| By Bob Weaver
Alaska has a novel plan.
They actually share the wealth of natural resources extracted from the state with the state's citizens.
Every man, woman, and child will receive about $2,000 this year as their annual divided from the extraction.
In addition, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has developed a plan to give some relief to state citizens who have been facing very high electric bills.
Most of the state's electric is generated by diesel fuel, which has risen to nearly $8 a gallon for some remote villages.
Citizens will also get a one-time $1,200 energy assistance check - every man, woman and child.
A family of four will received a check for $4,800 for energy, in addition to their $8,000 check as a share in the state's sale of resources.
Governor Palin (Republican) has also suspended the eight-cents-per-gallon state fuel tax.
"As the fiscal year winds down, Alaskans are assured of surpluses beyond the billions of dollars put into savings and funding for priorities such as forward funding education and municipal revenue sharing," Palin said.
"With savings and funding priorities covered, I am confident that Alaskans, who are the owners of our resources, can spend their resource revenue better than government can", she continued.
"We can afford to share resource wealth with Alaskans and to temporarily suspend the state fuel tax."
Multi-billions of dollars of resources have been extracted from West Virginia - coal, natural gas, timber and now water - with the state remaining the 49th poorest in the nation, while those poor citizens are among the most heavily taxed.
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