energy Task Force Meets This Morning, 9-11 a.m., City Hall: Senator Lesil McGuire along with House Members Neal Foster and Lance Pruitt. See Tuesday's Chukchi Comments...and Monday's We are delighted and inspired to see so many dedicated Alaskans taking the time to comment one more time during this endless parade of federal hearings.  The plethora of hearings from a plethora of agencies during a constricted, 2-year period of time is more designed to wear normal Alaskans down and activate the Lower 48 environmental fundraising base than truly seek [...]

New Chukchi Comments New Chukchi Comments From NGP Readers: Representative Mike Hawker (NGP Photo-r) Mary Ann Pease (NGP Photo-r) Will Chinn, Price-Gregory Representative Bob Lynn (NGP Photo-below) Yesterday was the announced deadline for public comment on the government's Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Chukchi Sea.  We received some new comment today (left column) and you can see those who commented yesterday, here.  We also know that hundreds of 'comment cards' reflected Alaskans' support for Chukchi development though we fear that the enormous, grass roots network mobilized over the years by [...]

About Tuesday Night's Federal OCS Hearing In Alaska (Written on the road: Atlanta, Ga. - See our photos below and the Alaska Journal of Commerce Story.) Commentary:  NGP Readers know this webpage is non-partisan.  We encouraged all democrat and republican elected officials by personal email to weigh in at the BOEM hearing Tuesday (Scroll down for details).  Alaska news media publicized the event.  As if explanation were needed, we repeated in these pages and in our emails the reasons why approval of OCS exploration of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas [...]