HB 132 seeks to constrain the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) and prevent them from any planning activities related to expanding the size and scope of the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline (ASAP).
Governor Walker responds to HB132 from Alaska Governor Bill Walker on Vimeo.
Gov. Walker makes good points and and defends his objective to develop the big gasline project (AKLNG) and work in parallel to make the ASAP option economically viable.
Watch this press conference video - I was real happy to hear the Governor mention competition, the marketplace and potential customers. This guy understands the trade offs and risk. He also understands that the neighbors next door are poised to win the LNG race.
Speaking of Canada, they recently came up with a brilliant way to boost the economics of LNG projects. (Globe and Mail Link). The Canadian approach is to allow LNG projects to depreciate the projects more quickly. We 'Mericans could benefit from this idea and I don't know why Alaskan politicians aren't taking the hint. Accelerated depreciation is absolutely the best idea I've heard yet. The idea mitigates the financial risk of spending tens of billions of dollars on a mega project. I don't agree with the term tax break - it's more of a way of shifting the time the taxes are collected.
Redefining the timing of tax collection is the best idea ever because the government won't collect any taxes from un-built projects. I hope Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, Representative Don Young, and Governor Walker warm up to this idea and take note of what Canada has done - it's truly a project enabling action that is 100% in the hands of the politicians. Aside from Gov. Walker exactly what are the rest of Alaska's politicians doing to more the project forward?
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