With the rest of the nation consumed in a debate over building the final leg of the $5 billion Keystone XL pipeline, very little attention was given to a historic announcement made last month by Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell.

Parnell announced plans to take a $5.75 billion stake in the construction of a natural gas and infrastructure project estimated to cost $45 billion. The pipeline would stretch 800 miles from the North Slope down to Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula. And once completed, Alaska would be positioned to take advantage of one of the world’s largest untapped natural gas reserves sitting just along the shore in the Beaufort Sea.