“The Permitting Process Could Become More Burdensome With a Biden Administration” Power The Future Energy Hour Recap: State Reps Cathy Tilton & Sara Rasmussen

January 11, 2021

This week’s Power The Future Energy Hour – the first of 2021 – focused on upcoming political sessions in Washington, D.C. and Juneau.

Rick opened the show by talking about the next day’s ANWR 1002 lease sale, and opined that the sale would go through (US District Court Judge Sharon Gleason had not yet ruled – ultimately allowing it to move forward) and it would have some activity, although not to the extent he hoped.  He noted that the Biden administration was supposed to close down ANWR on day one of his administration, but for today, it should be a victory.  Also, he recapped his letter to the Biden team on when senior proposed energy leaders had last visited Alaska; guessing he wouldn’t receive an answer, because Biden didn’t care about Alaska’s energy community whatsoever.

Segment two was focused on Biden’s continued promises to the eco-Left on going to war against traditional energy sources.  Joining Rick was Larry Behrens, PTF’s Western States Director, who provided additional updates on Biden’s Interior Secretary-designee, Deb Haaland.  They also talked about the Georgia runoff elections, and how the power structure coming from those two battles would shape the energy agenda for the Biden administration.

Returning to the Energy Hour for segments three and four were State Representatives Cathy Tilton and Sara Rasmussen.  Rep. Tilton talked with Rick about the stalemate in forming a majority among the 40 legislators in the House, and how that will affect the upcoming session.  She noted that the 20 Republicans who were in her caucus were steadfast in opposing a coalition where a majority of Democrats are placed in key positions, and that they hoped to bring along a few from the other faction to form a majority shortly.  Rep. Tilton also talked about how the ongoing COVID-19 situation was certain to impact the timing and flow of the upcoming session.  From remote voting to budget formulation, the discussion with Rep. Tilton was informative.

Rep. Rasmussen’s appearance on the show started with her thoughts for setting things up for this session, versus her first time in Juneau two years ago, and how COVID was impacting her preparation.  A discussion on how President Trump’s actions to help Alaska’s resource development community followed, and Rep. Rasmussen noted that the new administration could very well change things and make it even harder to balance the budget.  She talked about the need for regulatory processes to be stable, and that changing them would lead to tough choices for producers.

If you missed this week’s show live, you can still catch it – as well as every episode from the past two years – on Power the Future’s Soundcloud.

The Energy Hour can be heard live every Tuesday night from 5:00-6:00 PM local time on KNVT (92.5 FM, 1020 AM and online at 1020KVNT.com).  The show (also replayed during the same hour on Saturday night) is heard throughout Southcentral Alaska communities, and acts as a recap of Power The Future activities in Alaska, as well as an opportunity to hear from various members of Alaska’s energy and political communities.  Feel free to reach out to Rick@PowerTheFuture.com with show ideas or feedback!