Sen. Murkowski reviews bills at MEA meeting

MAT-SU -- The national energy bill, transportation funding and even coal-bed methane development in the Mat-Su were served up along with Fair vendor fare and explanations about a recent $90,000 advertising campaign at Matanuska Electric Association's annual meeting Saturday.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, updated the audience about recent action at the national level on issues pertaining to Alaska. The national energy bill, which would fund a broad range of topics, including the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, and could allow for the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil development, was just one of several focal points in Murkowski's speech. She discussed efforts she had made to better Alaska's position in the bill, including exempting Alaska from language in the bill requiring ethanol subsidies to encourage ethanol use in areas where the fuel is abundant, and omitting Alaska from a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-related group that would study ways to improve regional reliability of electricity in the aftermath of the Aug. 14, 2003 blackout that left many of the eastern coastal states in the dark. But it wasn't all about omission -- Murkowski said she is working to make sure Alaska is beside the rest of the nation in other matters, such as a study of the nation's energy resources.

Murkowski said majority Senators asked for such a study "to know where the resources are, and how much." That study, she said, is being opposed for reasons she simply can't understand.

"Objecting to the inventory is like telling someone they've got money in a checking account, but they can't know the balance," Murkowski said. In short, she said, it's such discussions that seem to be holding up the energy bill. "We have some obstacles … they range from genuine philosophical disagreements on the role the federal government should play in energy policy to individual regional disagreements among senators."

Addressing an area of more local disagreement, Murkowski walked a line between supporters of CBM development and those who seek to increase regulations pertaining to development.

"None of us want dirty water, dirty air, dirty land," Murkowski said. "We, as Alaskans, must ensure that any gas developers in the area or elsewhere in the state must share our love of the land."

But that's not to say Murkowski supported federal legislation regulating the industry. It's a local problem, she said.

"This is a state process," Murkowski said. "And regardless of what others might be saying, for whatever their gain, you need to make sure your voice is heard."

One needed outcome of CBM development -- and other resource development, she said, is jobs. She said in efforts to include provisions funding a natural gas pipeline as well as efforts to include language allowing ANWR to be opened for drilling, she's tried to make sure the jobs created go to Alaskans first.

"We want to make sure it's Alaskans who are trained, and we want to see the state coffers get a boost," Murkowski said.

Although Murkowski's speech was one of 23 items on the agenda for the MEA annual meeting, it wasn't the only place the senator-cum-candidate was involved in the meeting. She stayed to shake the hands of the scholarship winners who came to the meeting to accept recognition for their scholarship winnings, and to have photographs taken with those students and the students who competed in MEA's annual poster contest, and to draw prize-winning tickets for the annual prize giveaway. But not before she had a few bolstering words about MEA's controversial history and the importance of unions in Alaska's history and future.

"I know some boards are not without their controversy -- sometimes it's that controversy that makes us a little bit stronger," Murkowski said, adding recognition for a job well done both by MEA management and union leaders. "We are a state built by strong unions and organized labor … the fact of the matter is, members of Alaska unions work here, they raise their children here. Rather than fighting with one another, what we need to keep in mind is that Alaskans' battle are against forces from the Lower 48 who want to tell us how to live."

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.