Michael Medved's Lincoln Day Interview with Governor Palin; UPDATE: Palin's Lincoln Day Speech in Fairbanks
H/T Promachus
"The people making decisions on our economy are losing sight of the principles of capitalism."
"We eat, therefore we hunt."
Exit Question: What in the wide world of sports were the McCain campaign doing in "handling" her media appearances?! She is awesome!
UPDATE by Ramrocks:
News-Miner reports on Gov. Palin's Lincoln Day speech in Fairbanks:
FAIRBANKS — In keeping with the Lincoln Bicentennial theme, Gov. Sarah Palin was introduced with a revised, Alaska version of the Gettysburg Address at Saturday night’s Lincoln Day Dinner hosted by Fairbanks Republican Women.
“Two score and five years ago,” intoned moderator Ralph Seekins to a capacity crowd in the Edgewater Room at the Princess Riverside Lodge, instantly perking up the ears of people familiar with the real address.
And as Seekins humorously transposed the words to fit the Republican governor, the crowd responded with laughter and applause.
“That all women can do what they set their minds to, whether it be running for governor, the vice presidency or field dressing a caribou. ...
“Few will remember what we ate here but never what she said here, or some, in the media what she wears here.”
And Palin exhibited her Alaska fashion sense, sporting a tan smoke ring — a circular scarf delicately knitted in Eskimo motifs from fine qiviut, the underwool of Arctic musk ox.
“And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from Alaska.”
The Alaska rendition was recited in good humor, for earlier in the evening, Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech made at the Gettysburg, Pa., battlefield was recited eloquently from memory by Glenn Hackney.
Palin addressed the audience in a similar vein, sharing Lincoln lessons and extolling the 16th president’s life and accomplishments in a somewhat lengthy speech, which included a short, five-question trivia quiz on Lincoln with small prizes.
Throughout the speech, the governor compared or commented on the similarities and parallels of Lincoln’s life, ideas and works to Alaska and Alaskans.
Like Lincoln, who was interested in building transportation infrastructure such as roads, railroads and harbors, Palin said, so too are Alaskans in developing the same infrastructure as well as opening up more federal land.
“We’ve got to let the federal government know we can responsibly and safely develop our natural resources,” she said.
Palin extolled Republicans as knowing how to run their businesses and families best and never becoming a slave to big government.
“We need to turn it around so government is working for us,” she said.
Palin said she was pleased to be back in the Golden Heart City, and she reminisced about previous visits, touching on her inauguration here two years ago.
She joked that for some people it was the first sign of her “going rogue” by hosting the Palin/Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell inauguration in Fairbanks and not Juneau.
She also thanked Fairbanksans for their support and respect for the military and the good training her son Track, a member of the Stryker Brigade deployed to Iraq, received at Fort Wainwright.
During her recent vice-presidential stump across the nation, Palin said she felt many people “misunderstood the uniqueness of Alaska,” its pioneering spirit, its residents’ work ethic and ruggedness.
She asked the audience to help get the message out that Alaska is a good, positive state where people work hard, enjoy the great outdoors and support family values.
Palin also mentioned media confusion about predator control in Alaska.
She said she responded to a FOX newscaster’s questions Saturday with, “For me, I eat, therefore I hunt.”
Then she added for the Fairbanks crowd, “That’s the way we roll in Alaska.”
Exit question for our Alaskan readers: Was that "circular scarf delicately knitted in Eskimo motifs... from the underwool of Arctic musk ox" the same thing she wore at the Alaska 50th Anniversary Gala? Many of us wondered what was up with that scarf. We're all still learning about the way folks "roll in Alaska," but we continue to like what we see.
Posts
68 comments:
Outstanding interview!
Yes to capitalism.
RPG
Promachus - thank you for being ProMagnus and Proactive on this one!
RPG
this interview was awesome!
thanks promachus
She ROCKS! That is all I can say.
I L O V E T H I S W O M A N
Its blatantly obvious just how mishandled whe was by the McCain campaign...
2012 can NOT come fast enough
Who is McCain?
Every time I see an interview with her, it is better than the time before. Just think how good she'll be by 2010, and 2012. Given enough money, she'll be unstoppable.
Wasn't Medved Hillary's roommate? Funny thing is that Talis Colberg was Blago's former roommate....small world.
She's pretty tough on Obama in this interview. What happened at the end, it sounds like she got cut off.
News-Miner has a brief rundown of her Lincoln Day Dinner speech in Fairbanks.
By the way, I've noticed more and more people pounding the governors opposed to the stimulus with questions about whether they will accept the money and whether their acceptance constitutes hypocrisy.
