Palin Matchmakes for a Gas Line....

[Blue_In_AK]

Ohhh, this makes me so mad. EXXON, Governor? Is this why you couldn't remember Baker v EXXON when Katie Couric asked you about Supreme Court decisions you disagreed with?

http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/palin-matchmakes-for-a-gasline/

Governor Sarah Palin is sleeping with the enemy of many Alaskans. Her trip to Houston, Texas to discuss a merged project with TransCanada and Exxon Mobil flies in the face of anyone with a memory of 20 years. Exxon promised to “make Alaskans whole” and they never did; just another broken promise thrown out with all their other broken promises. We’re still waiting.

Last year, Palin’s AGIA (Alaska Gasline Inducement Act) passed into law, awarding TransCanada $500 million in state funds to build the 1,700 mile pipeline. Through the support of the Democrats she was able to pass the law, earning her the title of “socialist” from her Republican critics. The same Democratic lawmakers were thrown under the “Strait Talk Express” during the election.

TransCanada doesn’t hold any leases of gas or oil on the North Slope. Conoco Phillips and BP; an unlikely couple, birthed the “Denali” project. They want to build a gasline without the $500 million in state funds.

In January of this year, a huge reversal in the administrations stance with Exxon came. Let’s just call it foreplay. Exxon and its partners had been locked out after state regulators withdrew their leases on state land. They pulled them because Exxon had sat on the 106,201-acre Point Thomson for over three decades. Basically, you snooze, you lose.

Exxon came back and said they would really do it this time and start producing by 2014. Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin said “thanks, but no thanks”, saying he couldn’t trust Exxon to do what they promised. Well, the administration and Exxon had a Dr. Phil sort of make up session and flipped, allowing Exxon to keep their leases.

It boggled the mind. Why? Where was the new found trust with the company who strung Alaskans along with 20 years of litigation after the Exxon Valdez disaster? When the governor was quizzed by Katie Couric about what US Supreme Court decisions she hadn’t agreed with other than Roe v Wade, she blanked. I was stunned. Baker v Exxon! June 25, 2008! WHAT! Their initial $5 billion dollar judgment had been reduced to $500 million.

With the announcement of Exxon climbing into bed with TransCanada for the $500 million inducement to build the gasline, it makes more sense.

As someone who helped clean up the negligent, massive, environmental catastrophe known as the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, and fished her whole life take it from me: Doing business with Exxon is like letting the guy who date raped your daughter rent your basement.

[damntexdem]

1. Hmm, will the gas line be knocked up in the seventh inning by A Rod?

;-)

[Blue_In_AK]

2. As I posted elsewhere,

this whole dustup with Letterman is just a sideshow as she, behind the scenes, sells Alaska's soul to the Devil. It was because of her predecessor's backroom deals with the oil companies that she was able to come to power, promising an "open and transparent" government, and even on the campaign trail, if you'll remember, part of her "schtick" was that she stood up to the oil companies and the "good old boys." Yeah, right.

I think Shannyn's final paragraph in that blog entry describes precisely what's going on here. It just makes me sick.