Fran Ulmer Named to Gulf Oil Disaster Commission
(Grabbing a bull horn and facing south)
Attention! Attention! Can I have your attention…. please! Is everyone paying attention? Hey you in North Dakota! Up here! Thank you.
You’ll see before you a woman – an Alaskan woman – a smart, talented, savvy, skilled, competent, innovative Alaskan woman with…. leadership skills! THIS is the kind of Alaskan woman we all wish had been monopolizing media coverage for the past two years. Just wanted to get on the record with that.
Fran Ulmer, Chancellor of the University of Alaska, Anchorage has been named by President Obama to be one of the five members of the commission that will study the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama said recently he has authorized the spill commission to hold public hearings and request information from government, nonprofits, experts in the oil and gas industry, and BP, Transocean, Halliburton and other companies.
Graham later told reporters that the commission has been granted subpoena power but he doesn’t know if the members will need it.
“In doing this work, they have my full support to follow the facts wherever they may lead — without fear or favor,” Obama said June 1. “And I’m directing them to report back in six months with options for how we can prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling.”
Ulmer was a member of the State House of Representatives from 1987 to 1994, during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and its aftermath. She was Lieutenant Governor under Governor Tony Knowles, and she ran for governor against Frank Murkowski in 2002. She lost that race, much to the detriment of our state.
She is a former Juneau mayor and has worked on national commissions working on climate change, election reform and fisheries issues.
Ulmer was the director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research at UAA before she took the job of chancellor. She plans to retire from as chancellor in May 2011, according to UAA. She will continue as chancellor while serving on the oil spill commission, UAA said.
Senator Mark Begich voiced his support saying, “The President made an excellent choice by naming Alaskan Fran Ulmer to the commission to investigate the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Fran has the perfect mix of qualities needed to get to the bottom of this tragedy and to recommend actions so such a spill doesn’t happen again.”
“As an attorney, Fran’s a tough interrogator. As an elected mayor, legislator and university CEO, she is patient and diplomatic. As lieutenant governor, her administration forced industry to install some of the nation’s best oil shipment procedures in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez spill. As chair of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission, she knows the impacts of development on fisheries. As a member of the special legislative committee on that spill and the first chair of Alaska’s Coastal Zone Management Council, she is as knowledgeable as anyone about the aftermath of a massive oil spill and the necessary steps to prevent future spills.
“Fran brings a careful balanced view of development and environmental protection to her years of public service. I am confident she will ably serve our state and nation in this important calling.”
And amazingly enough, President Obama was actually able to find a competent Alaskan with abundant relevant experience to serve on this commission without having to place an SOS call to ask the advice of some woman who was governor for like a year and a half and then quit…. What was her name again? Dang… It’ll come to me.
Wouldn’t she make a great governor? Or US senator?
just checked it and no congrats on SP’s facebook page… maybe someone oughta email her and let her know.
I say we start a Fran Ulmer 2012 campaign…
Alaska, the sun is shinning brighter in your state.
A wise choice by President Obama. Fran, you are the
woman from Alaska that my daughters will look up to
and admire as they grow into womanhood.
Well, I’m still not convinced this commission isn’t just another way to continue offshore oil drilling. The 911 commission didn’t come out with the truth, why would these 5?
Fran may care for the seas but she hasn’t convinced me she can stand up to Big Oil. She was in Juneau during the Exxon disaster, not anywhere near the Sound or greater spill zone.
I encourage everyone to read this piece on how poorly Salazar and the White House is doing regarding this crisis:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=0#userComments
I’m so pleased about this announcement. I watched Palin on Bill O’Reilly tonight talk about the oil industry and she was a huge disaster. Thank God we have someone like Fran Ulmer who is very sharp, classy, respectful to others and experienced in the oil industry as well as politics and will most assuredly represent Alaska in the manner (female) no one has done before her. Congratulations, Fran, on President Obama selecting you!
I agree that Fran is a wonderful choice, sharp and sensitive.
Hooray! Fran is great – I took one of her classes some time ago. She is a great mind and a good person.
Those of us in North Dakota have heard the news of this wonderful appointment and are cheering. Perhaps you can hear us from your front porch?