It seems that Obama wants to try and jam the governors by doing what Bush did to Kerry on the Iraq war: how can you criticize my judgment when you voted for my war? It seems that the media wants to create a parallel analogy with the stimulus package; I've noticed Pawlenty and Sanford getting pressed by the drive-bys on this point recently.
Get a load of this article in the Juneau Empire, begrudingly admitting that perhaps the good governor was right to not fund the Juneau Road that has all the liberals down there going nuts with their conspiracy theory that she wants to move the capitol.
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/021509/loc_388168240.shtml
"The ruling appears to justify the decision by Gov. Sarah Palin to stop the Department of Transportation from issuing a contract to build the $350 million road until there was a favorable court ruling. 'I think she made the right decision,' said Kate Glover, an attorney for the environmental law firm Earthjustice, which represented the plaintiffs."
Well look at that, an attorney from Earthjustice praising the good governor! hahaha, don't you just love it when all the liberal interest groups get pitted against each other. We should be creating some wedges between the greenies and the union folks nationally. This stimulus package requires NEPA review of all infrastructure projects to the best of my knowledge and that could potentially shut down a lot of job opportunities.
MOVE THE CAPITOL TO ANCHORAGE SARAH!!
NO HANDOUTS FOR EMMONAK!!
Or maybe she should grow Juneau. Assist the mayor in developing Juneau into a big city like Anchorage.
Was she aware that Obama did say he would talk to the Prime Minister about the pipeline? It was only reported once on ADN and not elsewhere. Very strange.
Linda, I think she's more interested in developing infrastructure westward, toward Nome. There are a lot of undeveloped resources out there, and tying Western Alaska into the transportation network helps the small communities like Emmonak more than charity or handouts.
I don't think Sarah has heard anything official back from Obama or the administration so I believe that is what she is referring to imho. Don't want to ascribe my opinion to Gov. Palin's statements. Just a thought on my part.
Linda,
There was an op-ed yesterday from a Canadian lefty environmental group that claimed Harper had it on his schedule to talk with Obama about the pipeline.
Of course, the lefty made the accusation in the context the Tar Sands/Palin/Cheney conspiracy. People need to make up their minds as to what argument they want to use against the pipeline.
People seem to be arguing that the pipeline has no chance of occurring but at the same time arguing that the pipeline is really an effort by the oil companies to use it to burn more oil in the Tar Sands of Alberta. Well, the second argument against the pipeline is inconsistent with the first argument against the pipeline because the "conspiracy" cannot happen without the pipeline getting off the ground.
People really twist themselves in knots with Palin. Too many earmark requests, now too few earmark requests, too many interviews, not enough interviews...
Anon, the conflicting and mutually exclusive arguments are nothing new when it comes to Governor Palin. They want you to simultaneously believe that is both a) an ineffectual ditz completely out of her depth and b) a Chavez-like tyrant who crushes all dissent and rules Alaska with a rod of iron.
It's hilarious.
Anonymous (from 1:10 PM),
That Canadian greenie's ADN op-ed was one of the more kookier pipeline conspiracies. I gave up trying to follow his argument -- assuming there was one.
Last week I watched the PBS American Experience documentary on the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. It took an act of Congress to halt these environmental wackos. I sure hope that won't be necessary with the natural gas pipeline.
More on the pipeline from the News-Miner:
http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/feb/15/leasing-decision-met-criticism/
"The Alaska gas line project is on the radar screen of the Obama administration.
At a meeting with regional reporters this week, the president said the project has 'great potential.'
Gov. Sarah Palin has written Obama to urge him to confer about the gas pipeline when he meets next week with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
And Murkowski said Obama has brought up the gas pipeline to her on each of the three occasions she has talked with him since the election.
'I think he recognizes this is a way to make good on his commitment for more domestic production,' Murkowski said."
By the way, the News-Miner must be one of the more conservative newspapers in the country in a metropolitian area (yes, Fairbanks did make the list). They had an editorial today from its staff arguing against gouging legislation and that the high gas prices weren't a reason to interfer in the free market. Wow, that's as conservative as you can hope for from a metropolitan newspaper. Let's hope 'Cuda puts the veto pen to the legislation coming through the pipeline having to do with fixing prices.
Anon, I love News-Miner and wish they had the same operating budget as the ADN.
Here's a good article today:
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-meaning-of-sarah-palin-14674?page=1
The Meaning of Sarah Palin. I'm a liberal turned conservative, so I thought this was great commentary on her.
LindaW, I do find it intriguing that Obama has talked to reporters and to Murkowski (THREE TIMES?!) about the pipeline, but, it seems, pointedly has not communicated with Governor Palin. Even after she specifically wrote to him.
Am I smelling fear? Or is my imagination running wild? ...
And wow, from lib to conserv, that's quite a journey. Thanks for joining us. :)
I'm wondering if Greta VS has made that journey, too?
