Alaska Gov. Bill Walker wants natural gas development in his huge home state to take center stage in complying with the Environmental Protection Agency’s emission rules for power plants, and will seek to raise his plans directly with President Obama.
The independent governor told the Washington Examiner that his energy/climate plan rests on natural gas development as the best way forward for his state to reduce energy costs and emissions under the EPA rules, which are the centerpiece of the president’s climate change agenda.
The governor says he is hopeful he can raise his energy/emission plans when President Obama arrives in Alaska on Aug. 31 to address a special international conference on Arctic policy and climate change.
After the conference, the president will stick around for a few days through early September, when Walker hopes he will have a chance to talk to him about natural gas development. The most “significant issue” he would like to raise is the fact “we have more natural gas than any state, or any country around the world,” he said. “Now [we’re] working on … ways to take it to market.”
Lower emissions will be a favorable byproduct of increased gas development, he said.
The EPA rules, known as its Clean Power Plan, put states on the hook to reduce their emissions from existing power plants 32 percent by 2030. But Walker’s state is unique, EPA said in finalizing the rules. The agency effectively exempted Alaska from the regulations until it can better evaluate its unique energy situation.
“EPA officials said they would start work soon towards setting goals for Alaska and the other islanded states, but did not set a deadline for accomplishing this task,” Walker’s office explained in an Aug. 3 statement. Walker said Alaska’s energy network is much different than most states.
“We aren’t tied together with [one grid]” like most states, but “300 micro-grids” powered primarily by diesel generators, which are expensive to maintain and fuel.
Walker’s plan is to use natural gas development on the North Slope of Alaska to transition the state “from diesel to natural gas,” which will reduce emissions under the EPA plan, while also lowering costs for Alaskans.
Thus far, much of Alaska’s bounty of natural gas — an estimated 35 trillion cubic feet, or about one and half times of all U.S. production in 2013 — has gone untapped. The main problem has been moving it to market, which Walker says will require both pipelines and liquefaction terminals, requiring approvals from Washington.
All of the options are expensive and will take years to implement.
Walker says he wants to work with the federal government ahead of EPA regulating Alaska to push the emissions plan. The governor says there has been “no impediment” from the government thus far. They have been “pretty darn cooperative,” and Walker expects them to continue to be moving forward.
