Congressman Young states favorable AK-BC Intertie position, Wrangell Sentinel

Wrangell Sentinel - the oldest continuously published paper in Alaska.
Alaska’s lone U.S. House Representative visited Wrangell Apr. 14 and Petersburg Apr. 15 to discuss various topics with residents including hydropower development, the recently passed health care bill, Sealaska and timber production.


Republican Don Young used a meeting with members of the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce to reaffirm his decision to run for a 20th term in the House.
“I am running, and will run hard,” Young said.


Young said that hydropower is as important to Southeast residents as the gas line is to the rest of Alaska. He said that hydropower development should be a priority.
“There should be an abundance of hydro power,” he said.


He said that developing an intertie between Southeast communities as well as between Alaska and British Columbia would benefit the local economy.

Click link above for full story in the online edition of the Wrangell Sentinel

VoteVets.org

I was asked to post this by an Iraq veteran. It makes a lot of sense, whether you agree with climate change or not. America needs to become less dependent upon middle east sources of energy. We have it all here in Alaska from oil & natural gas to a rich renewable energy portfolio. We can choose to have a secure, economic future.

Northwest BC Transmission Line can help small Southeast AK and Northwest BC towns

The upcoming Northwest (BC) Transmission Line portends some exciting and positive changes to both Canada and Alaska in the North Coast Mountain Region. This development can bring a change to Alaska, Northwest BC and Yukon. Turning them from basically third-world condition into producers and contributors for a green, renewable, less oil dependent North America. The benefits of opening this region of Alaska are to it's citizens and to our sister Pacific Northwest and Western states.

Take a look at this video, which envisions some of its benefits to Northwest BC First Nations, to Alaskans and Yukon.

State dangles incentives for open season takers, Tim Bradner, Ak Journal of Commerce

Click to read full Alaska Journal of Commerce story

The state is offering a set of special natural gas royalty and tax terms as inducements for North Slope producers to sign pipeline capacity contracts during an open season set by TransCanada Corp. that will begin May 1, state officials told state legislators in a briefing.

The incentives could be worth more than $20 billion in value to producers over the life of capacity agreements signed, assuming the entire 4.5 billion cubic feet per day of capacity is subscribed, according to estimates by Black & Veatch, a consulting firm working with the state.

TransCanada is proposing a 1,500-mile, 48-inch pipeline from the North Slope to its Aeco hub in Alberta that could cost as much as $41 billion, the pipeline company estimates.

The state endorsed TransCanada over the rival Denali pipeline group led by BP and ConocoPhillips after the Calgary-based pipeline company agreed to meet certain state goals regarding tariff structure and expansion terms.

Budgets, energy and scholarships take center stage

Budgets, energy and scholarships take center stage
The Legislature has hit the session's final third, and certain bills are starting to move pretty fast.
The House and Senate are each convening every day to move those bills that committees have vetted. And of course, the operating and capital budgets are taking priority. Senate Finance holds both - the operating budget passed over from the House, and the capital budget yet to go to the House.
Most of the bills moving are energy-related. Senate Finance is expected to take up the gas tax this week, and various proposals to change the oil tax, ACES, are being heard. Plans to shift instate natural gas pipeline planning from the administration are trotting along in both bodies...
Click link above to read the full story in the Alaska Dispatch.

BBC News - Canada's 'secret land' Yukon woos tourists

BBC News - Canada's 'secret land' Yukon woos tourists

As Vancouver gears up for its second stint as Olympic host with the Paralympics beginning on 12 March, one northern Canadian territory is hoping the lasting legacy of the Games will be a boost to tourism.

The government of Yukon spent just under 3m Canadian dollars (£1.9m) trying to educate people about their territory during the Winter Games, promoting it as a great place to travel, invest and do business.

"The people that go to the Olympics are our kind of people," says Sheila Dodd, who works in economic and tourism development for Whitehorse, Yukon's capital.

B.C. group touts green economic solution

B.C. group touts green economic solution

B.C. could pull in about $4.3 billion annually and eliminate its debt over several years by tapping into and selling its vast green-energy potential, said a report released yesterday.

Bio-energy, run-of-river, wind, geothermal, tidal, wave and solar energy could all be developed to help the environment and to work towards wiping out B.C.'s debt in 15 years or less, said the B.C. Citizens for Green Energy's 76-page report.

"B.C. is widely recognized as having a natural abundance of renewable green energy resources. However, this natural abundance is currently going virtually untapped as are the economic and environmental benefits that developing them could bring to our province," said the report, titled A Triple Legacy for Future Generations: B.C.'s Potential as a Renewable Green Energy Powerhouse.

Read more by clicking above link.