Screechy Sarah is not fit to carry Fran’s lunch box. Congratulations to both Fran Ulmer and our great President OBAMA.
it bears repeating:
You’ll see before you a woman – an Alaskan woman – a smart, talented, savvy, skilled, competent, innovative Alaskan woman with…. leadership skills! THIS is the kind of Alaskan woman we all wish had been monopolizing media coverage for the past two years. Just wanted to get on the record with that.
Fran Ulmer, Chancellor of the University of Alaska, Anchorage has been named by President Obama to be one of the five members of the commission that will study the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
I was so pleased to see this appointment. Fran Ulmer is an outstanding choice for this commission.
Missy Quittypants must be spittin’ mad over this, and I hope she is. Pres Obama would never asked that quitter to do anything for him, he knows she’s just a boob, an ahirhead, a liar and a quitter. I could go on, but so many of you have already said all the other endearments about her. teh-hee.
I hope Fran and the committee do come up with a great plan for our future.
My concern now is that the well will never be capped, I can’t see how it can be.
Well done, Fran Ulmer!
No matter what party, or what state, it’s GOOD to have a visible woman we can all be proud of. Too many of the women garnering national attention these days do not represent me, my values, my Christianity, or my hopes and dreams for this planet.
I find it interesting that many (certainly not all–I like Secretary Clinton) women who are garnering public notice these days do it by accentuating the worst of what would have been known as masculine traits rather than bringing to the table what women have traditionally been known for doing well. I need not point out that some have also garnered support by catering to men in the worst ways. I won’t call them feminine because they grow out of wanting to please men instead of being one’s own person.) We need more of both men and women using traditionally feminine qualities that weren’t part of public discourse at all until the last hundred years. This provides balance.
Take Ole’ Half Term. She garners points by overtly appealing to men’s sexuality. There’s nothing wrong with being sexy. There’s everything wrong with manipulation for personal gain. She appeals to them by feeding them a distinctly traditional masculine line: women, women’s rights, women’s choices, women’s control over their own lives, women’s education are all unimportant. You want a woman that lets a man be a man by thinking only of himself. She even touted this as Governor by taking Todd’s reject snow mobiles, by showing off the expensive toys he has, and by even selling off her expensive Gov jet that was better than what he had. Everything she did said in some way that she served men.
Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman do it by being men.
Isn’t it interesting how a the greatest enemies of a certain segment of society frequently come from within!
Thing is, Fran is not unsexy. I always thought she is a beautiful woman. The difference is sex appeal is not her point of sale. You want her on the job because she is highly capable. Her attractiveness is not distracting or destructive.
This is why I am so proud of the women from California who ARE representing us:
Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Lois Capps.
And running for State Assembly: Ferial Masry, who is also a class act.
I agree with others – I cried the night Fran Ulmer lost to Murkowski, now this is an example of a real Alaskan woman, etc, etc.
I only have one thing to add – Arliss Sturgulewski should have been the first woman Gov of Alaska. Fran the second. The first time I voted for a Republican in my life. Arliss deserved to win – but alas – backdoor politics.
I am excited that the U.S. is going to get to see what a true Alaskan woman can accomplish – without snarking, backbiting, and verbal diarrhea.
100 percent with you that Arliss should have been the first woman govenor of Alaska – I never quite forgave Wally for taking that away from us (and her).
Fran has always been reliable and outstanding with high values and a great work ethic.
Ditto on Arliss.
We miss her, we miss her, we MISS HER here in Juneau! Woohoo! I was hoping she’d throw in for Gov again, but I doubt she wanted to in the political climate of whack jobs we have going right now. This is awesome news, I almost cried when I heard she was leaving UAS. Wohoo! We need you Fran! We love you Fran! Go Fran!
Now we have some rill Alaskans running things federally w/ Tony Knowles, Kim Elton and Fran Ulmer on the job! Let’s wash that Palin Twit Chick right out of our hair (and down the drain).
They don’t come any better than Fran! Great choice.
I cried the night Fran lost to Frank Murkowski…the night Alaska lost. She is an amazing woman and one of very few people I have ever described as truly gracious.
I hope is commission is very high profile and people can see a real Alaskan woman take the center stage!!!
Ohhhh, that was a lovely smackdown. I wonder what Sarah thinks of that?
Let’s ask Toad.