HRH,
I think Greta is what we used to call a "Reagan Democrat." I have a feeling someday we will have "Palin Democrats." Just a hunch...
So, JR, is that photo from the Lincoln Day dinner? Is that brown scarf the one noted in the News-Miner article?
Just to give you an update on the Alaska Pipeline and the Obama - Harper meeting this coming Thursday. Many Americans do not know that Canada also has huge gas reserves in the Artic, located about 400 miles east of Alaska's north slope in what is called the Mackenzie River Delta. Canada also has a proposed very large pipeline project to bring this gas to market called the Mackenzie Valley Gas Pipeline. It is an all Canadian route following the Mackenzie River from the Artic down to the same northern Alberta Hub that the Alaska Pipeline is proposed to connect into.
It is generally acknowledged by experts that it is unlikely both projects can proceed at the same time for the following reason:
1) there is not enough skilled labor, and large diameter steel pipe manufacturing capacity in the world to supply both of these huge projects at the same time. Construction costs would escalate dramatically if both proceeded simultaneously; and
2) if both of these projects come on stream at the same time, they will swamp the North American market with gas, depressing prices and ruining the economics of both pipelines.
While the Canadian government has never objected to the Alaska Pipeline, it has never explicitly made it clear how the two projects relate to one another.
When Obama announced that he intended to raise the Alaska Gas pipeline at his meeting with Harper, the media asked the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) what Canada's position would be. The PMO has remained silent all week
but on today's Sunday talk shows in Canada, Jim Prentice, the number two guy in the Harper Govt. indicated what Canada's position will be.
Canada wants to see both projects proceed, BUT THEY MUST BE STAGED, AND THE MACKENZIE VALLEY PIPELINE MUST BE BUILT FIRST. THIS WILL MEAN A FURTHER 5 TO 10 YEAR DELAY IN THE ALASKA PIPELINE DEPENDING ON THE FUTURE OF GAS MARKETS. He stressed that the Mackenzie line is much further advanced than the Alaska line, and that there are still considerable environmental and aboriginal peoples issues in Canada for the Alaska line to address and overcome, and this will take much more time.
To satisfy Obama's concerns over US energy security, the Canadian Government is prepared to guarantee under NAFTA, increases in Canadian gas deliveries to the US equivalent to the amount of gas that would have been supplied by the Alaska line had it proceeded on its current time schedule.
The Canadian Government is also preparing to offer major government subsidies to the Mackenzie Valley Gas Line - under its own infrastructure/stimulus program, including a guaranteed floor price for gas volumes shipped. This is far more than is being offered by the US Govt. and Alaska State Govt. to the Alaska Gas Line.
Readers need to be aware that the players for both pipelines are the same. In Alaska the owners of the gas are Exxon,Conoco,BP. In Canada the owners of the gas are Exxon,Conoco and Shell. TransCanada Pipelines is the developer and owner of the Alaska Line, while TranCanada together with the oil companies and aboriginal groups are the developer and owner of the Mackenzie Valley gas line.
Therefore, the players are relatively indifferent between which project goes first, but now with the massive Canadian Govt. subsidies, they will clearly want the Canadian line to proceed first.
The North American head of Exxon recently stated that he was very disappointed that Alaska has refused to become more flexible with its royalty structure and its reluctance to put more upfront money and guarantees into their project.
Right now the Alaska line is scheduled to begin construction in 2011 with completion in 2018. Assuming a 7 year delay, construction now won't begin until 2018 with completion in 2025. Given such a long delay, it is quite possible the project might be scrapped and Alaska might consider other proposals like the LNG idea.
Clearly, Canada has the "hammer" in this, and as long as Obama has an energy security guarantee from Canada, I'm sure he will be quite happy to see a major delay in Sarah's project.
The scarf she has on is musk ox...i think it is one of the most expensive and warmest types of "wool" that you can purchase,,,
and i do believe that the Gala neck covering or wrap was mink..
my question...what is up with the corsages...honestly..
The FOX newscaster is whom?
Greta?
Also, I thought that was a magnificent interview. I don't know if it is because she is on the phone, but I do notice that the volume and timbre of her voice has lowered a bit.
I remember reading Margaret Thatcher had to get voice lessons to get people to pay attention to her speech and not her voice. We'll see with Greta's interview on Monday. Can't wait.
The McLame campaign has done a huge disservice by keeping her from the media and launching it in such an obscure and idiotic fashion with the big three MSMers.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090215/prentice_mackenzie_090215/20090215?hub=Canada
Here is where the anonymous guy talking the McKenzie gas pipeline got his information. Some of what he said is accurate, some of it speculation.
