Gov. Jay Inslee is doing an outstanding job staying on message in his presidential campaign, making climate change his signature issue and a focus of the primaries. But Inslee went too far last week when he pulled support for a project in Tacoma that will cut emissions and create jobs. Early in his governorship, Inslee championed the Tacoma liquefied natural-gas (LNG) facility. That pragmatic, nuanced approach provided certainty for local companies to commit more than $500 million to a project that will substantially reduce emissions from ships sailing between Puget Sound and Alaska. That stance no longer jibes with the current mantra of his far-left environmental base, which now advocates for halting additional fossil-fuel consumption. It also put Inslee in conflict with one of the state’s wealthiest tribes, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, which opposed the project.
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Mine US minerals – don’t undermine them
Ned Mamula, The Hill, May 16, 2019
Over the past 50 years, the United States has ignored and even shunned the importance of its mineral wealth like no other country in the industrial world. Australia, Canada, Sweden, Russia, China and most other industrialized economies value their mineral resources and use them to their defense and economic benefit, and even for geopolitical advantage. Not so the United States. Indeed, our nation “boasts” a growing list of groups that are openly hostile to extractive industries, especially mining. Yet, the one economic sector that meets the American appetite for raw materials, gadgets, high-tech equipment, cars, jetliners and “renewable” energy technologies that we take for granted — all of which are made from minerals and metals — is mining.
Our Take: As the author notes, the proposed Mining Law Reform legislation recently introduced in the House could cause great harm to the industry. A 12.5% royalty on new production from federal lands is, well, crazy talk for an industry that already pays 45% of its earnings to government. “A disincentive on steroids” is an excellent way to describe the proposed ability to allow mining claims to be cancelled after a 20-year period. Thankfully, such legislation is DOA in the Senate.
Fall 2019 Lease Sale To Include SALSA Oil And Gas Sale Blocks
Jennifer Williams, KSRM, May 16, 2019
The Division of Oil and Gas will offer Special Alaska Lease Sale Area (SALSA) blocks in conjunction with the Fall 2019 oil and gas lease sale, Commissioner Corri A. Feige announced on Wednesday. The Harrison Bay, Storms, and Gwydyr Bay lease sale blocks will be offered again in 2019 with the same or similar terms and conditions as were offered in the Fall 2018 sale. Each lease sale block has 3-D seismic data acquired through the State of Alaska Tax Credit Program, which are available through the Department of Natural Resources. Commissioner Feige: “We received enthusiastic feedback about the 2018 SALSA program and the data compilation associated with the program. By signaling our intentions earlier this year, potential bidders will have much more time to evaluate and consider opportunities. We see SALSA as an outstanding way to market Alaska’s resources, easing the data research process, and accelerating exploration and development.”
Our Take: Kudos to Commissioner Feige for implementing Governor Dunleavy’s “open for business” agenda! We haven’t heard the words “accelerating exploration and development” for far too long.
Researchers say methane estimates at gas wells were wrong
John Fialka, E & E News, May 16, 2019
Scientists made “major overestimations” of methane emissions from oil and gas production in the United States by relying on faulty measurements, according to new research sponsored by NOAA.
