It may call itself “OneAlaska,” but a more accurate name for the group fighting the oil tax initiative would be “OilAlaska.”

The oil companies are responsible for nearly all the $9.9 million that OneAlaska has raised—led by millions in donations from ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Hilcorp and BP. The companies will spend whatever it takes to keep taxes as low as possible, just as they did in 2014, blocking the measure to repeal SB 21.

The companies are investing in an Alaska propaganda campaign that disguises the nature of their political activism, distorts the real issues for Alaskans and relies almost entirely on scare tactics.

Since January, the cash contributions to OneAlaska include $1,000 from the Mechanical Contractors of Fairbanks, $25 from Steven Swedenburg of Anchorage, $25 from Michael Miller of Anchorage, $300 from Thomas Wood of Eagle River and $1,000 from PND Engineers of Anchorage.

That is a total of $2,350. The other $9 million is from the oil companies, with plenty more where that came from.

The group supporting the initiative, Vote Yes for Alaska’s Fair Share, has raised $664,000 with 393 individual donors. Attorney Robin Brena, an authority on Alaska oil company finances, is the chief backer of the measure.

I think the initiative includes an approach that is worth trying. At current and projected oil prices, the tax increase is not a big one. Under the latest Dunleavy administration oil price projection for fiscal year 2021, the measure would generate about $150 million more.

The dynamics of the Legislature are such that no tax increase is going to be approved by legislators. It can be approved by Alaskans. OneAlaska claims on its website that “this ballot measure goes too far.”

If that is true, the Legislature can be expected to amend it in two years.

Meanwhile, the oil companies have spent about $50,000 on legal services with Holland & Knight, the lawyers trying to prevent Alaskans from even getting a chance to vote on the oil tax initiative.

The lawsuit to block the ballot measure is technically the work of Alaska pro-development and business groups. It was filed April 10, the same day that OneAlaska paid the lawyers $6,000, followed by $19,000 a week later and$8,000 on May 23.

Listening to the OneAlaska ad campaign, you’d think that Capt. Bob in Seward, Joe the campground owner in Montana Creek or Matt of Matanuska Brewing are the real opponents of the tax measure, not Ryan Lance of ConocoPhillips, who made $30 million in 2019, or Darren Woods of Exxon, who made $23.5 million, or billionaire Jeff Hildebrand, the secretive polo-playing owner of Hillcorp.

BP, which is leaving Alaska, gave the anti-tax campaign $3,004,994, on June 26 as a parting shot. In addition to cash, the four big oil companies fighting the tax say they have made hundreds of thousands of contributions in staff time and other non-monetary donations, such as office space and IT help.

The group is spending $25,000 a month for campaign management with the CGCN Group in Washington, D.C., a lobbying and consulting company with strong Republican connections. Bright Strategy & Communications in Anchorage is getting $33,500 a month to manage the campaign. Brilliant Media Strategies, a related company at the same Anchorage address, got from $150,000 to $350,000 in federal COVID-19 bailout funds.

Here is the quarterly donation and expense report from VoteYes for Alaska’s Fair Share.

Here is the quarterly donation and expense report from OneAlaska.

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