It's a reasonable but entirely naive request. While I do not agree with the global warming aspect I think the fiscal cliff is a likely scenario. When in the history of mankind have elected leaders done what Mr. Streveler asks?

Only elected officials who will not run again could possibly tackle this problem and identify real solutions. That is how our political system works, and it's the same throughout the world. Those in the Minority can come up with rhetoric of course because those elected officials have no responsibility to make decisions. The impunity of the Minority very much prevents the Majority from discussing real solutions.

I cannot imagine an Alaska economy without oil yet that is probably what will happen. The magnitude of the imbalance between the economy we have now and the economy we would have then is possibly ten times greater than the imbalance at the federal level, and the federal government has tools that states do not have. Hopefully mitigating that somewhat is that we have better leadership in Alaska than we have in Washington, DC. The $43 billion PF corpus and the $16 billion in operating liquidity the state has at the moment is ample evidence of superior Alaska leadership.

The first decision should be to discontinue the PFD right now. Handing out from $500 million to $1 billion each year makes no sense given the outlook, especially when 25% of the PFD goes to the IRS. The Minority would have to demand it to give cover to the people who have responsibility to make decisions, and obviously that is not going to happen. Many dogmatic liberals might defend the PFD even as the state cuts core services.

We need to allow agencies and officials to give importing LNG to the Railbelt an honest look. Otherwise the competing Alaska gasline proposals are going to suck up a few billion dollars with no possible chance of a pipeline being built. Anchorage Mayor Sullivan is the only elected official willing to have this discussion right now; not even the Minority is willing to talk about it.

Every state manager needs to be free to look at the most cost-effective way to manage their organization without regard to politics. For instance, shutting down state prisons and shipping almost all prisoners to the Lower 48 (because the courts would not allow shipping them to China) would save money - big money - immediately.

The state likely cannot afford a university if there is no state oil revenue. State debt and liabilities need to be paid down while the state still can afford it. Municipalities that have an arcane, direct claim on state petroleum revenues before the state can take its claim need to be dealt with in order to stop unprecedented waste; that's why the North Slope Borough department of wildlife has its own helicopters but the state department does not.

On the other hand, perhaps changes in petroleum taxes can quickly return production to 1 million barrels per day as the Department of Revenue quietly claims. If so then these stark decisions will at least be postponed.

Of course you are more or less correct. However, our leadership in Alaska is totally incapable of considering your point of view. The goal of a vast majority of Alaskans is to consume as much of everything until something - either the end of oil, the bitter end of the fiscal cliff, global warming, environmental degradation - or all these things in any combination - causes a final collapse.

From that point of view, it's all about retirement, a huge over built home somewhere, big SUV's, unlimited money and credit. Steaks every night when they are not eating crab legs. It will be difficult to explain to them they are on the wrong track. Besides, when Alaska goes broke, they will just move on, or retire elsewhere prior to the fact.

I got a kick out of 'glacierdogs' comment:
'Every state manager needs to be free to look at the most cost-effective way to manage their organization without regard to politics.'

Good luck with that one. The very reason for being a 'state manager' is the money and the politics in most cases. Juneau in particular is all about money. The reason these people went to college in the first place was not science or the philosophy to build a better world, it was to have the minimum requirement so they could 'play the game.' Their idea of a better world is simply more money. They are in. You bet they don't want to see it coming because they know deep down in the bottom of their black little hearts, when things do finally grind to a halt, Alaska will be toast. They are hoping too, that they will have enough stuff to bail out, but frankly, they would rather not even think about it.

Sorry to seem so negative, but Alaska has always been a 'come and get it and leave' kind of place. As long as these people are funded, they will continue. Of course they will try real hard to keep the funding coming.