That’s what I thought, too!! I was so proud of President Obama for choosing Fran.
I am sure the political Savvy and Subtlety are completely lost on $Palin.
Poor Toad. Stuck in the RV when queen sarah got the news that Obama called AK for a female expert – and it was not her!
Gosh, you know, I’d be happy to welcome her to the Mid-Atlantic states in general…mine in particular!
OMG, it’s the RILL Sarah Palin! The woman she claims to be!
will this rate a tweet of congratulations from the fake energy expert to the rill one?
Thank you, Alaska, for sharing.
Let’s get busy.
No comment
Hhhhhmmmm…I dunno yet. I am glad an Alaskan is on the panel but I would have rather had Riki Ott or Rick Steiner. Fran Ulmer IS, after the all, the Chancellor at UAA-the same university that silenced Rick Steiner and does NOT believe in academic freedom. Fran is all about Drill Baby Drill…
Damn…that’s what I was afraid of [see #17].
To be sure, Ms Ulmer *does* have a stellar resume — and it’s one that doesn’t need ‘padding’, nor does it contain ‘sins of ommission’ [ie – lack of clarifications like $Ps touting, among other easily-discredited claims, her being gov of the “largest state in the union” without clarifying that AK is largest in *physical* size –only.]
I wonder, though, will Ms Ulmer be able to sufficiently divorce herself from the mindset she [apparently] held as UAA chancellor re: academic freedom/facts v. big oil funding/influence, to *truly* help POTUS get to the bottom of this catastrophe? Will her ‘chancelloric’ [I know that’s not a word, but…] affilliation and ‘ties’ to big oil be something she can overcome? Will the ‘opposition’ hold her associations to -and with- big oil against the Commission…and therefore dismiss as biased its work and final findings? Do her other creds outweigh her [in my opinion, terribly *negative*] big oil concessions/support of, when she was chancellor? I dunno…
Any thoughts, anyone? beth.
To set the record straight – Rick Steiner was with the Marine Advisory Program of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Although he was based in Anchorage, he was part of the UAF faculty. Not UAA.
Fran is ethical and politically sensitive. I am confident that she will do her best for the environment and for the economically displaced population without conceding to Big Oil.
Even Chevron has taken steps to place distance between themselves and BP now.
And you can bet I’m pulling for her to do just that – to keep on being ethically and politically sensitive and, in so doing, SHOW the world –in both action and word– what an intelligent, capable, intellectually-curious woman is all about.
The recent spate of ‘female leaders’ have done, I do believe, a great disservice not only to our nation, but to every female in the country (and world)…they’ve –as others here have pointed out– flaunted the sexy, ditzy, and/or “see the manballs I’ve got?”, and tried to pass *that* off as the ‘best of’ the female gender. All of our foremothers who paid their dues so ‘we’ [current-day females] wouldn’t have to keep up the false pretense of what constitutes ‘a woman’s place’, must surely be weeping over the likes of Bachmann, Whitman, $P, et.al.. beth.
Well said.
Kelly et al: Please understand that Rick Steiner was at University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), not the Anchorage (UAA) campus.
Sounds good!
That’s our “girl” (as it were)–my mayor, representative, Lt. Gov. Full of class and smarts and everything else you’d actually want in a politician. We miss her down here…
Fran Ulmer sounds like a very intelligent well qualified person who has the experience & knowledge to ask the right questions and no doubt has a BullS**t detector. Excellent member of the disaster commission.
Can we all picture the Quitter with her head buried under the pillow screaming (so the neighbor doesn’t hear) that President Obama diss’d her — again.
great picture – wish someone would sit on the pillow whilst her head was under it
Fran Ulmer is competent and will be resourcefully responsive to the task at hand. She has never quit, has an impressive resume and she has been a dependable servant to Alaskans.
Finally, a woman from Alaska on the national scene who we can be proud of. My daughters and I rejoice!
Not finally. The women in Alaska have been working as hard and harder than the men for a century.
Fran is an example.
Sarah is a sound bite.
AMEN !
( More than a century though… my mother’s people have been here for thousands of years…)
Now this is a strong, well educated, and highly productive woman out of Alaska I can be proud of. And besides….my very good friend Nyvett, who is good friends with Fran, can’t say enough good about her. Trust me, Scarah cannot even hold a candle to Fran Ulmer…and Scarah knows it.
