Brennan: State’s future is looking good

Alaska is getting some of the worst impacts from the world’s warming climate, but its economy could get a major and lasting boost from the battle against it.

Obviously global warming is a double-edge sword, and one edge is very problematic, but the other one could cut our way into the future.

Coal and petroleum products are major contributors to the fog of hydrocarbon emissions that are plaguing the world, but natural gas is considered a marginally green fuel and will be a valuable and effective interim solution. And Alaska has lots of gas to supply a portion of the world’s needs. That could provide a major boost to this state’s economy for a generation or more.

The gas would be used to generate electricity for many purposes, including operation of electric vehicles to replace our old gas guzzlers.

Glaciers are melting, seas are rising, permafrost is thawing and bird, fish and game populations are hurting; forests and wild lands are burning and some rural villages are being forced to relocate to avoid rising waters. The good news is that Alaska may play an important role in abating the damage.

There is no question that the effects of the warming climate are generally negative and the problem must be resolved. The oil produced from Alaska’s oil fields plays a role in the problem. But hydrocarbons could also play an important role in its resolution. The world will need Alaska’s gas.

Oil is not as harmful to the environment as coal, which is used heavily as a fuel source by large and populous countries like China. But China is worried about the problem and working hard on it. That country is a major producer of the world’s supply of solar panels and other technological gadgets that reduce hydrocarbon emissions.

China is into research in many areas in a major way. And though it is well known as a pirate in dealing with technologies invented and developed by the private sector in the United States and elsewhere, it is a major producer of gizmos and gadgets that we all use. Your house probably has quite a few things that were made there.

Correcting China’s sometimes mischievous ways will be important, though how that might happen remains unclear. But that doesn’t prevent us from taking advantage of the valuable contributions that country makes to the world economy.

Here in the United States the oil companies are often portrayed as villains in the air and water pollution battle, but the companies are working hard to correct the problems their products cause. All of the major companies are doing research on ways to reduce damaging emissions from the products they produce and sell.

I am convinced that they will ultimately be successful and that they will find ways for hydrocarbon energy to be produced and consumed with far less impact on the natural environment and the lives of the world’s people.

Alaska’s known reserves of natural gas include 35 trillion cubic feet from just two known fields on the North Slope. The total statewide is almost certainly much more.

This state has worked for years to build a pipeline to carry compressed gas from the Arctic fields to a tanker port on Cook Inlet. That is quite likely to be built sometime in the years ahead to carry gas to the Orient and to American West Coast ports.

I suspect eventually we might also see a port built from our Arctic coast into the Beaufort Sea. There the gas will be loaded into tankers with ice-breaking hulls for transport through the Arctic Ocean via what has long been called the Northwest Passage to the U.S. East Coast and perhaps Europe. That might be a long shot but I wouldn’t rule it out.

A warming climate has helped some species while hurting many others. Those that benefit here in Alaska include the red salmon that flooded Southcentral waterways last summer and reds scooped up by fisherfolk in the western Arctic. That subspecies apparently benefited from the warmer waters that were detrimental to many other fish and fauna, including both cod and halibut.

So climate change is a mixed bag, for sure, but the good news is that it won’t be all bad for Alaska. Some of it could provide jobs, royalties and taxes for years to come.