It'll be interesting to see how this all works out for Palin. The plot thickens now that Harper and Obama are involved, heh heh.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/allBreakingNews/idUKN1142243520090211
Trans-Canada's CEO isn't sold on the MacKenzie pipeline. This Prentice guy probably is engaging in some exxageration regarding the MacKenzie gas pipeline's progress at this point.
Nevertheless, the plot and characters has thickened for 'Cuda. It'll be a test for her.
In other news, Sanford filed the first 2012 salvo today in an interview. This time his target was Charlie Crist.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0209/2012_shots_fired.html#comments
I believe that the CEO of Transcanada stated, under oath, in front of an AK committee that things were moving as scheduled so far.
Sanford would be wise not to mess with the Cuda
Sanford has also "talked the talk" the most regarding the stimulus.
If he accepts any of the funding he will look like a big time hypocrite.
He has already failed to "walk the walk" in regards to unemployment insurance.
I have no particular problem with Sanford, just pointing out that he loves to play the role of "tough guy" and Crist is a pretty easy target
The scarf that Gov. Palin is wearing in that picture of her at the Lincoln Day Dinner does look like one made out of qiviut (a cashmere-like wool made from the undercoat of musk oxen).
http://www.qiviut.com/store/index.cfm?target=SCARVES
http://inamyland.blogspot.com/2008/09/quivet-smoke-ring.html
http://www.uaf.edu/lars/qiviut.html
With regards to the 50th anniversary gala, what she is wearing looks more like a fur ruff or something.
LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!!!!
I can hear the uncontrollable grinding of teeth and frothing at the mouth of the blathering Palin bashers.
Sarah is awesome!... knowledgeable and straight forward no pretense of pandering and such a spirited happy soul. Every day so delightful and comfortable in her own skin with an absolute servants HEART-OF-GOLD that motivates her.
Michelle Malkin talked about a clause in the stimulus where there is no way around for the governor not to accept the money. Isn't that clause unconstitutional? If so, we'll see how far Sanford will go legally in not accepting the money. I admire his steadfast indignation of the bill, but he was not the only one. He's been appearing in numerous interviews, but we'll see what he will actually do.
However Jindal and Palin are against the bill, but will accept the money which is a no-brainer. The thing to watch is where they will allocate the money, especially the extra funding that is outside of what they actually asked for. We heard what Palin said. But the democrats have pigeonholed the governors in money that might not be in their best interest.
The clause at issue does raise some 10th Amendment questions.
The clause actually allows a governor to not request anything but permits the legislature to request the money if the governor fails to do so after 45 days. So technically, if they wanted to play politics, 'Cuda, Sanford, and Jindal could all simply not request the money and just let the legislature do it for them. I think all of them would come off as pretty transparent.
I don't think 'Cuda is under an all-or-nothing with her request of the money. I think she's being sincere with her concerns about the federal social programs that could become unfunded mandates. So, she could just request the infrastructure dollars and what not while not requesting money for those social programs with which she is concerned. I doubt the legislature would go ahead and request specifically the money for federal social programs if she didn't. The stimulus is probably polling at around 40% in Alaska given that exit polls showed that McCain-Palin won 59-38 among those voters who considered the economy to be their #1 issue in Alaska.
JR,
Sanford would be wise not mess with the cuda. You are so right. The cuda is tough. If Sarah wants it she is a future President.
Anon,
we are now at the point where the states are administrative districts of the federal government.
As Palin describes in the interview, the federal government does not allow Alaska to do very much
I wrote a big comment and the machine ate it up.
Anyway, thanks guys for your kind comments. This was my first youtube video and it's a longer and harder job than I thought and it makes me appreciate the enormous effort you put into this site even more.
I liked the interview. It started a bit blaise(I rolled my eyes when she said ," walk the walk, not talk the talk", get rid of your stock phrases!) but then it quickly moved to a very substantive level. I liked her answer on the stimulus and how she plugged in her pipeline and hit at Barry at the same time. Good job, 'Cuda!
Any chance we might get both the dinner speeches?
It was a good interview, but I feel like they always ask the same stuff over and over again. They heard her other interviews and read her press releases, so they should know her answers. Why do they keep on asking the same questions?
The states can only do so much. The stimulus is an Obama/Democrat bill. If it goes bad they get the blame. Once Obama signs the bill Tuesday,it becomes his economy. No more blaming Bush.
Hey Anno. this "Prentice guy" is the number two Conservative in Canada. If and when Harper leaves, he is expected to become the leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister, if the Conservatives are still in power.
Think of Harper and Prentice like Bush and Cheney. Prentice has a track record of getting things done. Both Harper and Prentice are elected from Calgary, Alberta, which is the oil patch of Canada. Think of Calgary, Alberta like Houston, Texas - in fact a lot of Canadians joke that there are more Texans living in Calgary than Canadians. (By the way it was just reported that George W. Bush will be giving his first paid speech in Calgary on March 18.)
