By ALEX GIMARC
June 18, 2026 – The Alaska Story published a column by Suzanne Downing on Tuesday describing the legislative sleight of hand she expects the Senate Majority Caucus to use to kill the natural gas line. The game as usual for this crowd will take place behind closed doors where they will be “unable” to muster 11 of 14 available majority caucus votes to bring the measure to the floor for a vote.
Too bad. So sad. Sucks to be you.
Given this possibility, killing a project that has close to (or over) 80% public support statewide, what do we do about it?
A review of where we are is in order.
The House passed HB 381 Friday, June 12, with a veto-proof 34 – 5 majority and sent it over to the Senate for action. At the same time, Glenfarne lined up trade union support for the pipeline, with an event Saturday. Chugach Electric came onboard Monday with a signed letter of intent to purchase North Slope gas through the proposed pipeline.
The Senate, on the other hand resumed its obstruct, deny and delay routine, this time not led by Sen. Cathy Giessel, but by Bert Stedman in Senate Finance. Cathy is in attendance during those hearings, doing her best Nurse Ratched routine whispering in various ears during breaks, haranguing the Senate Finance members.
I was temporarily confused by union support for the project announced last weekend. One of my readers educated me upon the error of my ways.
There are two groups of unions out there – the trade unions who Glenfarne has on board, and the public employee unions who apparently don’t support the project. It is the public employee unions who hold the collective leash of the Senate Majority rather than the trades.
The incongruity of Sen. Kelly Merrick’s participation on the anti-gasline side is interesting given her connection to the trades via her husband.
Should that majority kill the project by whatever means, excuses, promises for future action, or anything else, they and those who hold their political leashes formally become Enemies of the State, more interested in their own political welfare, and personal battles with Trump and Dunleavy Derangement Syndrome than in the interest of the rest of the state supports the project.
Should the Senate Majority kill this, I can think of a couple responses. First and quickest would be the governor to call the entire circus back into session until the Senate Majority passes the legislation. If the clowns want to have a circus, might as well make them spend the rest of the summer in Juneau.
Second, and longer term, is to go after the circus politically. Every single member of that majority becomes no longer electable. If the majority refuses to pass the enabling legislation, remove them from office through your participation in their reelection campaigns for the August primary and the November general elections.
Third, to the public employee unions, I ask: What have you done for me lately? You glory on not preparing the kiddos for their future, having turned the public schools into a wasteland. You are busily trying to bankrupt PERS / TERS via defined benefit, turning a $7 billion deficit into God knows what. And today, you are pushing your bought and paid for senate majority into killing the most significant resource development project seen in this state for half a century. On a cost-benefit basis, I see an awful lot of cost and precious little benefit. Tell me again why we need you? What positive are you boys and girls bringing to the table?
I would suggest we go scorched earth against the Alaska Senate Majority. No gasline? No election or reelection for any member of the majority caucus. Should simplify the campaigns nicely.
Gubernatorial campaigns best also weigh in with their level of support.
If the Senate Majority and the public employee unions want to screw over the entire state to achieve some unstated political goal, why not return the favor? Should be fun, and very, very well deserved.
You guys want to play? We can do that, for you have arrived squarely in FAFO Land. And playtime is over.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
14 thoughts on “Alex Gimarc: Enemies of the State in the Alaska Senate”
They all should be indited for corruption and theft (at a minimum). Then a grand jury, trial, and imprisonment.
Every single one of them is a criminal.
Don’t resent. They all will get their day. All evil-doers will have their day of judgement where earthly power, wealth will be of no use to them.
Just enjoy your life and the little good things you do have, the bad leaders presiding over Alaska local communities ONEDAY will all receive judgement
Start looking for answers in the Bible and not in the church you attend, the church that you once here chastised for not speaking out more against unfair justices.
You aren’t going to change for the better nor finding peace even living under wickedness by being shackled to a church building
Jesus died and rose for us to be Free, not just so Christians can go into a new prison that happens to meet in a church ⛪️ building
Jesus acted against the moneylenders in the temple. He did not sit idly by.
He said the hard things (Matthew 10:34-36, Luke 12:53) and did not shy away from saying them.
We live in a time of great evil. We must act.
There’s our ‘legacy’ justice system and there’s the other … aka: Paul Kersey, William Foster, and/or John Reece. Indeed, we have arrive in FAFO Land … place your bets and let the games begin! Winner take all.
If the AKGOP current core leaders can campaign it right in ads to effectively convince voters why Democrat and bi partisan Republicans running for office are not fit to build Alaska
The Gasline would make a perfect deal breaker on Election Day for most.
I doubt Republicans today would know how to use what is for their advantage to their advantage, if Republican leaders were actually Republicans for a Republican form government and not Republicans dependent on the same things as Democrats. They are just as greedy and lazy as small crowd of AKDemocrat leaders.
Mom is the worst of the bunch. I moved out, far away, years ago to escape the witch. Good luck to the rest of you Alaskans.
As I commented on an earlier story : Senator Bert Stedman will kill the gasline. He is much more interested in holding onto personal power in the Senate than the future of Alaska or Alaskans. A gasline would bring economic opportunity for most but would potentially destabilize politics in the Senate. He wants Alaska to continue along the path of stagnation and re-assume the backwater status it had at statehood. Sadly, there are too many that expressly or impliedly agree with him. I refuse to give this plutocrat the benefit of the doubt any longer. (This fella entered the State Senate in 2003. How has Alaska fared since then?)
