The event takes place from 12 noon – 1:00pm with extended Q&A from 1:00pm – 2:00pm at the Captain Cook Hotel Ballroom.

And, as the Alaska Dispatch reports, things are getting worse. They write, "Alaska lost ground in several categories, including education, business friendliness and access to capital."

Sean Parnell has presided over this fall, and, it’s yet another sign of his incompetence. We need new leadership that promotes Alaska’s small businesses and creates good paying jobs.

Alaska businesses create good paying jobs. They create opportunities for Alaskans. And, they help diversify our state’s economy.

We’re slipping in education. We must improve our schools to attract opportunities to the state. We’re slipping in business friendliness. We must develop policies to encourage businesses to locate and create jobs in Alaska.

It’s time to build a 21st century Alaska by improving our education system and encouraging entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Thanks so much for your time and support.

The spill in the Gulf has changed the BP Alaska knows, weakening one of the pillars in the oil patch.

Already rumors of takeovers, asset sales, federal seizure and even bankruptcy are spreading. Imagine the consequences for Alaska. Aside from rumors, the reality is that BP has to pay for damages and containment, and it probably won’t have the ability to operate or develop in Alaska tomorrow the way it did yesterday.

Preparing for that contingency means attracting new companies and new investments to Alaska, insuring that our business climate is competitive and that concentration of assets and corporate power do not create insurmountable barriers to entry. It means demonstrating a new commitment to safe oil and gas production.

We’ve got declining production on the North Slope, and we need an oil revenue system that takes a long term view, something better than the existing ACES. I’ve proposed an “All Royalty” solution to keep oil flowing through the pipeline — where we negotiate the state’s take from oil (and hopefully gas) on a field-by-field, project-by-project basis. Alaska gains, generating increased royalties from those projects that can produce while customizing royalties for marginal fields, especially because Alaskans get jobs and Alaskan businesses have the opportunity to prosper. The “All Royalty” approach is flexible, nimble and fair, and it lets the market dictate the value to the producers and the state. There are other advantages as well: because it is royalty as opposed to tax, under the Alaska constitution the “All-Royalty” solution adds money to the Permanent Fund, not the General Fund, putting dividends in Alaskan pockets and enforcing budget discipline in Juneau.

The next step is protecting Alaska’s interests and positioning the state to set terms for any merger, acquisition or disbursement of BP’s Alaska assets. Alaska needs healthy competition in the oil patch or we will become subject to monopolizing forces. At the time of the BP-ARCO merger, more than 10 years ago, Alaska’s approach ultimately protected competition and prevented consolidation that would have cost development and jobs. That’s why today we have to be prepared to enforce the state’s anti-trust laws should Exxon or Conoco seek too much market share in Alaska. We must seek out and attract new participants to acquire such assets and insist on protecting BP employees who live in Alaska.

Finally, we have to remember that Alaskan oil is an Alaskan resource and an Alaskan responsibility. We’ve learned the hard way that you just can’t count on the oil companies to self-police their own behavior. Being independent and self-reliant, being the sovereign owner-state, means we have affirmative obligations and can’t simply trust others to do the right thing, or not be negligent, when Alaska’s fate is tied up in their actions. We protect our oil, our environment, and our options with sensible oversight and vigorous oil field inspections. Interruptions and spills from broken pipes make it harder for us to make our own development decisions and play into the hands of those who would stop Alaska from moving forward with developing ANWR and other projects.

Successful navigation of Alaska beyond BP requires a proactive strategy. If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll get what we’ve got – declining oil production, no gas from the North Slope and diminished control over our economic future. We can do better. With the right decisions, we can point Alaska in the right direction: strong, successful and independent.

Ethan Berkowitz

This op-ed originally appeared on June 11, 2010 on the Mud Flats blog.

Ethan Berkowitz is releasing the following statement concerning Sean Parnell’s illegal hire of a former State Representative to a state post:

“Sean Parnell’s repeated weak excuses just don’t cover up his incompetence,” said Berkowitz. “In his short time as acting Governor, it has been one excuse after another. He has had his opportunity to lead and has failed time after time.”

Click here to view copies of the same legal opinion given to then House Minority Leader Berkowitz in August 2003.

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“Bob ran a positive campaign based on ideas, and I will carry many of them forward,” said Berkowitz. “He was a pleasure to spend time with on the campaign trail.”

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In response to Sean Parnell’s choice to cut $3,000,000 in healthcare for thousands of Alaskan children while spending $750,000 to care for his mansion, Ethan Berkowitz has launched a petition signing website at www.KidsBeforeMansions.com.

“We launched KidsBeforeMansions.com to give outraged Alaskans the opportunity to send Sean Parnell the message that Alaska won’t stand by while he takes the most basic necessities away from innocent children.”

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Ethan Berkowitz expressed outrage today at Governor Parnell’s veto of healthcare for thousands of Alaska children. “Real men don’t pick on kids,” said Berkowitz. “Sean Parnell’s coldhearted cut hurts real Alaskan children and real families.”

The cuts to healthcare for children are particularly troubling in light of Parnell leaving an astounding $750,000 for maintaining his mansion in Juneau.”Apparently Sean thinks flat screen televisions and fresh paint in his bedroom are more important than letting a sick child see her doctor.”

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