At Tuesday night's annual State of the Union address by the president, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, sat next to Sen. Olympia Snow, R-Maine. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sat next to Sen. Mark Udall, Democrat of Colorado.

And Republican Don Young, wearing a button that read "1000" -- in protest of the 1000th day since Senate Democrats have produced a budget -- sat next to Hawaii Democratic Rep. Mazie Hirono.

The seating arrangements were supposed to be symbolic of a bipartisan spirit. And perhaps that sprit prevailed -- at least for Murkowski, who had good things to say about the speech. "(President Obama) spoke to the issue of trust," she said. "And I think that that we have lost some of that trust. We need to regain that trust member to member, house to house and with the people that we represent." 

She also said that there were parts of the speech that "pleasantly surprised" her. "I had assumed there would be more of a campaign tone and campaign pitch, but I think he took a pointed effort to make sure that he was spelling out what he hoped to see in this next year. Somewhat aggressive proposals, some unrealistic proposals, but I think it was important he laid forth a vision," Alaska's senior senator said. 

Young apparently didn't get bowled over by the bipartisan spirit. In a release after the speech, he said that Obama had an "addiction" to regulation, one "that has crippled American manufacturing and stifled American energy development … we're losing jobs because we have a Federal government that is simply too big and is preoccupied with regulating people's lives and taxing them to death," he said.

No mention from him about Obama's announcement that he was directing his administration "to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources."

Young's spokesperson Luke Miller said that when it comes to energy, Obama's words simply don't match the administration's actions. "At the end of the day, Congressman Young wants to see actual results, not unfulfilled percentages in campaign speeches." 

The Republican spirit seemed to hit Begich some. His reaction was lukewarm. He did agree with Obama that the country is, on whole, in a much better position than it was three years ago. And Begich was pleased with the president's middle class and small business focus. However, he was disappointed that Obama didn't mention Alaska's oil and natural gas reserves when speaking on energy.

"I am eager to hear more details about oil and gas production but frankly, I don't know how you can talk about American energy potential and not include the tens of thousands of jobs that would be created by development of oil and gas in the off-shore waters of Alaska's Arctic," Begich said.

Although Obama didn't mention Alaska specifically, he did say some things that might prove to be significant for the state; namely, that he's calling for a federal law that would require disclosure of all chemicals that are being used for hydrofracturing to produce oil and natural gas from shale rock on public lands.

A glut in the Lower 48 natural gas market -- resulting from an extraordinary, recent increase in shale-gas production -- has been largely credited with killing recent attempts to get an Alaska natural gas pipeline built. Yet the country is becoming increasingly uneasy with "fracking." Chemicals used in the process have poisoned water supplies, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Fracking has been associated with combustible water in places. Some have even associated the process with small earthquakes in the Midwest -- where fracking is rampant, and where temblors are practically unheard of.

Obama did, however, give a nod to the process, claiming that all told, the quest for natural gas could provide 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. "We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years, and my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy," Obama said. Without mentioning Alaska or its trillions of cubic feet of natural gas -- the largest proven conventional reserves on the continent. 

Murkowski was "pleased" that Obama spent so much time on energy. "Last year, if you'll recall, there was just a very small reference to energy," she said.