PREACHING PATIENCE

PALMER — Speaking before a Valley crowd on Thursday, Gov. Sean Parnell preached the importance of patience and teamwork for guiding Alaska’s future.

“In some ways, we accept that progress is made slowly, one step at a time,” Parnell told the Palmer Rotary members. “We have only to look at our past, our founders’ relentless fight for statehood and our subsequent growth of the state and of the people to understand that principle.”

This, of course, was referring to plans for a natural gas pipeline running from the North Slope to the Lower 48. Parnell said he disagrees with those who say the project has stalled.

“Do you realize we have been talking about a natural gas pipeline in Alaska since 1977 — 32 years. But in the last couple of years, we have passed some important mileposts,” Parnell said.

He pointed to the $500 million in incentives pledged by the state under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, the contract being awarded to TransCanada and TransCanada’s partnership with ExxonMobil.

“Think about that for a minute. The largest company in the world, with some of the most educated and highest trained people in the world, think that they can partner with TransCanada and move in a fashion to commercialize North Slope gas,” Parnell said.

This, along with the Denali Project partnership between BP and ConocoPhillips, means real money is being spent today on the pipeline.

“The challenge now is to get them working on the same project,” he said.

Moving forward, new royalty regulations are being worked out, the open season begins in June, and Parnell is in weekly contact with the heads of the companies, he said.

Project sanctions, or signing the contract, is about four years out, Parnell said. After the contract is signed, construction begins.

The important thing now, he said, is to keep a stable climate for the companies to operate in. The amount of natural gas that will be extracted from shale deposits is overestimated, he said, and the price of gas will go up.

“Why would we risk destabilizing the investing climate by opening up Pandora’s Box on a new oil tax regime?” Parnell asked.

While proud of the work being done on the gas pipeline, Alaska cannot ignore the other opportunities the state possesses, he said. Outside special interest groups are misusing the Endangered Species Act to restrict oil drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf, he said.

“The state filed two legal briefs urging the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to reject the listing of the polar bear as threatened,” he said. “Rather, we intend to work with Alaskan communities and the federal government to provide economic opportunities while protecting wildlife.”

Both oil and natural gas development, as well as the rest of Alaska’s economic future, rely on teamwork. And this team relies on the leadership and attitude of future generations, he said.

To ensure the positive attitude and leadership development of students, Parnell announced the Governor’s Performance Scholarship program. This program will give scholarships to Alaska high school students who attend in-state college or job training programs.

Students who take the required curriculum and graduate with a 2.5 grade point average will receive a 50 percent tuition scholarship. Students who get above a 3.0 will receive a 75 percent scholarship. Anyone who graduates with over a 3.5 will attend free of tuition.

The program will be paid for with the interest made off investing $400 million he is asking the state legislature for.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.