Review: 'Crude Awakening' explores Alaska's oil connection
— -- Two seasoned Alaskan journalists, both Anchorage natives, have unraveled a half-century of corruption as abundant as the natural resources to which businesses in the state lay claim. In their new book, Crude Awakening: Money, Mavericks, and Mayhem in Alaska, Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger, co-founders of Alaska Dispatch, chronicle decades of crooked activity. Their account of greed among oil bosses and government officials sends an Arctic chill down the spine.
Coyne and Hopfinger describe early Alaskan history and the introduction of big business into the culture. Since becoming the 49th state in 1959, Alaska's economic livelihood has depended on one thing and one thing alone: the oil and gas industry. "More than 80% of the state's revenue is derived from petroleum extraction, and the industry supports more than one-third of all jobs in Alaska," the authors write.
Coyne and Hopfinger reveal how a lack of economic regulations prompted a generation of profiteering and how politicians purported to serve the welfare of Alaskans, while ignoring laws meant to promote the public good.
"With a suddenly rich oil economy, Alaskans became comfortable and complacent, working for the oil companies at wages far greater than those in the lower 48 states. The state planned little for the future, beyond establishing an oil wealth savings account."
Instead of revenue from energy exploration benefiting citizens, it was dispersed as profits among the state's moneyed interests, the authors argue.
Coyne and Hopfinger profile three Alaskan VIPs: big oil's Bill Allen, former senator Ted Stevens and former governor Sarah Palin.
Allen, who operated Alaska's largest oil-contracting firm, was at the center of a pay-to-play investigation. His campaign contributions and lobbying efforts escalated into illegal activity, drawing federal scrutiny. FBI wiretaps yielded evidence that won his cooperation for a reduced sentence. The investigation prompted charges of malfeasance against Sen. Stevens and other elected officials. However, after evidence surfaced of federal prosecutorial misconduct, Stevens was exonerated.
Allen, who contracted with BP, ConocoPhillips and other major companies, gave lawmakers gifts to keep taxes low and bring in millions of dollars for projects, the authors say. Allen partnered with Stevens, who, they say, steamrolled any opposition to drilling and laying of pipeline.
"What had been a peaceful, quiet state dotted with mountains, glaciers, and vast expanses of tundra inhabited by military men, free-spirited businessmen, Alaska Natives, long-haired cabin dwellers, everyone searching for that last little bit of freedom, turned into an oil-fueled cash machine," they write.
Raising the specter of nepotism, Frank Murkowski, the state's former governor and senator, appointed his daughter to serve out his term in the U.S. Senate. When the FBI began probing then-governor Murkowski's connection to Allen, Sarah Palin squashed his re-election bid.
"Out of the ashes of cronyism and corruption, she (Palin) was born," the authors write.
In their account of Alaska, Coyne and Hopfinger expose what corruption over the decades has done to this "Last Frontier."
"If they (Alaskans) have learned anything, it's that riches and power ultimately are earned through the necessary and tedious steps of building a state."
Although uncertain of their state's fate, the writers seem sure of a simple truth: Alaska must favor her people before corporate kingpins. And with the chant from Washington for energy independence and big-money dominance of the industry, such a future may be hard to come by.
Heffner is a freelance writer based in New York and Boston.
Related Stories
ABC News Live