Gov. Bill Walker has dismissed half of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation board of directors.
In a statement issued late Tuesday night, Walker announced that he was removing three members of a seven-person board tasked with representing Alaska’s interests as the state pursues a natural gas megaproject in partnership with the energy industry. Drue Pearce, Al Bolea, and Richard Rabinow were all appointed upon the board’s creation in 2013 by former Gov. Sean Parnell. Pearce heads an oil spill response company in Anchorage, and previously served as the federal coordinator for an Alaska natural gas project and as president of the Alaska State Senate. Bolea is a retired BP executive who once chaired the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company board. Rabinow is a a former president of the ExxonMobil Pipeline Company. Rabinow’s appointment was opposed by a bloc of Democrats because of his status as a Texas resident, and legislation explicitly permitting out-of-state board appointments was passed in 2014 to allow him to serve.
The announcement did not provide a reason for the dismissals, except for to say the changes were part of a “paradigm shift in the way the state will conduct business with Alaska’s gas.” Walker plans to replace the three members within a month. The remaining members of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation board of directors are scheduled to meet on Thursday in Anchorage.
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