What others say: Gas pipeline should be an American effort, not just Alaskan

  • Tuesday, April 22, 2014 2:07pm
  • Opinion

“Happiness is 10,000 Texans headed south with an Okie under each arm.”

If you lived in Alaska in 1977, you probably remember that bumper sticker. Thirty-seven years ago, thousands of Lower 48 welders left Alaska, leaving behind a 800-mile oil pipeline and a state determined to never again let “foreign” workers dominate an Alaska construction job.

As the state prepares to build the next pipeline, we should remember the lessons of the 1970s but temper them with the knowledge we’ve gained since then: Local hire is best, but local hire alone won’t build the best pipeline.

This week, we watched as the Alaska Legislature passed a bill that allows non-Alaskans to serve on the board of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation.

It’s a smart move: Alaska already allows nonresidents on the boards of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, Alaska Aerospace Corporation and Alaska Railroad Corporation.

Nonresidents serve alongside Alaskans; while Alaskans are experts on what works well here, we use people from the Lower 48 to fill in. It’s hard to find an investment economist in Barrow.

Those corporations have had their hits and misses, but they are run well. Recruiting from the widest possible base makes that possible.

Legally, Alaska has to allow out-of-state workers on big construction jobs. In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court said as much when it ruled local hire requirements unconstitutional. The Alaska Supreme Court has repeatedly said so, too.

As Alaska moves toward construction of a trans-Alaska gas pipeline, we should keep the Legislature’s recent decision in mind. The state will need hundreds of surveyors and engineers and thousands of construction workers to turn a paper pipeline into one built of steel and concrete. The Legislature has signaled that it’s willing to look outside Alaska, and Alaskans should be prepared to think likewise.

We prefer that pipeline workers come from Alaska, but we can’t limit ourselves.

If the best pipeline builders in the country are already in Alaska, let’s use them. But if they aren’t, we must prepare to let Outside experts help.

Those Texans and Okies helped Alaska build a great oil pipeline. Let’s build a great gas pipeline, too.

— Juneau Empire,

April 19

More in Opinion

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to Anchor Point residents during a community meeting held at the Virl “Pa” Haga VFW Post 10221 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Big beautiful wins for Alaska in the Big Beautiful Bill

The legislation contains numerous provisions to unleash Alaska’s extraordinary resource economy.

Children are photographed outside their now shuttered school, Pearl Creek Elementary, in August 2024 in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Photo provided by Morgan Dulian)
My Turn: Reform doesn’t start with cuts

Legislators must hold the line for Alaska’s students

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses the status of school districts’ finances during a press conference with Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Opinion: The fight to improve public education has just begun

We owe our children more than what the system is currently offering

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading