Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Gets Political Boost

We still do not know if — and when — the Alaska natural gas pipeline will get built, but it seems that some political progress has at least been made.

According to the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, the project is now a top priority for President Obama, who is considering making the initiative a public works project.

Until the economic recession, there were two companies vying for the right to construct the 2,000-mile natural gas pipelines: TransCanada and Producers BP and ConocoPhillips, together with Denali. But the collapsing world financial market has led many in Alaska to worry that financing would not be able to be secured for the project, estimated at around $40 billion.

The news that President Obama may make the pipeline a public works project has some in Alaska breathing a sigh of relief. Others are less enthusiastic, preferring the private model — even if it takes a bit longer to find the funding.

Either way, construction of the pipeline would create a trove of jobs for Americans. To learn more about this massive employment possibility, check out JobMonkey’s section on the Alaska Highway Pipeline.