She’s got other priorities…
graphic by twolf

Alaska’s Senior US Senator Lisa Murkowski reacted to emerging details of the food and fuel emergency on the lower Yukon River Thursday. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s spokesperson, Sharon Leighow stated that Gov. Palin’s office "may have" reviewed the Emmonak situation in October.

How do I know that Sen. Murkowski is reacting to Emmonak? Not from this cite from this morning’s Anchorage Daily News:

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski evoked Emmonak’s struggles Thursday at a Senate committee hearing on the proposed federal economic stimulus plan.

No, because her Washington DC office tried to get me through to her this morning, but she is already meeting on the lower Yukon problem today, with advisors.

Gov. Palin currently has no plans to comment on Emmonak. She is pretty booked today. And Monday, Palin kicks off Glenn Beck’s new FOX News TV program:

It’s been a highly sought after position—the 1st guest appearance on Glenn’s brand new show on Fox News. After a Blagojevich like courtship for the slot, Governor Sarah Palin will be the first guest with Glenn on Fox this Monday at 5pm eastern. Set your Tivo!

She plans on introducing her long-delayed Statewide Energy Plan this morning, at 11:00 a.m. A large component of that plan will be pushing funding on the state and Federal level toward her AGIA gas pipeline proposal with the financially troubled TransCanada consortium, and promoting the questionable notion of "clean coal."

The "clean coal" brick of her energy plan is tied into the highly questionable transfer of the long-dormant Healy "Clean Coal" power plant, on the banks of the Nenana River. Ex-legislator, 2006 Palin gubernatorial opponent and blogger, Andrew Halcro says the Healy Coal Plant is way too dirty politically to qualify as "clean," no matter how it is processed in the plant itself. His most recent Palin entry asks these questions about the Healy coal plant deal:

Is it true that in January of 2007, Jim Palin, Todd’s father and former GM of Matanuska Valley Electric met in Juneau with his daughter in-laws staff (including Mike Tibbles and John Bitney) to advise them not to trust AIDEA in their dispute with GVEA over the Healy plant?

Is it true that Jim Palin through Todd, lobbied to get rid of Mike Barry, AIDEA Chairman and Ron Miller, AIDEA Executive Director because GVEA saw those two as roadblocks to getting the Healy plant for cheap? It was under Barry & Miller, that the litigation against GVEA was instigated.

Is it true that Tom Irwin lobbied to have the Alaska Energy Authority moved from AIDEA into the Department of Natural Resources?

Is it true that Tom Irwin lobbied Governor Palin in 2007 to replace Ron Miller, AIDEA Director, with Steve Haagenson who was the General Manager of GVEA?

Is it true that Haagenson hired Irwin when he suddenly quit the Murkowski administration back in November of 2005 after a disagreement over Murkowski’s handling of the natural gas pipeline contract?

Is it true that when it was pointed out that bringing Haagenson in directly from GVEA, who was in litigation with AIDEA over the Healy plant, would be a giant conflict of interest, Irwin pressed the administration to drop the lawsuit so they could hire Haagenson?

Is it true the Attorneys in the Department of Law convinced Palin that this was a bad idea?

Is it true that Irwin then changed tactics and had Galvin appoint John Kelsey, (Marty Rutherfords father) as Chairman of the AIDEA Board and then had Galvin tell AIDEA’s staff and lawyers that he was going to settle the Healy litigation?

Is it true that Irwin played a major role in getting Haagenson eventually hired as the head of the Alaska Energy Authority, a subset of AIDEA?

Halcro knows that the answers to each of these questions is "YES!" Read his blog entry for more details on this very stinky deal.

Let’s see –

Blajojavich-like negotiation with Glenn Beck? – check.
Sleaziest coal plant deal with under-the-counter kickbacks in Alaska history? – check
Shoving Alaska villages under the carpet for another winter? – CHECK

What a Governor!

An emergency meeting of the Palin administration group trying to assess rural problems has been called for this afternoon, though.

Meanwhile, our team of Alaska bloggers have raised – as of 7:00 a.m. Alaska time today – $7,042.00. Dennis Zaki will be bringing those funds to Emmonak, along with other help and news coverage, over the weekend.

Please stay tuned.