In the last cabinet shuffle Harper made Prentice Minister of the Environment, and at the same time made him responsible for one of the biggest energy project in Canada, the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. The heads of the left wing environmental wackos exploded!! The reason he made him Environment Minister was to cut through the crap and make the pipeline happen.
Harper wants the Mackenzie Valley line built. The Alberta oil patch wants it built. Alberta is the core of the Conservative Party in Canada. Can you start to understand the politics now.
Sure the CEO of Transcanada says the Alaska line is on schedule, because the Mackenzie line has not yet been approved. Once its approved, then the economics chang and the Alaska line needs to be shelved for a period of time.
As for the CEO saying that he isn't sold on the economics of the Mackenzie line, first thats just like Exxon saying they're not happy with the economics of the Alaska line. They are both negotiating for more govt. subsidies. Second, that was before the Canadian Govt. made its most recent offer.
Harper had up until recently taken a free market approach that the pipeline had to stand on its own and that the federal budget had to be balanced. However, Harper has now caught the Obama fever and has introduced a huge deficit infrastructure spending budget just a couple of weeks ago. On January 19, 2009 Prentice announced that he had offered the pipeline consortium a new financial package that included major subsidies. Speculation is the feds will build much of the roads, airstrips, and a barge port in the Beaufort - as community infrastructure, for the pipeline, and will guarantee a floor price for the gas - in exchange for an upside return if gas exceeds certain prices in the future. Also, all of the Canadian gas is in the Territories - not a province - therefore all of the royalty revenue from production will flow to the federal government to offset these subsidies.
Transcanada and the oil companies said this significantly changed the economics and they would be back to the government on it in a matter of weeks, not months.
Finally, Canada is in a recession - Harper wants jobs and he wants them now. Do you think he is going to approve an Alaska project over an all Canadian project?
Canada is not the 51st state. It will do what is in its economic self interest first.
excuse me while I bust out my crystal ball to predict what will happen.
Also, please all the anons must pick a name.
I don't care if it is X Y or Z
I can't tell them apart
Everything is a test for her, we got that, long term projects have long lead times; You do realize that the US has 10 times for natural gas that Canada, and that's now you think we'll need less fuel in the future.
One wishes it had happened in the Knowles,or Murkowski Administration, but it happened because of Sarah's perseverance. Decisions are hard, specially consequential ones, and we trust her to make the right ones
Anon, the TransCanada CEO made his comments after the Prentice had made his offer. The article I linked to was on February 11th; the offer was made on January 19th, so the CEO still believes that hurdles remain even after the offer. You are right that everyone is a self-interested party but I wonder why Prentice won't disclose the amount of his offer. There are still plenty of obstacles to the MacKenzie project given that review due for the project has already been delayed.
The environmentalists in Canada still have a ton of power and the enviro-lobby here so far hasn't expressed much opposition to the Palin pipeline.
The plot has thickened, that goes without question. I acknowledge that life hasn't been made easier for Palin and yes, I know that Calgary is the one of the most conservative area of the country. As for roads, I'm sure Palin will use some of that infrasture money she will get from the stimulus for roads for the pipeline. Who knows, maybe Murkowski can use her seat on the appropriations committee to get the $30-$40 billion that is needed for the project in the upcoming appropriations bill. As you noted, there's more gas avaiable in the Palin project than the MacKenzie project.
THIS PLACE IS HOPPING TONIGHT! HAHAHAH
NO HANDOUTS FOR EMMONIAK!!!
Check out Halperin's the page. Big Dog and 'Cuda are the two big television attractions tomorrow.
Any news on the NGA meeting next weekend? Is Obama/Biden going to "lead" the meeting again? I wish they would open it up to the public.....you'd see some people act in ways they normally wouldn't, hahahah.
Any updates on the In state Alaska Pipeline?
The freak show is out again; let's find out whether Reid is with these freaks or with his constituents in rural Nevada where he performed quite well in 2004.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iALKEBBE4jTDbEY6Y3A5Q0RvFMhwD96CBLH80
"The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners told agency staff last week to employ the help of sport hunters and contract employees from the U.S. Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services for the state wildlife department's new "program of intensive, sustained predator reduction. Ken Mayer, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said...
'It's not an effort to exterminate mountain lions. It's an effort to better manage lions with the prey base. Some hunters think the solution to the deer problem is to kill a lot of lions and the deer will come back.'
Nevada already allows lion hunts, each year issuing a quota of lion tags that a hunter can obtain. Commissioners set the quota at 306 tags for the year beginning March 1 and increased the number of tags allowed each hunter from two to three.
