http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/murkowski-arctic-wildlife-refuge-drilling_us_5a03c13ee4b0937b510f8685
[Note the timing. Currently, the U.S. is a net oil exporter - it does
not need more crude oil at a time when there is a national and world
glut which requires OPEC countries to cut production to support prices.
The ANWR constitutes a hostile environment for oil exploration and
production - extreme oil. Climate change means pipelines in the Arctic
will be dangerous undertakings as permafrost melts will lead to huge
ground shifts and subsidences. There is no credible plan for oil spill
response and remediation in this climate zone or geographic area. And
this is a protected habitat area. So, this is not about the oil. It's
about brute force use of political power by the oil industry.
images and links in on-line article]
Lisa Murkowski Introduces Bill To Open Arctic Wildlife Refuge To Oil
Drilling
“This is not a choice between energy and the environment,” the senator
said. “We are past that.”
11/09/2017 00:21 EST
Chris D'Angelo and Nick Visser
WASHINGTON — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced legislation
Wednesday night that would open a portion of a pristine wildlife refuge
in her state to oil and gas development, a move expected to bring in
slightly more than $1 billion in federal revenue over the next decade.
The bill would open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
(ANWR), described by some as “America’s Serengeti,” which covers more
than 19 million acres in northeastern Alaska. The region is home to
polar bears, caribou, moose and hundreds of species of migratory birds.
It’s considered one of the state’s crown jewels.
In a statement, Murkowski called it “a tremendous opportunity” for the
country.
“The legislation ... will put Alaska and the entire nation on a path
toward greater prosperity by creating jobs, keeping energy affordable
for families and businesses, generating new wealth, and strengthening
our security — while reducing the federal deficit not just by $1 billion
over ten years, but tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars over
the decades to come,” she said.
The bill comes just days after Murkowski, who chairs the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, held a hearing to discuss
allowing oil and gas production in the refuge’s 1.5 million-acre coastal
plain, also known as the 1002 Area. The Senate budget plan includes a
provision that requires the committee to find $1 billion in additional
revenue over the next decade to help pay for tax reform.
Murkowski said the Congressional Budget Office estimates the ANWR
legislation would raise $1.092 billion over the next 10 years from the
sale of leasing rights.
The legislation requires just a simple 51-vote majority, rather than the
60 typically needed to avoid a filibuster, to pass in the Senate because
it is part of Congress’ 2018 budget plan, which is being considered
under special “reconciliation” provisions. Efforts by Democrats to bar
such a bill from moving forward were voted down by almost every Senate
Republican last month.
In 1980, with the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act, Congress expanded ANWR but opted not to give
wilderness status to the 1002 Area, setting it aside for potential oil
and gas development. Granting leases for that purpose, however, requires
an act of Congress.
During last week’s hearing, Murkowski said Alaskans have waited decades
for the right technologies to come along in order to ensure the
environment would remain protected. And she swung back at accusations
that she and other Alaska lawmakers are putting short-term economic
gains over environmental protection
“This is not a choice between energy and the environment,” she said. “We
are past that.”
As written, the bill would require Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to
approve at least two lease sales — each no less than 400,000 acres — in
the first 10 years. The first sale would be required within four years,
with the second having to be finalized within seven years. The royalties
from those sales would be split in half between the state of Alaska and
the federal government.
The bill allows for 2,000 acres of the coastal plain to be developed
with wells and support facilities.
Opening the refuge is also on the Trump administration’s wish list. In
May, Zinke signed an order to “jump-start Alaskan energy production.” He
said at the time that the move was an “important first step in a smart
and measured approach to energy development in ANWR.” Additionally, the
administration’s 2018 fiscal year budget calls for allowing oil and gas
production in the coastal plain.
While Murkowski and the administration are confident about the economic
benefits that would come from drilling in the refuge, their estimates
have been highly disputed.
Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, said in
a statement Wednesday that “nothing in this bill can magically make
these fantastical revenue assumptions materialize.”
“What this bill would do is turn America’s last great wilderness into a
lost wilderness,” Kolton said. “Senator Lisa Murkowski had promised some
kind of new and improved directional drilling, but that’s just a talking
point. What we got was simply misdirection and deception. The fact is
that the entire 1.5 million acres could be offered up in two massive
lease sales.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee’s ranking minority member,
was among many Democrats last week who blasted the idea of drilling in
the unspoiled Arctic landscape. “If you want to open up the Arctic
refuge, you should just admit you’re going to destroy the wildlife
refuge,” Cantwell said.
Environmentalists have said moves to open up such a pristine part of the
country to energy companies represent an assault on American conservation.
“This is a really big deal,” Niel Lawrence, Alaska director of the
Natural Resources Defense Council, told The New York Times in September.
“This is a frontal attack in an ideological battle. The Arctic is the
holy grail.”
A committee hearing on Murkowski’s bill is scheduled for Nov. 15.