[IPSM] "TransCanada closes in on Alaska"

[Macdonald Stainsby]

A few quick notes on this:
TransCanada-- otherwise known as TCPL-- is a major sponsor of the 2010 
Olympics destroying Vancouver and the lands of "BC". TransCanada is also 
a massive construction conduit for the expansion of the tar sands/tar 
pits up to 5 MILLION barrels a day (more than any other single country 
in the world minus Saudi Arabia for daily delivery). These plans are 
enunciated and spelled out in the SPP's round of talks from Houston, 2006.

TCPL is promoting the expansion of *both* northern pipelines for gas, 
and finally gave up the competition charade:

"Despite what media pundits or columnists may wish to imply, the 
Mackenzie project and the Alaska gas pipeline are not competing 
projects. They are two phases of a comprehensive objective that will 
ensure a secure and stable energy supply for the future."

This alone makes clear the nature of this corporation. They should be 
earmarked for corporate campaigners against the SPP, 2010 Games and the 
tar sands themselves.

--Macdonald

TransCanada closes in on Alaska
State House of Representatives votes in favour of licence; Senate is 
final obstacle
DAVID PARKINSON
July 24, 2008

TransCanada Corp. is one legislative hurdle away from landing a 
lucrative Alaskan licence to pursue the most expensive private-sector 
construction project in North American history, after the company's 
proposal for a massive natural gas pipeline won a key vote in the 
state's House of Representatives.

The house voted 24-16 in favour of a bill that would award TransCanada 
the pipeline licence under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA), a 
year-old program spearheaded by Governor Sarah Palin to kick-start the 
long-dormant concept of a pipeline to deliver the state's natural gas to 
the continental U.S. market.

Under the program, TransCanada would stand to receive up to $500-million 
(U.S.) of government funding to advance the project to the construction 
stage by 2014 - a complex planning and permitting process that the 
company has estimated would cost it $625-million.

Should the project go into construction, TransCanada has estimated its 
budget at $26-billion - more than 60 per cent higher than the estimated 
cost for the proposed Mackenzie gas pipeline in the Northwest 
Territories, and more than twice the total cost of the Keystone 
pipeline, which TransCanada and partner ConocoPhillips Co. recently 
committed to expand and extend to deliver Alberta crude to the U.S. Gulf 
Coast.

The bill passed the house without any of the contentious amendments that 
had been proposed by several legislators. It also passed a 
"reconsideration" vote - its final reading in the house - yesterday 
afternoon.

Now, the bill proceeds to the state Senate, which most observers expect 
will approve the licence before the Aug. 2 deadline for final passage of 
the bill. However, many of the issues and proposed changes that came up 
in the house could well resurface in the Senate hearings and debate.

"We have to await judgment of [the] Senate," said Tony Palmer, 
TransCanada's vice-president of Alaska development, in e-mailed comments 
yesterday, adding that the exact timing of a Senate vote remains up in 
the air. "We wouldn't prejudge how the votes will come down in the Senate."

Some senators remain concerned that the government is poised to give 
TransCanada a handout while two of the big producers who actually 
control much of the natural gas - BP PLC and ConocoPhillips - have 
proposed their own pipeline project outside of the AGIA process, seeking 
no upfront government money.

Ms. Palin pleaded with legislators this week to leave the bill alone, 
arguing that any amendments would set back the pipeline proposal by at 
least a year, if not undermine the AGIA program entirely.

"A last-minute change sets a horrible precedent, if the result is that 
we have to begin the process all over again because legislators added 
new terms," the Republican Governor said in a statement. "It's not 
realistic to expect businesses to go through the process all over again 
and absorb the time and expense."

Meanwhile, the government of the Northwest Territories - which has been 
touting the Mackenzie pipeline project to deliver its own natural gas to 
southern markets - had only positive things to say about the Alaskan 
house's passage of the TransCanada licence.

"The Northwest Territories has, for almost a year now, been promoting 
the benefits of Arctic natural gas from the Northwest Territories and 
Alaska," said Bob McLeod, the territory's minister responsible for 
energy initiatives.

"Despite what media pundits or columnists may wish to imply, the 
Mackenzie project and the Alaska gas pipeline are not competing 
projects. They are two phases of a comprehensive objective that will 
ensure a secure and stable energy supply for the future."