Alaska Dispatch

 

Dear Elder Statesmen:

No doubt you've read the latest cost estimates for TransCanada's proposed natural gas pipeline. Now that line could cost up to $41 billion, which is a little bit more than the previous maximum cost estimate. The fact that these estimates keep going up is making some Alaskans anxious. We've been hearing all sorts of doomsday scenarios from people who think a natural gas line is getting too costly or risky or what-have-you.

Same thing goes for the perennial idea of building a road to Nome, which Gov. Parnell recently resurrected in his State of the State address. A study commissioned by the state said the road would cost more than $1,000 per foot to build, and already Alaskans are turning up their noses at it, wondering whether it would be wise or whether the resources it would increase access to are really worth that much.

Well, The Concerned are worried too -- not about the huge costs or massive scale of the projects, mind you. Nope, we're so used to everything in Alaska costing a lot that we were actually kind of surprised when the very first estimate of the TransCanada pipeline came in under $100 billion -- of course, the final design will probably feature significantly less decorative stenciling than we hoped for, so the unimpressive price tag makes some sense.

What really concerns us is that Alaskans seem to have lost their stomach for the big, daring projects worthy of the state and your faith in us. Maybe that very public smackdown we took over the Gravina Island Bridge put us off our feed, but whatever caused it, now more than ever, Alaskans need that Go-Big-or-Go-Home spirit they used to be celebrated for. Because you six did so much to encourage that spirit, we thought we'd ask: How can Alaskans can get their mega-project mojo back?

Aside from the road to Nome and that huge bowl of pipeline spaghetti, there aren't a lot of projects huge enough to stoke that old fire in the belly you knew so well. There are plenty of ideas: a road from the Dalton highway to Umiat; a railroad extension to Delta Junction; a highway extension heading north from Juneau; and the Knik Arm Bridge. But all that stuff is small potatoes; if it doesn't have the word "billions" attached to it, The Concerned is not interested.

Remember a time when Alaskans thinking about building a railroad didn't blink at trying to punch the thing all the way to Calgary? Remember when the Susitna Dam sounded exciting? Remember when building a massive road meant just cutting down everything that stood in the way, covering the slash pile with dirt, then packing it down with a long stream of people heading wherever it lead them?

There's a project to build a $1.2 billion fiber optic communications cable from Asia to Europe, with a stop in Alaska along the way, and that's a great start -- exactly the kind of cost threshold we're talking about. But it's not enough. Whatever happened to that $65 billion transportation and energy tunnel connecting Alaska to Siberia underneath the Bering Strait? If we're already thinking about a road to Nome, why not take it all the way to Magadan?

Besides, we're worried the proposed road to Nome is taking the wrong route. Right now, the idea is to start the road from Manley Hot Springs, near Fairbanks. That's a quick way to get there and all, but it has zero élan -- not a whit of moxie. The proposal completely overlooks something: Alaska already has a traditional route to Nome. There's only one route worthy of Alaskans and what will surely be The Last Great Road.

But even that might be too much for this generation. Maybe we're better off concentrating on more pragmatic projects. If the road from Umiat keeps going northeast after it hits the Dalton Highway, and runs all the way to Point Thomson, maybe developing those leases won't be such a big deal. Why not a road from Point Thomson to Umiat? That's more like it -- that honors the true spirit of Alaska. The Alcan doesn't stop at Whitehorse, does it?

And if that big natural gas pipeline is really too expensive, or ends up sounding too mundane for everyone, maybe we need to pull out the inspirational big guns: a fleet of totally awesome liquid natural gas cargo submarines. A pipeline only takes product to one market, but a submarine can go wherever the best prices are -- no one will see Alaska's gas coming until it's too late! Plus, once a pipeline is built, the biggest job is basically done. We can build as many submarines as we dare -- if only we'd dare. (And don't tell anyone, but those submarines were once considered a cheaper option than a gas pipeline.)

Hopefully, with enough projects like this to inspire them, Alaskans might just find new reserves of the spirit they once had. Let us know if you think we're on the right track.

Thanks,
The Concerned