Fairbanks officials say Alaska natural gas would be perfect for Europe

Three elected officials in Fairbanks government—two Aarons and an Aino—took to the pages of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Sunday to say that Europe needs Alaska natural gas to counter Russian aggression.

The best thing about the column is that they made it sound so easy. Anyone can build a pipeline on paper, a faith-based exercise.

“The best thing Alaska can do to challenge the long-term power of Vladimir Putin is to develop its gas as a direct substitute for Russian gas. This will help our free allies in Europe, while at the same time, it will unlock a significant portion of Alaska’s natural resource wealth so that it can be utilized for the maximum benefit of the people,” they wrote.

Authors Aaron Gibson, Aaron Lojewski and Aino Welch serve respectively on the Fairbanks City Council, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly and the North Pole City Council.

Gibson is running for the Legislature and Lojewski has run for the Legislature and Welch has been on the North Pole City Council for a couple of terms.

When you write a newspaper column claiming that there’s a clear path for a gas pipeline, you can ignore the difficult economic hurdles that have blocked an Alaska gas pipeline for nearly 50 years because you deal in sweeping generalities, with no real details.

It is possible that the Russian attack on Ukraine will disrupt the world market for natural gas so thoroughly that the economics of an Alaska project and its relative security will make an Alaska project more appealing. But it’s a stretch to conclude that Europe is a great market for Alaska natural gas. Asia remains a more logical place and a cheaper alternative, if all of the unsolved problems can be conquered.

Missing from the trio’s gas line plan is the word “billion” or the words “tens of billions,” which is what a pipeline would cost.

They simply announced that “Alaska natural gas is worth paying a premium for over cheaper unreliable Russian gas that will be weaponized in international politics.”

It’s one thing for Alaska politicians to declare that an undisclosed premium exists and is worth it, but they aren’t paying the bills.

What they base this announcement on is anyone’s guess, as they appear to have done no research on the topic and the column is on a level with a bar-room blather or campaign jabber.