March Weather, Energy, & Crime Writing

4 April 2012
11:01 PM

Sunrise at	6:54 AM	in direction	74°	East-northeast
Sunset at	8:55 PM	in direction	287°	West-northwest

Duration of day: 14 hours, 1 minute (6 minutes, 46 seconds longer than yesterday)

I am not getting lazy about writing.  I just don't see any reason to write about being sick because staying home to recover from a virus is no different in Alaska than anywhere else.  And from the perspective of my front window, my view of life is relatively limited.  How many times can I mention that the snow is melting, that the wood for burning is wet, that the sun is shining, but not warm, that the daylight is on the increase?  As I said, my life in Alaska is the essence of simplicity at times and yesterday I chose to not write about it.

However, today, I stepped out of my sheltered life and checked to see what's shaken' around the state.   The big mover and shaker of the state is resource management - local consumption of energy and statewide exploitation of energy sources and other resources.  When I took a look at Alaska Public Radio's website today, out of 13 headline stories, two were related to energy and another to ocean resource management.   Out of five features, one was focused on energy.  Of four headline stories on the Anchorage Daily News website, one discussed the TarnsCanada gas line: Decision expected on request by TransCanada to alter gas line. Nearly 1/5 of the stories of interest were related to energy.

Senate Presents Its Version of New Oil Taxes discussed the ongoing war between the governor and the legislature regarding the cutting oil company special favors by reducing their tax accountability.  Another deals with the right of states to control their own resources whereby the Alaska House wants information on the offshore drilling moratorium, House Natural Resources Committee Subpoenas Records of Federal Offshore Moratorium Decision.  In a state that depends on oil to compensate for its lack of income or sales tax, I get the feeling lawmakers the federal government would quit protecting the environment and let Alaska generate some revenue for its state budget.

As the entire nation feels the pinch of oil prices, Alaska residents feel it all the more.  Current gasoline prices are well above $4.00/gallon and since most Interior residents heat with oil and March was colder than February in the Interior, talk continues to focus on Investing in Clean Energy in Alaska and other ways to break out of the oil dependency lifestyle here in the Interior.

Energy, energy, energy .. and then I spotted something actually fun, something that speaks to a different kind of energy abundant in Alaskan residents - creative energy: AK: Crime Writing.  The crime writer in Unalaska is billed as the state's more literary police officer.  Enjoy listening to the story.