A Citizen’s Guide

Gov. Frank Murkowski canceled some bill signings in Anchorage today to talk with the press and check in for a few national TV appearances.

At 1 p.m., the governor weighed in CNBC’s Kudlow & Company for a debate over the Prudhoe Bay shutdown and drilling in ANWR. Yes, it’s time to open up ANWR, he said, and to suggest that doing so wouldn’t be in the national interest would be “without any foundation.”

Murkowski was to be on ABC’s World News Tonight at 5:30, and Alaska news shows at 5, 6, and 10.

At a press conference Monday, the governor took the shutdown as an opportunity to plug the proposed natural gas pipeline contract.

“This a wake-up call,” he said. “We need a gas line.”