I do. I was working in engineering design in Alaska for the Alaskan North Slope oil facilities when she ran for governor.
She ran on, and put in place, a massive, retroactive tax increase on oil production.
The result was a extreme drop in investment in Alaska. Planned projects were put on hold. Many jobs were lossed. My engineering department dropped to about a third in about a year; 50% and greater job losses were typical for most companies that worked on engineering and design for future projects.
While the rest of the country started booming with new oil production, Alaska greatly lagged. Jobs grew in the lower 48 while Alaska continued at a much slower pace.
Awww someone's Ox got gored.
I'm just guessing this is the boondoggle Palin came up against with Big Oil, that somehow they weren't drilling because THEY wanted the money that went to Alaskans...
... the same reason Karl Rove’s pals worked for Prop 6 (which had to do with developing Pebble mine and the gold that the people of Alaska own in the same way they own the oil) in 2008 when Palin hinted to vote against it. (And this was before McCain picked her for VP.)
I'm sure I'm oversimplifying; but I'm also sure there is a good ol’ boy Big Oil moratorium on Alaskan oil because of who the profits are going to.
I say all this because Palin has always been correct: Alaskan natural resources are huge and strangely, untapped. Another reason Obama just went up there.
The question is, why wasn't the Big Oil establishment drilling before Palin? It would be just about the same reason they didn't drill after. They have a monopoly on oil and a glut wrecks their profits.
Since you have more of a science background, let me ask you a Big Oil question question: who says old wells don't replenish themselves? If we can make oil out of vegetation in a lab, why do we believe that only fossils create oil?