No. 1 priority: Develop Alaska

To the editor:

I agree with and enjoyed a Frontiersman editorial (1/27/09) on the Susitna Dam, but I take issue with one statement, “Gov. Palin and other state leaders should keep their eyes on the more practical ball - a natural gas pipeline”. Hydroelectric development is more practical than a pipeline and will generate power forever, while natural gas supplies will soon run out. Hydroelectric power can also generate unlimited hydrogen fuel from water. Let’s take a longer-term view and develop this huge God-given resource. It would be even more practical to extend our rail line to bring LNG by tanker cars not only from the North Slope, but also from other points of origin, and to distribute it not only along a route of a pipeline, but also all along the Yukon River Valley to Nome and east to connect with the Canadian rail system. This will bring commerce, jobs, tourists and great wealth to Alaska long after natural gas supplies run dry. Certainly, we should build a NG-pipeline, also, but developing Alaska’s transportation infrastructure should be our No. 1 priority.

Daniel N. Russell

Willow