Alaska Senate hopeful Mark Begich panders to big oil.

Democrat Mark Begich is making drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a centerpiece of his energy plan as he tries to defeat Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, who has long struggled against national Democratic opposition to opening ANWR.

"What's happened the last 40 years has not worked. We have not gotten ANWR open," Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, said Thursday. "We have struggled with this arm-twisting, pounding on the table technique that has not gotten us any results. I think I have a different way of working with folks, I have an ability to cross party lines and bring people to the table."

Begich said it's clear the Democrats are going to be in control of the U.S. Senate.

"It would be a mistake for Alaskans not to be at the table in that majority making our point," Begich said.

I cannot really express just how disappointed I am in Begich.

For one thing he knows as well as anybody that he will not be able to open ANWR. Especially with a Democratic majority in the Senate. It is simply a non-starter.

And it is the wrong tactic to take at a time when we are seeing that our dependence on oil is bankrupting our country, our people, and our government.

Well not Alaska's government, which is going to enjoy HUGE profits this year from taxes and dividends that the oil companies will be happily paying out. And that of course is the problem. Alaska is very comfortable sucking at the oil companies teat and sees no reason to look around for anything to replace it. That is poor foresight.

We may now be able to use our oil money to support our economy and keep us from paying state taxes, but it should be clear to anybody who can read that this free ride is coming to an end. And I do not think it will be too much longer when we are scrambling to find something to replace it. Why can't we do a little scrambling now? Why wait until it is a crisis? That is what the Republicans do.

I am supposed to be volunteering for the Begich campaign next week, but now I am all conflicted. I want to help get a Democrat in the Senate. I want to get rid of Ted Stevens. But I want somebody with vision who is looking to the future to take his place, not somebody who is going to simply try the same tired old tactics with a new Senate majority.

Barack Obama is talking about changing Washington. Perhaps it is time for Mark Begich to talk about changing Alaska.

Update: I received a comment from the Begich campaign and I did go to their website to do further reading and found this: Alaska has world-class renewable energy resources: wind, geothermal, tidal, and hydropower. These inexhaustible resources can be tapped all across Alaska. Kotzebue has installed 17 wind turbines and is saving more than 90,000 gallons of diesel a year at a savings of $250,000 at 2007 prices. Kodiak is planning to install its first three wind turbines as part of its plan to produce 95 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Geothermal resources exist in four large regions in the state, including in Southcentral Alaska and a belt that extends from Chena Hot Springs to Nome. Alaska also has many large and small hydro opportunities that are yet to be tapped. There is also great potential for smaller projects across the state using tidal, biomass and solar resources. Anchorage’s Landfill methane project alone will provide energy for 2,500 homes for the next 40 years.

The site also talked about taking extraordinary steps to ensure that opening ANWR will be as ecologically careful as current technologies allow. But forgive me for pointing out that I have heard that before.

However, my main point was that it is frustrating to see somebody running for the Senate in Alaska in 2008 and still nodding conspiratorially to the oil companies. I applaud Mark's desire to explore new energy sources, but I think it is imperative that the majority of our state's resources go toward finding and developing these new energy sources and not to continue to waste our time fighting with fellow Democrats for the right to drill for more oil when everybody knows that will not help with our energy crisis for at least twenty years.

We don't have twenty years. If we have not come up with a viable replacement for oil as our primary energy source in twenty years we may as well start buying stock in horse stables and buggy dealerships.