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Poll finds super voters think Alaska benefits most if gas goes to Valdez Scott Heyworth sets out to verify April results; new poll by Ivan Moore finds fewer undecided, definite opposition to over-the-top route Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Scott Heyworth of “Our Gas, Our Future” has had another poll done of Alaska super voters, asking more voters more questions on North Slope natural gas development issues.
Given a choice between taking the gas to the Lower 48 through Canada and taking the gas to Valdez, more than half polled still favor the Valdez route, but the number favoring an Alaska Highway route has grown to more than a third.
Heyworth asked three questions in April and poll results of 273 super voter households (at least one person in the household voted in three of the last four elections, including primaries) showed 57.5 percent favored the Valdez route with natural gas shipped out of the state as liquefied natural gas, 24.5 percent favored a highway route for a natural gas pipeline and 18 percent were undecided. The over-the-top route across the Beaufort Sea and down the Mackenzie Valley in Canada was not included in the April poll.
The recent poll, done May 16-20, included 385 super voter households statewide, asked more questions and included the Mackenzie Valley route. Both polls were done by Ivan Moore Research.
Those favoring the Valdez route dropped to 52.5 percent from 57.5 percent in April; those favoring the Alaska Highway route rose to 36.5 percent from 24.5 percent; and undecided dropped to 7.2 percent from 18 percent. The May poll included the northern (Mackenzie Valley) route, which got 3.9 percent.
Strongest reactions to Valdez, over-the-top routes The poll described each route and asked respondents how strongly they felt. The strongest reactions were in favor of the Valdez route and in opposed to the over-the-top route, with numbers favoring the one and opposed to the other almost equal.
On the Alaska Highway route, 26 percent were strongly in favor, 32.3 percent mildly in favor (58.3 percent in favor), 7.6 percent neutral, 17.5 percent mildly opposed and 16.7 percent strongly opposed (34.2 percent opposed).
On the Valdez route, 37.4 percent were strongly in favor, 33.6 percent mildly in favor (71 percent in favor), 6.2 percent neutral, 13.6 percent mildly opposed and 9.1 percent strongly opposed (22.7 opposed).
On the northern route, across the Beaufort Sea into Canada and south along the Mackenzie, 2.3 percent were strongly in favor, 16.6 percent mildly in favor (18.9 percent), 8.2 neutral, 26.6 percent mildly opposed and 46.4 percent strongly opposed (73 percent). Benefits to Alaskans The poll also asked a number of specific questions about which pipeline option respondents believed would most benefit the state. The Valdez route came out on top in most, with some more evenly split and one falling squarely in the “not sure” category.
These questions asked which project would: provide the most long-term jobs for Alaskans (Valdez route 56.4 percent); provide the most revenues for the state (Valdez route 50.2 percent); would have the least environmental impact (Valdez route 44 percent); could be completed most quickly (Valdez route 50.5 percent); would provide safest transportation of gas (split: Valdez 38.8 percent; not sure 29.6 percent; Alaska Highway 29.5 percent); would serve the most markets (also split: not sure 36.3 percent; Valdez 33.3 percent; Alaska Highway 27.2 percent); is in the best interests of Alaska (Valdez 56.3 percent); is in the best interests of the oil companies (not sure 50.8 percent); has the most potential for state ownership (Valdez 56.7 percent); provides the most opportunity for supplying Alaska’s gas needs (Valdez 50.2 percent). Business of civil advocacy Heyworth told PNA that he commissioned the May poll to confirm the results of the April poll.
“I wanted more information. I simply wanted more complete in-depth analysis,” he said. “And I wanted to verify that my first poll was correct. And it was.”
Heyworth, an Anchorage longshoreman, said he has sent out 1,100 letters asking for investment in “Our Gas, Our Future” in order to continue the fight. This is not a non-profit, he said, but a business, with a business license under the category of civil advocacy.
Heyworth said he is soliciting and accepting investment checks for the sole purpose of continuing to put forth the question to Alaskans: which gasline project really brings the most jobs, revenue and gas supply to Alaskans.
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