newsminer.com

Who’s the latest elected official to pledge action on crippling fuel costs in Alaska? Barack Obama, of course.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (a U.S. Senator) talked about energy costs and the gas line this weekend in a taped address to the state Democratic convention.

Obama said most people in Washington don't realize that even energy-rich Alaska is struggling with high fuel costs.

"Record oil prices are driving oil industry profits through the roof while Alaska's working families struggle to heat their homes and feed their children," he said. "That must change. We need to invest in a clean-energy future by pursuing the Alaska pipeline."

Then he said this.

"You've already taken ownership of this effort in Alaska, but you need a president who's fighting with you to make it a reality, and that's the kind of president I'll be."

You can watch the address on AlaskaReport here.

http://www.alaskareport.com/

Or at the YouTube site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzPg0f6ejzo

The federal government has already played a big role in shaping an Alaska gas line project, both by passing federal legislation dealing with permitting issues and by allowing a large federal loan guarantee. Although it may not have helped much, former Gov. Frank Murkowski even won a vague backing from president Bush's administration for his pipeline deal with the producers. More recently, TransCanada has proposed using the federal government to ensure sufficient shipping commitments to get the project moving and/or to lessen any incentive to "goldplate" the project to make more money off it at the expense of shippers.

So, it's not inconceivable that Washington or even the president could play some role in getting a gas line built.

As for whether Obama was really endorsing the AGIA process, or whether he would be any more helpful in getting a gas line than Hillary Clinton or John McCain is still unclear, although it's not something I've really studied.

Any thoughts?