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Palin Overstates Progress on Pipeline Project

Project may never be built, but will still cost taxpayers $500M

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 11, 2008 10:50 AM CDT
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(Newser) – On the campaign trail, Sarah Palin has been touting her role in brokering a deal for a $40-billion natural gas pipeline in Alaska that, she says will "help lead America to energy independence." But the New York Times, investigating the status of the project, finds that the Alaska governor has overstated "both the progress that has been made and the certainty of success," and that some supporters, on closer inspection, have turned against the deal.

Palin deserves credit for succeeding, unlike her predecessors, in attracting developers to the project, the Times notes. But the deal, which will take years to win federal approval, gives the company the option to drop out even if it wins approval, and the state is liable for $500 million in start-up expenses even if it's never built. Some Alaskan legislators now say the state gave away too much leverage with too little guarantee. "There is no requirement to lift one shovel of dirt or lay down one inch of steel," says one Republican state senator. Another calls it "a very expensive risk."

In this Aug. 10, 2006 file photo, a worker uses a rope mop to clean up oil in tundra grass from a leak from an oil transit line at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope.
In this Aug. 10, 2006 file photo, a worker uses a rope mop to clean up oil in tundra grass from a leak from an oil transit line at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope.   (AP Photo/Al Grillo, file)
Department of Revenue commissioner Patrick Galvin, right, and Sarah Palin during a news conference about the pipeline in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday, July 3, 2007.
Department of Revenue commissioner Patrick Galvin, right, and Sarah Palin during a news conference about the pipeline in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday, July 3, 2007.   (AP Photo/Al Grillo)
Sarah Palin stands with commissioners Tom Irwin, Pat Galvin and Marty Rutherford as she announces the companies who applied to build the state's gas pipeline in Anchorage, Alaska.
Sarah Palin stands with commissioners Tom Irwin, Pat Galvin and Marty Rutherford as she announces the companies who applied to build the state's gas pipeline in Anchorage, Alaska.   (AP Photo/Al Grillo)
In this Aug. 10, 2006 file photo, oil transit and other pipelines run from one BP's facility at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope.
In this Aug. 10, 2006 file photo, oil transit and other pipelines run from one BP's facility at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope.   (AP Photo/Al Grillo, file)
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'She's behaved like the worst Democrats'
Times (UK)

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Alaska • Election 2008 • gas pipelines • Sarah Palin • pipelines

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