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Pearce steps down as gas line coordinator President asked for resignation; legislative aide Persily says feds are checking his background for ‘possible federal position’ Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
Drue Pearce, the first and so far the only person to hold the position of federal coordinator for Alaska natural gas transportation projects, announced Nov. 16 she’ll vacate the job at the request of President Obama.
Immediate speculation about her replacement centered on Larry Persily, a Juneau resident who has held several positions in state government and who has extensive journalistic experience, including a year writing for Petroleum News.
“I can confirm that I’m being vetted for a possible federal position,” Persily told Petroleum News on Nov. 17. The FBI is doing a background check, calling past employers and associates, he said.
Changing of the guard That Pearce announced her resignation from the coordinator’s job, effective Jan. 3 of next year, wasn’t entirely unexpected.
A Republican and former president of the Alaska State Senate, Pearce took the post during President George W. Bush’s second term. After her Senate confirmation, Pearce was sworn in by Vice President Dick Cheney on Dec. 13, 2006.
As the inaugural coordinator, she assembled a small staff, established a headquarters in Washington, D.C., and opened a second office in Anchorage.
“It has been an honor to stand up a new federal agency and to serve as the first Federal Coordinator,” Pearce said in a written statement. “I am a passionate supporter of the agency’s mission to bring Alaska natural gas to North American markets. I leave an effective and efficient agency with a highly skilled team of professionals actively pursuing our mission. It has been a profound privilege to lead this innovative team.”
In press interviews, Pearce said she didn’t want to leave the position.
Indeed, the federal law that created the coordinator’s office, the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act of 2004, is somewhat vague on just how long a person can hold the job. It says the president shall appoint a coordinator, as head of an independent office in the executive branch, “to serve a term to last until one year following the completion of the project.”
Congressional reaction U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, Alaska’s only Democrat in Congress, thanked and applauded Pearce for her service. But he supported the president, a fellow Democrat, in the move to replace her.
“I commend President Obama for bringing new energy to this office and for his commitment to building an Alaska natural gas pipeline which will deliver affordable, clean-burning energy to America’s homes and industries. I will continue to work with him on the selection of a new pipeline coordinator.”
Alaska’s other senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, was less enthusiastic about the change.
“Drue has long been a strong advocate for the gas pipeline and her commitment will be difficult to match,” Murkowski said. “I regret the loss of Drue’s experience and knowledge on this project, but I understand that it’s the president’s prerogative to appoint the person of his choosing.”
Murkowski said she’s pleased the Obama administration seems keen to develop the huge North Slope gas reserves, long one of the state’s top economic goals.
“The Alaska natural gas pipeline project is important to the economic and energy security of the nation,” Murkowski said. “I’ve discussed this issue with the White House and I’m encouraged by the president’s level of interest in seeing this project succeed.”
The coordinator’s role
Congress created the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects as a way to smooth the road toward construction of a pipeline which, by the latest estimates, could cost more than $30 billion.
The law says the coordinator’s job is “coordinating the expeditious discharge of all activities by federal agencies with respect to an Alaska natural gas transportation project.” More than 20 agencies are expected to have some say over the project. Many state and Canadian agencies also would be involved.
The law also gives the coordinator some power to block agency requirements that might “prevent or impair in any significant respect the expeditious construction and operation, or an expansion, of the Alaska natural gas transportation project.”
So far, the coordinator’s office has been in something of a holding pattern as gas pipeline plans take shape.
Two major projects are progressing, one involving a partnership of TransCanada and ExxonMobil and the other teaming BP and ConocoPhillips. Each partnership says it plans to hold an open season for gas shippers to secure capacity on their respective lines from the North Slope into Canada.
Following the open season, a builder might then apply for a certificate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and permits from the various government agencies.
At that point, the federal coordinator could become a very busy person.
Persily’s outlook Persily said the FBI in recent weeks has contacted several people about his background. They include state Rep. Mike Hawker, an Anchorage Republican for whom Persily now works as a legislative aide.
Persily, 58, previously worked from May 2007 to June 2008 in the Alaska governor’s Washington, D.C., office during Sarah Palin’s administration, concentrating on oil and gas and other policy issues.
Previously, he was editorial page editor for the state’s largest newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News, and he was deputy state revenue commissioner under Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles.
And for a few months in 2005, when Begich was mayor of Anchorage, Persily was projects coordinator in the city finance department.
Persily has a journalism degree from Purdue University.
He told Petroleum News he’s currently registered as a Democrat, but has voted at times for Republicans and given them campaign contributions. He said he made no donations to the Obama campaign.
Persily said he learned about Pearce’s resignation on the same day everyone else did, and that he hadn’t formally applied or lobbied for the coordinator’s job.
“I’ve always been interested in the gas line,” he said, though in his view the project might face greater hurdles now than it did a couple of years ago — challenges such as the rise of shale gas, and the recession crimping gas demand.
As it stands, Persily said, Alaska gas is “a commodity that nobody needs right now.”
Still, the coordinator’s job would be exciting, he said.
“But the public’s expectation of immediacy probably can’t be met. Hopefully in 10 or 15 more years, if the world needs more gas we’ll be ready.”
Asked whether the White House perhaps intends to elevate the coordinator’s profile, Persily said: “I can’t say what this administration is thinking about.”
He added: “Could the role be expanded to help the state and nation get a natural gas pipeline? I’d like to think so.”
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