Palin’s Pipeline
By Steven Osborne | Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 | PoliticsIf you have been watching the news lately, chances are you have seen a story about Governor Sarah Palin. First, she was drawing a crowd of 20,000 people in Auburn, New York, followed by several thousand on Long Island. Then there were those cruel jokes by David Letterman that served to distract people from the fact that Sarah Palin had turned out thousands of people in districts that President Obama carried last year. Perhaps the most important story of this week has been ignored. That is the story of Palin’s pipeline.
For thirty years now, Alaskan lawmakers have been trying to secure a natural gas pipeline that would create a flow of clean burning natural gas into America’s energy markets. That dream is now becoming a reality as Governor Sarah Palin has just sealed the deal on a project which many consider to be the largest energy project in the world today.
In an article published at the Digital Journal, Gary Jackson discusses why this is a truly monumental achievement, as well as why natural gas will play an important role in securing energy independence. Governor Sarah Palin has moved America closer to energy independence by negotiating this project. She can now add this to her list of accomplishments which include: passing ethics reform, a renewable energy plan, a 50-year economic diversity plan, and a prevention based healthcare plan. Governor Palin could easily be considered one of the most accomplished governors in America today.
This also destroys the notion that Sarah Palin is a policy lightweight. A lightweight could never secure one of the world’s largest energy projects. It is time for the critics to stop their incoherent babbling about Sarah Palin not having intelligence and lacking experience. Accomplishments speak for themselves.
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About the author
Steven Osborne is a grassroots conservative activist from Central Virginia. He is currently furthering his education at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. In addition to writing for Bearing Drift he is also a columnist for the Christian Law Journal.
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8 Responses to "Palin’s Pipeline"
Before you break out the bubbly, let’s see what happens at open season next year. It’s not clear that AGIA or this recently announced Exxon – TransCanada partnership will result in a pipeline actually getting built. I read elsewhere that Exxon testified to the Alaska legislature that AGIA would not work. So, maybe this is all a ploy by Exxon to get a better seat at the table and get what they want. In which case, who looks smart Exxon or Governor Palin?
I don’t think this destroys the notion that Sarah Palin is a lightweight as you say. It is a basic expectation that given the primary industry in Alaska is oil and gas (correction federal subsidies are) that she would know something about it and have involvement as Governor in it.
Also, you know pipeline expansion has occurred and is occurring across the nation. Are governors from all of those states claiming credit for those projects? As far as I know the Rockies Express Pipeline is a bigger project and is under construction. It will do much more for the nation’s gas pipeline infrastructure than a proposed Alaska Pipeline. The most congested market for natural gas is the North East. And do you hear people lauding the Governors of Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio for this project? Or do you here those governors playing up their role in making it happen?
Last, advances in drilling are happening every year. And the boom in gas production from shale formations could make the need for a pipeline from Alaska obsolete. So, if shale gas provides more than enough supply for the lower 48, how smart does Governor Palin look then?
Nothing you wrote takes anything away from Gov. Palin, TX2VA. All it shows is that she is doing what a governor should do…remaining engaged on state economic issues and assisting in getting major infrastructure approved and constructed (something the Virginia governor seems to have difficulty achieving).
I’m not all the way with Steven on this, nor am I defending his post. I think Palin is a far cry from being ready to be our next president. During the last campaign, she did show that she has some personal and issue-related items that she has to work on and this project doesn’t suddenly fix all those concerns voters might have had about her.
However, it’s nice to see that some governors can manage to get things done for their states. I wonder what that’s like…
I don’t mean this insulting, I’m sincerely asking… how can you see Palin as anything more than a sideshow?
Sure she draws crowds, so does the bearded lady.
Do the crowds somehow lend her legitimacy? If so, that’s kind of funny, being that it was the Republicans who went so far out of their way to paint Obama as a “celebrity” drawing crowds around the world. And of course then being a celebrity was a -bad- thing.
Is it because she’s offered some amazingly keen insight? Her response to the David Letterman apology actually went into thanking the troops. I mean… really? Not that our troops don’t deserve to be thanked, but doesn’t that smack of sanctimony? (a la, “Sean Hannity, you’re a great American”)
I understand the Reps want a superstar… I really get it. And I also get that Palin’s hot, cause, well.. she is. But what is it really she offers to the Republican party besides a pretty face? So far, I haven’t seen anything other than same ole two-step dance in a dress. And if that’s what the Reps are going to pin their hopes on … God help us all.
My advice is to let Palin be the sideshow. Let her get that attention because there obviously is a contingent of the party who get their fix when she comes around. But don’t look to her to lead the party or the country, that’s just asking for problems.
