Pipe Dreams

Newsweek:

by Tony Hopfinger - Alaska is home to gigantic untapped natural-gas fields. But can the state and energy industry finally agree to build a pipeline to transport the fuel?

As Americans feel the pinch at the gas pump amid $128 a barrel oil, there’s at least one place in the United States where high energy prices aren’t all bad news. Alaska, home to America’s prolific oil fields, is reaping billions of dollars in record oil-tax revenue. That, along with a populist governor determined to deliver a megapipeline project to the state, is fueling optimism among Alaskans that an energy boom may be just around the corner.

The next boom might not come from oil, however. In fact, residents aren’t putting much stock in the renewed effort under way to allow oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northeast Alaska, often cited as America’s best chance for a major onshore oil discovery but deemed sacred ground by environmentalists.

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