Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott McAdams faced the press on Tuesday with his Alaska energy plan. McAdams, speaking in his Anchorage headquarters decorated with gold and blue balloons, said energy is an issue of national security, yet hundreds of millions of dollars of American wealth are transferred to nations that do not care for this country. McAdams’ four point plan revolves around the aggressive marketing of Alaska’s energy wealth. He supports developing ANWR.
The renewable energy fund would funnel the federal portion of ANWR revenues and at least half of the OCS revenues from Alaska to be invested in a Permanent Fund like program to benefit the entire country. Using a 2008 Congressional report as a prompt, McAdams said that such a fund could provide more than $2 billion a year for renewable energy investment. He also wants to secure 37 percent of OCS revenues for Alaska communities.
McAdams said there will be no quick shift from an oil based economy to a renewable energy platform, and carbon based energy will necessarily survive for years to come. So McAdams wants to develop more oil in Alaska and use that revenue to fund a nationwide renewable energy plan.
McAdams said as yet there is no comprehensive plan to harness renewable energy in the country in general. He said Alaska is in a position to be on the forefront of an energy shift from oil to renewable sources. One of those sources is hydropower. McAdams plans to work to change federal laws to recognize hydropower as renewable.
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