And because I hate it when someone complains without ever offering a solution, here is what I would recommend.
Look to your colleges. Since the time we were a zygote we’ve been told, “Go to school, get a good job” We’ve been told this so much by our parents, community leaders, and guidance counselors it’s ingrained in our DNA. But what happens when the rest of the world doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain and those “good jobs” aren’t there when you graduate? If you’re in college, you see this barren economic landscape coming up ahead and you’re undoubtedly scrambling for solutions… these are the people the Reps need to start talking to.
JR, regardless, it is too soon to evaluate Governor Palin on this project. Exxon entering into this partnership is not an indicator of the success of the AGIA. So, before we say she is doing a good job, we should see whether AGIA really results in something substantive next year. And whether it is the AGIA project that wins out over BP & Conoco’s deal. Until open season, all we have are a bunch of proposals. And that is not doing anything to get “major infrastructure approved and constructed.” She hasn’t gotten anything done in this regard yet.
And even after open season, pipelines are built all the time by private industry to serve an economic need. The people who deserve credit for getting those pipeline built are not government officials, but the people who work for companies like Kinder Morgan and Williams. This pipeline has been talked about for years and years and years. But it hasn’t gotten built, because it didn’t make economic sense to do so. Many years ago when natural gas prices were real low, why would anyone spend that much money to build and maintain a pipeline? Now maybe it makes economic sense today, but we will see when open season happens; and Governor Palin has what do with this exactly?
To your point about remaining engaged on economic issues, yeah she would be a poor governor if she didn’t pay attention to the two main stays of Alaska’s economy: federal dollars and fossil fuels. That doesn’t bridge the gap between her provincial experience and being more than a lightweight on the national scene. And what is it about the job of governor of Alaska is so deserving of praise or recognition of merit outside Alaska. Virginia has a population 6 times as large and an economy close to 9 times as large. Managing government for a population of 686,293, half of which live around Anchorage and two-fifths the size of Hampton Roads, is deserving of recognition? And comparing this one private announced deal in Alaska to Governor Kaine’s performance on transportation is relevant how?
Shane: Sideshow sums it up pretty well.
While there will be al of talk about Palin, I’d be surprised if she makes any more of an impact in the Republican presidential primaries in 2012 than Dan Quayle did in 1996. Quayle, if fact, whatever his faults, was much better qualified at that time to be president than Palin will be in 2012. So far what Palin has proved is that she’s a moderately attrative woman who can give a speech which appeals to the fringiest element of the Republican base. I’d expect Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindall, Newt Gingrich and whoever else might get into the GOP race to run right over her.
With all due respect, I still do not see why someone whould consider Palin a lightweight. She is the governor of the most energy producing state in the nation. Before being governor she was chairman of the Alaska Oil and Natural Gas Commission. She also has an extremely productive record as governor.
Her electoral prospects are not as glim as conventional wisdom would have us believe. According to Rasmussen, her favorability numbers have gone up since election day. On top of that, PPP polling(a Democratic firm) has her favorability numbers among Hispanic voters to be higher than average Republicans get. Noted columnist John Hawkins has stated that due to her charisma and popularity(i.e. drawing 20,000 people) she is the candidate most likely to beat Obama in 2012.
I am not endorsing anybody, however, I refuse to let James Carville and David Axlerod define which Republicans are electable and which ones are not.
Not to down Mitt Romney, but Sarah Palin actually has more elected experience than he did before launching his bid in 2008. No one questioned his viability. So if one takes an objective look at her viability, it doesn’t seem all that bad.
Steven, having experience in a two-dimensional economy does not seem like a huge deal to me. Energy is a more diverse sector than just oil & gas production and transportation. And the US economy is far more diverse than that. What experience does she have on national issues? What does she add to conservative philosophy? If being involved in regulating the petroleum industry at the state level makes you a heavyweight, then maybe you should be considering some of the commissioners on the Texas Railroad Commission for your presidential nomination.
Popularity doesn’t make you a heavyweight. I also think your Romney comparison is unfortunate. Mitt blows her out of the water in everything save maybe electability. The fact that he is a Republican who managed to get elected in Massachusetts should be worth a lot. Now he may not be able to capture the Republican nomination or be as electable in the general because he is a member of the LDS church, but that doesn’t put Palin on the same level as him.
since being the VP candidate I am sure she is getting a lot of advice from GOP operatives when dealing with energy, economy, etc. but I still do not have faith she could hold her own in a debate or interview. time will tell.
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