In Praise of Folly: U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.)

Representative Markey has introduced two bills that would block export of Alaska natural gas to Japan and China. Japan is trying to move away from reliance on nuclear power and China is the worlds major greenhouse gas emitter burning vast amounts of coal. Each nation would pay hard cash for Alaska liquified natural gas.

Representative Markey's anti-environmental position is fundamentally daft. Ostensibly it is intended to prevent sale of resources on public lands to Asia. Yet forest products have been sold to Asia from federal lands since the Eisenhower administration and in Alaska several valuable mines are owned and operated by foreign nationals though I personally hate the danger to the ecosphere they present. BP and Shell amongst others each lease offshore federal oil prospects and the Obama administration has promised more.

The President was also in Oklahoma yesterday offering support for the southern half of the Keystone pipeline from Canada to port Arthur Texas. As it is oil products pile up in Oklahoma and the Canadian developer of the pipeline wants to export refined gasoline to Latin America. Basically the representative's position works against economic reality and is probably intended to harrass the state of Alaska for some odd leftist 'reason'.

The timing is especially bad for the daft obstructionist policies that would block earnings for Alaskans as well as tax payments to the federal government. The state legislature is in the midst of a bit of a battle over the taxation of oil in the state especially the North Slope. The oil fields flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline are in decline and the revenues are anticipated to decline as well. The Governor is asking for lower taxes to stimulate extra drilling and the Exxon-Mobile guy testified recently in support of that direction.

Natural Gas sales to Asia are a logical alternative to reliance upon extra oil development in the state of Alaska. Lower tax rates actually would not stimulate Exxon-Mobil development much I wouold guess since it has vast oil vields in Iraq that may be developed and out-produce Saudia Arabia in a few years. It gets record profits every year or three and the price of oil versus quantities of prpoduction effect it to; supply and demand.

Developing marginal oil fields in Alaska would not be the best environmental course at all forn the U.S.A. to take at the present time. Representative Markey is on the side of those trying to stop alternative energy and income and compell reliance upon the same old oil field expoloration and development including offshore in critical habit for northern wildlife.

If the state of Alaska could develop a reliable, cleaner energy sales infrastructure it might be able to stop being dependent on and a pawn of the big oil corporations that drain public resources and effect national foreign policy too much. Representative Markey ought to support sale of Alaska's natural gas today since the nation is awash in that product. The fracking of gas fields promises abundant supply to the nation's wasteful use of natural gas in its badly thought out energy and transport infrastructure. There is so much gas that the construction of a natural gas pipeline to the lower forty-eight states through Canada is probably not going to happen. The U.S. Government if Representative Markey has its way will need to ramp up its outlay of tax revenue sharing from the 48 states to Alaska in the future to compensate for the lack of cash earnings in the state as well as to clean up the mess the oil producers will make with new Exxon Valdez' all over again.