91天堂原創

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, sworn in as Alaska Governor on 26th July following Sarah Palin鈥檚 3rd July resignation, has announced that he will 鈥渃ontinue the core values and the overarching philosophy鈥� of the previous Palin-Parnell administration. 鈥淏ottom line, this was the Palin-Parnell administration. I intend to continue the core values and the overarching philosophy that guided it鈥�, said Parnell in a telephone interview. Parnell has been calling legislators, ahead of his swearing in, and 鈥渨ill be reaching out to the oil and gas industry鈥�. Asked about the previous Governor鈥檚 efforts to secure a North Slope pipeline, Parnell said he will 鈥渇ollow through鈥� with the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA), the law created by Palin to establish a competitive bidding process.

Alaska natural gas pipeline

An Alaskan North Slope pipeline to carry natural gas to Canada and lower 48 states has long been on the agenda. Palin鈥檚 predecessor Frank Murkowski pushed for the project, before Palin entered office and drew up the AGIA. TransCanada won the permit from the state to build the pipeline and, with ExxonMobil, is working on the Alaska Pipeline Project. Meanwhile, BP and ConocoPhillips are working on a rival project, Denali, formed outside of the AGIA process.

New Governor鈥檚 perspective

Parnell has said it will ultimately be the private sector that decides which project succeeds. 鈥淭he state of the gasline project is such that you now have two credible projects with credible partners鈥�.

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