A Citizen’s Guide

The Alaska Legislature returns to work today, and all eyes will be watching these first few days for a sense of direction on the effort to finalize a natural gas pipeline agreement that Alaskans will find acceptable.

Will there be a real effort to resolve the differences of opinion, both within the Legislature and between the Legislature and Gov. Frank Murkowski?

Or will enough legislators be of the view that there’s no time remaining to get the disputed points resolved so that an agreement can be not only signed but also studied adequately and comprehended beforehand?

And will the governor and the oil companies be sufficiently flexible as the calendar page gets ready to turn again? Or will he and the companies continue to hope that the concerns of many legislators will fade amid a hoped-for pressure to get the deal done before the election?

We’ll soon know.

As the special session resumes down in Juneau, legislators should not lose sight of the essential role they play in the gas pipeline process laid out in the Stranded Gas Development Act, under which the agreement between the governor and Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and BP was reached. It is the Legislature that is called upon to serve as judge of this draft agreement, and legislators must keep this in mind each day, through each committee meeting, and through each private session with colleagues, lobbyists and representatives of the governor.

Alaskans want a gas pipeline. But they also want to know they won’t be giving away too much to get it and that the deal is a good one for the state. The Legislature–20 Alaskans in the Senate and 40 Alaskans in the House–must live up to its charge at this critical moment.