Session: State Capitol, Room 24 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-2186 Fax: (907) 465-3818 Interim: 600 East Railroad Avenue Wasilla, AK 99654 Phone: (907) 373-1842 Fax: (907) 373-4729

Alaska Gas Pipeline - Keep Government Out

An Anchorage Daily News column written by Rep. Jim Whitaker of Fairbanks near the start of this year's legislative session reveals to the intelligent reader why Alaska has one of the most bloated state bureaucracies in our country's history.

The reason is simple. After a long introduction about how our constitution urges lawmakers to "provide for the utilization...of all natural resources belonging to the state" Rep. Whitaker writes that if the big oil companies don't build a gas pipeline, the state ought to. He wrote, "...we have no choice but to seriously consider, now, State ownership of an Alaska natural gas pipeline system." I respectfully disagree.

Government ownership of facilities as part of an economic system is precisely what Karl Marx advocated in his Communist Manifesto. In our country, we have lawmakers attempting to turn a once magnificent free-market economic system, a system that was and still is (to a degree) the envy of the world, into a Communist mess. Some, like Rep. Whitaker think this would not be the case.

Wouldn't it? If the recent state ownership of the Palmer meat packing plant, of the Matanuska Maid Dairy, of dairy farms at Point MacKenzie, of barley farms at Delta, of the Seward Grain Terminal, and of the fish processing plant in Anchorage are examples, then we are doomed to waste the public's dollars en mass once again.

Don't advocates of a government built gas line ponder the reasons why the oil industry has yet to build a pipeline? Perhaps the cost exceeds the potential return on investment. Perhaps the permitting process and regulatory burden discourages its construction.

Why don't they ask how government can make a profit when private companies feel they cannot? If they want to proceed regardless, then we're in for a real financial bloodbath. A couple of billion here, a couple of billion there. This could run into serious money.

Further, while Rep. Whitaker reflects on the state constitution and resource development in his article, I conclude that we in the Legislature should guard free enterprise with all our might so it can do what it does best, develop the state's raw materials into wealth for its citizens, without government interference.

If we want a productive work force, if we want to build wealth and the freedom to enjoy it, then we must free entrepreneurs, including those in the oil industry, from government obstacles that make conducting business so difficult. That should include lowered taxes, a simpler permitting process and streamlined regulations that are clear, simple and focused on optimizing safety--not an army of highly paid government inspectors.

I strongly support the construction of a gas pipeline. However, it must be on a private-sector basis and market based. We need to do exactly the opposite of what the pro-government gas line supporters want, including de-socializing the State by staying out of the business of building and operating facilities.

Do you ever wonder why politicians are spending hundreds of millions of dollars more than what the state takes in each year, and then plead that they need new taxes for even more? If you take a close look at what Rep. Whitaker is proposing, you'll understand that it equates to communizing a major part of the economy. You can then extrapolate from there.

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Vic Kohring is a 4th term Republican who was first elected to the Alaska Legislature in 1994. He represents Wasilla and Peters Creek and is Chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

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