The United States consumes about 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas each year, and the federal Energy Department projects a 30 percent increase in demand by 2010. Known gas reserves under the North Slope total about 35 trillion cubic feet, with estimates of perhaps 100 trillion cubic feet yet to be discovered. One, favored by Alaska politicians and business leaders, would run south from Prudhoe Bay along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline to Delta Junction, then east along the Alaska Highway to hook up with existing pipelines in central Alberta. The other would use an offshore line from Prudhoe Bay to Canada's Mackenzie River Delta, then south along the river valley to northern Alberta. Either way, it's clear that a pipeline is no longer just a pipe dream.
Natural gas is the fuel of choice for electricity generation in North America.
Pipeline fever is already spreading across Alaska. In the interior city of Fairbanks, a supportive crowd of 200 people attended the first public hearing about the proposed pipeline on April 18. In the town of Salcha, just up the road from Delta Junction, residents are talking about vocational training for middle-schoolers who would reach working age by the time pipeline construction began. In the capital city of Juneau, lawmakers are so eager for the pipeline to head south through Alaska that both House and Senate recently passed a bill barring state agencies from granting leases for a pipeline heading east across the North Slope toward Canada. Gov. Tony Knowles says he'll sign the legislation.