Hollis French

AOGCC’s unwillingness to answer the question posed by the legislators is significant for three reasons.

Here’s hoping that cooler, more moderate heads prevail.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission was designed to be a vigorous industry watchdog. Lately, it’s been anything but.

Les has his priorities straight. He has a track record of working across party lines to get things done.

There was a time when decency, civility, and cooperation still thrived in American political life.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan need to reject this high-end tax cut disguised as a bill to improve U.S. health care.

OPINION: Reducing domestic violence and sexual assault in Alaska is imperative. Gov. Parnell has spent significant time, energy, and state resources to promote his “Choose Respect” campaign, but he failed to lead when notified of problems in the Alaska National Guard.

OPINION: Instead of leaving Alaska's fate in the hands of the federal justices, let's make a statement together -- Alaska is a place that accepts, loves, and provides equal opportunity to all Alaskans.

Want to improve Alaska's education system? Boost test scores? Improve graduation rates? Who doesn't? Here's an easy way to do it: work with children when their brains are growing the fastest.

How long will the pipeline last? Since 1977 the trans-Alaska pipeline has carried the economic lifeblood of Alaska from the North Slope to Valdez, where it is loaded on tankers and taken to market. The future of the pipeline is in a real sense the future of the state. How bright is that future?

An advertising campaign is under way to persuade the Legislature and the public to go along with the governor's plan to reduce taxes on some of the richest corporations in the world. The campaign is founded upon several myths that do not stand up to close examination.

Few subjects provoke more controversy than oil taxes. If oil is taxed at too high a rate there's a risk that crucial investments don't get made in the state's most important industry. If oil is taxed at too low a rate then we fail in our constitutional duty to ensure that our oil resources are developed and used for the maximum benefit of all Alaskans.

Alaskans deserve a fair share for the oil produced in this state. Alaska's Constitution says all Alaskans own our oil in common, and it should be developed for our "maximum benefit." We also need to encourage production, and jobs.

In 2005 I joined a small group of legislative Democrats led by Les Gara in what seemed then to be an impossible quest to fix a broken oil tax system that was sending billions in profits to BP and Exxon and shortchanging Alaskans. Along the way we were encouraged by Jay Hammond, Vic Fischer and other Alaska heroes.

Two years have passed since the Legislature enacted Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES), a new way to ensure Alaskans get our fair share of revenue from our oil. Today the benefits of this legislation are apparent.