Lion advocates compared the new policy to the 'Sarah Palin method of wildlife management'....
Palin, Alaska's governor, supports a predator control program that allows private citizens with permits to shoot wolves from the air in an effort to reverse a decline in moose and caribou numbers."
Sweet, anytime 'Cuda is attacked by the Dems, we can point right away to Reid.
Guys, any ideas as to whether we can get both Lincoln's Day speeches?
This argument about the Mackenzie line is very interesting. I'm curious to learn how the environmental challenges facing the Mackenzie line differ from what will face the TC-Alaska line. After all, the TC-Alaska line will also be routed through Canada.
I'm not at all convinced that the TC-Alaska project will willingly take a back seat to the Mackenzie line. And if, as the first Anon suggests, the Obama administration is willing to shaft Alaska in favor of a Canadian project... well, he just gave the 'Cuda a great talk point for her 2012 campaign. Obama believes in jobs for Canadians, not Americans. Obama believes in energy independence for Canadians, not Americans. While preventing Alaska and other states from developing their resources, Obama cuts a deal with the Canadians to allow them to develop theirs... All of this makes Mr. Obama look pretty darn bad to Americans.
Hey, I love the Canuks. I grow up in southeast Michigan. We consider Windsor, Ontario Hockeytown East. But I'm an America-firster. I'm sure the Canadians are Canada-firsters. Our 49th state gave the license to a $40 billion project to a Canadian company. I think that shows our goodwill. But I'll be damned if an American president gives an American state the shaft because the Canadians want a gasline first -- especially when they have less gas to ship.
Re: the NGA meeting, it's Sat. to Mon. Feb 21 to 23 in DC.
Here's a bunch of releases about the meetings:
http://tinyurl.com/aj7gl3
including this one:
http://tinyurl.com/c9ty8p
which gives the whole sked, and says they have a black tie dinner at the WH with the One Sunday night and more meetings at the WH on Monday.
This one on energy infrastructure quotes the Good Gov:
http://tinyurl.com/bvu6eg
but that doesn't necessarily mean she will be there.
I think she will though, since this is a nonpartisan event and she will have time at the WH ...
BTW, this debate about the potential obstacles facing the completion of the big pipeline underscores why the Guv is so determined to see the completion of an Alaskan bullet-line. She wants to make sure that an Alaska project is underway for the state's own benefit if the big project gets delayed. She's hedging her bets and making sure that Alaska will not suffer whatever the outcome. Putting Alaskans firs -- that's her motto.
Ramrocks -
Did you see the AGIA townhall meeting from February 2008? The link was in included in the Guv website newsletter:
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/agia/video/AGIA_townhall.html
It's very interesting, details alot of what AGIA is, the history of gasline negotiations and how the selection of TransCanada was made. Lots on pertinent information.
Read "Sarah takes on big oil"
awesome
Why not make the McKenzie line gas part of an open-access to the big TransCanada-Alaska pipeline?
Or am I totally out in left field on this one?
The Cuda can work with the Canadians as evidenced by signing the license with TransCanada/
Ramrocks - per your note, first the Mackenzie line faces far more environmental issues than the Alaska line. The Mackenzie valley is a pristine wilderness. The Alaska line will for the most part already follow a developed corridor, that being the Canada - Alaska Hwy. through Canada.
However, the Canadians have been working on the environmental issues for the Mackenzie line for over 38 years now - yes that's right - 38 years since its original proposal in 1970 - and have solved and addressed most of the environmental issues now.
The other big obstacle with the Mackenzie line was with the native peoples who claimed they owned all of the land. Canada never had the "indian wars" in its frontier development that the US did because Queen Victoria granted huge tracts of land to the native peoples. Much of these promises of land were in "oral" form and not recorded.
Over the last 20 years the Canadian government, and the Canadian courts has been trying to resolve all of these claims with the native groups, offering big cash settlements and land swaps to settle them. It was only a couple of years ago that the claims involving the Mackenzie valley were settled, with the federal government giving billions of dollars to the native groups and land swaps to reclaim this land for the government. This is what finally moved the pipeline forward into a viable project.
The Conservative Government was very clever in this regard as it convinced the native groups to become "capitalists" and reinvest a large cunck of their money as equity holders in the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Consortium.
The native groups now own 33% of the Mackenzie Pipeline Consotium (Transcanada and the oil companies own 67%). The native groups will make substantial profits, as well as receiving right of way rents and property taxes from the line. In addition, Transcanada and the oil companies have agreed to employ and train native peoples for construction jobs, and ongoing pipeline maintenance jobs.
This has reduced the environmental opposition to the plan as anytime the environmentalists raise a stink with the media, the native groups present spokespeople arguing for the plan, and that they as native people would never do anything to hurt their traditional lands. The media in this case is more sympathetic to the native peoples than the environmentalists.
As for the Alaska line taking a back seat to the Mackenzie line, the US does not have a lot of leverage. Canada is a sovereign country and the Alaska line must get their environmental and regulatory approvals before they can build the Canadian portion in Canada. If the Canadian government wants to obstruct, delay, tie up the Alaska line in red tape so that the Mackenzie line can proceed first, there is not a lot the US can do about it, short of starting a trade war between the two countries. Given all of the other interrelated energy issues between the two countries, that is not a wise course of action for either country.
Pick names please!
the readers can not tell you apart now
you guys make very good points but even I can't tell you apart anymore
I must say i am i little perturbed to be finding out well after the fact that this speech was streaming live last night...
X_x
well maybe there is h*pe for a video yet....
Alex-
What website was streaming this speech live AND WHY DIDN'T WE HEAR ABOUT IT SOONER!! monumental gnashing of teeth!!
Note to self-always check the net for possible live-streaming of any scheduled speech from the Cuda
TransCanada CEO pessimistic about Mackenzie line
HOUSTON -- Regulatory delays have worsened the odds that the $16.2-billion Mackenzie gas pipeline in Canada's far north will ever be built despite a promise of help from Ottawa, TransCanada Corp's chief executive said Wednesday.
TransCanada CEO Hal Kvisle said he is frustrated that the pipeline, which would carry gas to Canadian and U.S. markets from the Mackenzie Delta on the Beaufort Sea coast, still does not have clearance to go ahead after years of planning and rising costs.
"I confess to some pessimism on the Mackenzie project, and it may well not proceed," Mr. Kvisle said at an industry conference in Houston.
In January, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government offered financial support for the proposal, which is led by Imperial Oil Ltd. The aid would be in the form of money for roads and airstrips, as well as pre-construction expenses.
"I have great sympathy for the current government of Canada, which is doing everything it can to move the project forward," Mr. Kvisle said. "But it inherited a mess that's been building up for a couple of decades."
The latest setback was in December, when one of two regulatory panels said it expected to deliver its report into the project in late 2009, months later than expected
http://www.financialpost.com/news/story.html?id=1278123
Alex-
Thanks for the heads up that a live stream of the speech did occur. Shows the appeal of Sarah.
My earlier comment of why none of us heard it would be live-streamed was not meant as criticism directed towards you or anyone else. Please accept my apology if it came across that way. I'm just frustrated we didn't get to see the Cuda in what seems to have been typical let Sarah be Sarah mode. I bet she had the audience in stitches.
Let this be a lesson learned. Hence forward, always check the internet for verification of possible live-streaming of any upcoming scheduled Cuda speeches!
Hi ReaganPalinGal - your question is a very good one. The possibility of linking up the Mackenzie Valley gas reserves with the North Slope gas reserves - with what is called an "over the top" gas line was studied for many years.
The Canadians, naturally wanted the US to build a pipeline from Prudue Bay to the Mackenzie Delta and then flow both countries' gas down through a single Mackenzie line.
Of course the US wanted Canada to flow its gas to Prudue Bay and then flow the two countries' gas through a sinle line that wqould follow the proposed Alaska/Canada line.
Neither country would give into each other. Since then ANWR was established, and this has eliminated any possibility of an "over the top" line linking the two gas fields as the pipeline would have to be built smack through the middle of ANWR. Some have considered putting the "over the top" line underwater in the Beaufort Sea but the cost and environmental concerns are enormous.
Another proposal was to build a Canadian line from the Mackenzie Delta in a southwesterly direction to link up with the Alaska line in the southern Yukon.
However, the cost of this proposal is too great because of the mountain ranges that would have to be traversed.
As you can see, the US and Canada have been arguing about these two gas lines for the last 40 years now, without much success.
Anon, why won't Prentice disclose the amount of his offer? It has been a couple of weeks since he announced that the Canadian government would provide an offer and yet, he still seems shy about providing Canadians with a dollar amount.
I was reading articles in late December calling this project by MacKenzie dead; now all of a sudden, it's good to go. We'll have to see how this whole shindig plays out....
It sounds like you are saying that the fate of Palin's pipeline lies in Obama's hands....by the way, in the articles I linked to above, TransCanada doesn't officially have a stake in the MacKenzie pipeline. It has the option of purchasing 5% of the project. The reason why Trans-Canada may have an upper hand is the environmentalists. I haven't read any complaints from the Alaskan greenies about Trans-Canada's pipeline and TransCanada could serve as the "compromise" between the Canadian environmentalists and Harper's Calgary oil crew.