In response to: “Should the Senate Majority kill this, I can think of a couple of responses. First and quickest would be the governor to call the entire circus back into session until the Senate Majority passes the legislation. If the clowns want to have a circus, might as well make them spend the rest of the summer in Juneau.”
The Governor can also encourage his public appointees to reconvene the AGDC board and renegotiate the governance terms of 8-Star. Glenfarne holds two voting seats, and Alaska holds one seat.
This is an opportunity to renegotiate governance rights since it has become undeniable that Glenfarne cannot do this without additional Alaska support. Correcting the governance structure is the foundation for legitimizing the LNG project. Good on Glenfarne for doing the tasks it agreed to set out to do, gaining buy-in, facilitating interest, but Glenfarne also needs to come to realize they do not have the capacity, resources, or collateral to get this project off the ground.
I want to see a win-win outcome for Glenfarne, which has taken on this audacious goal, and for Alaskans to recognize what skin in the game means, and how to execute power in negotiations.
Disagree with this: “This is an opportunity to renegotiate governance rights since it has become undeniable that Glenfarne cannot do this without additional Alaska support.”
HB381 is not additional Alaska support. It is rather a statement on the tax and regulation structure for the project. Either/both of these can (and will if the democrats and their RINO co-conspirators have their way) strangle the baby in the crib. Removing predatory government is not “additional Alaska support.”
Glenfarne can and will lead on this. They are lining up everything they need. Nobody is going to commit anything until the tax, regulatory and oversight structure are set in stone, which is a government function. The industry learned that basic lesson under O’Bama, who managed to cost Shell $8+ billion in their attempt to drill the Chukchi 2021 – 2015.
As to executing power in negotiations, I refer you to the Aesop Fable of the Golden Goose. It is always possible to negotiate yourself into no deal. Easy to forget basics sometimes. Cheers –
Alaska Senate: Do Not Give Away Our Leverage
The Alaska Senate is being asked to codify tax incentives, fiscal certainty provisions, and other benefits intended to attract global investors, energy companies, contractors, and financiers to the Alaska LNG project.
To legitimize value – the Alaska Senate better negotiate local opportunities equal to the incentives it is being lobbied to codify for the global energy industry.
That is the standard.
If tax incentives are written into law, Alaska business creation will be written into law.
If investor protections are written into law, mentor-protégé opportunities for Alaska businesses will be written into law.
If fiscal certainty is written into law, procurement targets, workforce development, rural participation, business incubation, and reporting requirements will be written into law.
The world wants Alaska’s gas.
Foreign investors are interested.
Global buyers are seeking long-term energy security.
The project has buyers.
The project has investors.
The project has momentum.
The final negotiation is no longer taking place in boardrooms, foreign capitals, or investor presentations.
The final negotiation is taking place in the Alaska Senate.
Every tax reduction, fiscal certainty provision, infrastructure support mechanism, and incentive considered by the Legislature is a negotiating concession made on behalf of Alaska’s people.
Those concessions must produce obligations.
Binding obligations.
Measured obligations.
Audited obligations.
Enforceable obligations.
Because deal makers are almost always the first beneficiaries of the deals they negotiate.
There is nothing wrong with that.
The Legislature’s responsibility is to ensure Alaska families become beneficiaries too.
A pipeline is infrastructure.
Business ownership is legacy.
Family wealth is legacy.
A pipeline down the spine of Alaska extracting our resources at wellhead bottom dollar value and then selling it back to us at the highest of energy costs is no longer an excuse of ignorance that I will accept from our Legislature.
Learn supply chain and manufacturing.
You will see that Glenfarne invested in Louisiana and Texas refineries while capturing the well head production governance rights to Alaska’s LNG.
We, as Alaskans need to demand that we are included in law.
The State of Alaska needs to hear us a citizens as loudly as they are being inundated by the industry and global powers.
— Trudy Sobocienski® MBA-
Independent analysis. I do not represent any company, organization, government entity, or project participant. I am not paid by anyone to advocate for any project or outcome.
Kill this bill permanently and don’t look back. The next governor will have time and talent in his corner to work for the residents of the State of Alaska that will make a difference. KILL THE BILL!!!
If the next governor is someone like Klunk, or Tom Begich. There won’t be any investors willing to work with someone so unstable. And you can forget any Alaskan gas coming into thd,railbelt. Get used to paying EXTRA for all your energy needs Diana, your personal animus toward Dunleavy has got the better of you
Gimarc is way off-base as usual. Hard to figure how anyone would think the legislature should just roll over and play dead on the largest project in North America! Why would we ever just give away a resource? Our constitution requires a fair return to the state. It’s the Repub minority and the Governor that is out of line. Bert Stedman and Cathy Giessel are the responsible adults.
Bob1 claims: Our constitution requires a fair return to the state.
It does no such thing. The phrase “Fair return” does not exist.
OTOH, one of my favorite Scott Adams quotes: “Fairness is a concept that was invented so children and idiots could participate in arguments.”
Thanks for playing. Cheers –