ABSTRACT

As the environmentalists’ case against the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAP) slowly proceeds through the courts to ultimate settlement in the Supreme Court, Alaskan officials and oil men on the North Slope look to their ledgers in dismay. With construction of the controversial project halted, oil companies see an investment of more than $1 billion “standing still,” and Alaskans must do without an expected $300 million a year in royalties and taxes. Their losses undoubtedly are temporary.