But you may be right that the MacKenzie may have won over the natives but I don't see a link so I'll have to check on that. I did read an article about some challenges that Trans-Canada may have with natives.
So I have been able to infer from my reading on the subject that Trans-Canada is more palatable to the greenies while MacKenzie is more palatable to the natives. It sounds like the next step to take for Trans-Canada, Palin, and Obama would be to pay off the natives since this thing will be a big revenue generator anyway.
Anon - 13:30 am
Thank you for the insightful info. I knew there had to be a good reason. I was born in Toronto, left as a child, so I know nothing about Western Canada and it's geography.
One thing is for sure is that Alaska still needs to get the certificate from FERC. With that, either TransCanada goes forward or we look at a different project. Plus, I'm sure that Sarah will push really hard for the instate gasline. At least let Alaskans get cheaper fuel while still working on a parallel track for the big line, however that project shakes out.
RPG,
TransCanada seems to have a good relationship with FERC so far:
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1632
thanks Sinistar! was gonna post the same:) qiviut is lookin cute on her!
ps. was with the family last nite and a few who were supportive of obama are now gobsmacked by him as a result of the stimulus...my how the tides turn.
You can turn off the Anonymous feature in Blogger.
PS. Sanford will probably not be crazy enough to use millions of dollars in state funds to fight the legality of this stimulus. He cannot make that argument stick in his home. His state is in serious debt already. Unemployment in his state is one of the highest in the nation.
Governors Palin, Barbor, Jindal and Sanford are now saddled with the debt this stimulus will bring. It is hard enough to balance a budget without adding mountains of debt.
Like these governors, we lost the debate on whether or not this is a wise fiscal move. Obama won.
The war is not over, but we lost the first round of the battle.
Where do we and these conservative governors go from here?
You fight the socialist programs just created by this stimulus.
Palin and Jindal have already switched their focus to the new battlefront. Palin has already switched her new focus to fighting against the socialist programs that will saddle her state with money that she will have find in her budget to maintain the new free government giveaways.
The first and easiest way to fight this for Palin is to get the people of Alaska making their own money. They do that by building this pipeline.
Time to switch focus people and follow the governor's lead.
It is interesting that people continue to understimate Sarah.
It seems that there is an ongoing effort by some to convince us that the Alaska gas pipeline will never happen (whenever this topic pops up on blogs the naysayers magically come out of the woodwork to pan this project). Let's wait and see what happens. Sarah still gets major kudos for bringing the pipeline this far along.
If Obama is really serious about clean green energy development, job creation, and paying down the trillions of dollars of federal debt on his watch (Porkulus bill, TARP II, etc.), he and his team should stand up and fight for this natural gas pipeline.
By the way, corsages are very in fashion these days (e.g., the Sex and the City crowd loves corsages). Sarah looks great wearing hers.
"It seems that there is an ongoing effort by some to convince us that the Alaska gas pipeline will never happen (whenever this topic pops up on blogs the naysayers magically come out of the woodwork to pan this project). Let's wait and see what happens. Sarah still gets major kudos for bringing the pipeline this far along."
You are right, it seems as if one of the Anons is "concerned"
as in a "concerned conservative" from the campaign season
Anonymous at 1:24 PM: "By the way, the News-Miner must be one of the more conservative newspapers in the country in a metropolitian area"
When Bill Snedden was the publisher of the News Miner, it certainly was conservative, pro-Alaskan, and pro-America. The News Miner is now owned by MediaNews Group, which is by no means conservative. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_News_Group)
Just to let fellow Palin-supporters know -- the Fairbanks Daily News Miner has consistently bashed and denigrated Governor Palin and her family, ever since the VP nomination.
In the article mentioned, the News Miner was only "pro-capitalism" because the News Miner is very pro-oil industry. The legislation being proposed in Juneau has to do with the monopoly existing in much of Alaska (all the oil/gas products come from the Koch brothers' refinery in North Pole, Alaska). The proposed legislation would keep the refinery from charging Alaskans exorbitant prices for gas, home heating oil. (Currently, the price for gasoline in Fairbanks is about $2.50 per gallon -- and it is refined 10 miles away.)
So, even though it may seem that the News Miner is pro-capitalism, it truly is pro-oil, and very anti-Palin. No longer is it a conservative newspaper -- by anyone's estimation!
Just wanted to correct your mistaken assumptions, Anonymous and Ramrocks.
Thanks! (Go Palin!! A conservative for our time!!)
.
Sorry, I should have given a link for the North Pole Refinery. It is owned by the Koch brothers, billionaires out of Texas. The link is: http://www.fhr.com/about/default.aspx
Just wanted to be clear. Thanks!
.
it would be awesome if I could tell the difference between the anons
but it looks like one person is debating himself/herself
Post a Comment