Just think of what life in AK would have been like if we had Fran instead of Frank (–>SP and Senator LM). My hope is that Fran will run for governor again as she was always the most capable and qualified to actually lead Alaska instead of the hands we were dealt by gubernatorial ‘default’ / parental ‘appointment’ (SP Jr., LM etc).
Been there, done that:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/19/751134/-Meet-the-woman-who-SHOULD-have-been-Alaskas-first-female-Governor
Well done! Don’t know how I missed it the first time!
How long do you think it will take before $P finds a way to take some sort of credit for this choice ?
If the media picks it up, I’m guessing she’ll be tweeting/facebooking within 12 hours.
She will be tweeting/facebooking BEFORE the media picks it up so she can make it her own story and give it her $pin. That is my guess.
Excellent guess. She will also, too, take credit somehow.
Actually, didn’t she “tell” the President, via FB, to contact experts in AK? I think that’s where the “call me” quote came from. Of course she will take complete credit. Golly, the President couldn’t take a breath without consulting $P. Maybe he’ll decide this president-y thing is just too hard and turn it over to her.
For some reason, with her last name being Ulmer, I kept reading the first name as: Frau. I read: Frau Ulmer rather than Fran Ulmer. Maybe it was my years in Germany…
On a curious-on-my-part note: Was the UAA Dr. Rick Steiner’s ‘old’ school? Didn’t he have some great heartburn with his/that school’s very close [bordering on incestous?] ties to big oil companies and those company’s intrusion into scholarly/scientific studies, findings, reports and whatnot that were not so complimentary of said companies, their practices, and their impact? beth.
What an honor! She has a very impressive, well-rounded resume. I am comforted by the fact that the adults, without fanfare or much “emoting,” are investigating and gathering information.
Well, THIS is a CHANGEY that gives me some HOPEY.
lol
HEY SARAH!! He called Alaska, many times, but he wasn’t callin’ for you! Too bad.
Great news! I guess our President chose not to call “whats-her-name?” for advice and went with his intellect instead. I admire our “non-emoting”, intellectual, calm and pro-active President. (Spock anyone?)
What will Lease a Murkowski say about this?
In all seriousness, I hope she will bring an honest and unbiased (as in Big Oil) view on this disaster in her inquiry.
“Lease a ” good one!
So is the Spock reference.
Ooh, I bet Quitterella is just pitching a hissy fit right now!
Look for a padded push-up bra to be on display under a wet t-shirt, on Farcebook.
LOL! Plus, love “Farcebook”!
I REALLY needed some good news today. Happy Day
The difference between McCain and Obama is clearly demonstrated in their pick of Alaskan women.
Hear! Hear!
Oh, yes!!! Good one, Sailor74!
This is exciting news. Fran is someone Alaska can really be proud of. And yes, she is classy and she is kind.
PS – I posted her letter to UAA about this, it’s over on the Homer open thread.
At last sanity returns to Alaska. Congradulations Fran.
Sarah has got to be pissed!
Bwaaahhhahahhaah!
sp might get jealous
$P is already jealous — she’ll just get *more* jealous.
It’s just all so delicious.
YAY!
The prez dialed the RIGHT number for help in Alaska, thank heavens!
Thank You President Obama! If only Ulmer’s name would overshadow that other one as representative of the women of this state. Oh wonderful!
This woman has quite a resume!!! I am sure she will handle the job with expertise. It will be interesting to hear what jeolous smarty pants, quiter , has to say about her.
By looking at her picture, I can also see she has a lot of class.
I have met Fran a few times. YES, she is a classy woman. And she deserved to be the first woman governor of Alaska. Perhaps, the stars had bigger things for her. And I bet given a choice and being able to see the future, Fran would have wanted to participate in the five member president’s commission studying the BP Gulf spill, than a governorship of our state. What a huge opportunity for her to expand herself, and shape America’s destiny. YES for Fran.
Sounds like she actually has “executive experience” unlike someone else who will never have it. The more we hear of women with such accomplishments, the smaller you-know-who looks in comparison.
Happy Dance!
Congratulations Alaska on a woman to be proud of! Thank you President Obama for having the sight to see that so clearly. Wow.