Pipeline, big oil and Sarah Palin

Please go to the Mudflats and read Les Gara's letter plus all the comments.

Having read through the whole thing, my position is the same as it was when I wrote "Oil spill", which is to look into new ways to generate energy and revenue:

Clean, renewable energy won't fill Alaska's state coffers, it won't contribute to the Permanent Dividend Fund, it won't make anybody stinking rich.

In the longer term oil means economical and environmental suicide. It will run out and leave irreversible damage behind. It's time to be creative and devise new ways of generating energy and revenue.

Greed and lack of foresight led to the big mess we're all living in at the moment. Why continue this culture of big bucks now, forget about the future?

Alaska's economy is 90% dependent on oil revenues. Introducing gas into the equation still leaves too much power in the hands of the big oil companies. Gas is cleaner than oil, but it's another non-renewable resource.

The pipeline is an incredibly expensive initiative, riddled with uncertainties and conflict. The enormous amount of money involved in this venture would be better used if invested in renewable sources of energy and infrastructure projects to create a more versatile economy in Alaska.

If the state doesn't make make any moves to diversify the economy and revise the tax position, there will be a very high price to pay in a not very distant future.

Money from big oil has too many strings attached and will not last forever...
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