CSHCR 8(RES): Expressing the legislature's opposition to the proposed "northern" or "over-the-top" route for a natural gas pipeline to transport North Slope natural gas reserves to the domestic North American market, and expressing the legislature's support of commercialization of North Slope natural gas for the maximum benefit of the people of the state.
00 CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 8(RES) 01 Expressing the legislature's opposition to the proposed "northern" or "over-the-top" 02 route for a natural gas pipeline to transport North Slope natural gas reserves to the 03 domestic North American market, and expressing the legislature's support of 04 commercialization of North Slope natural gas for the maximum benefit of the people of 05 the state. 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 WHEREAS art. VIII, sec. 1, Constitution of the State of Alaska, provides that it is the 08 policy of the state to encourage the settlement of its land and the development of its resources 09 by making them available for maximum use consistent with the public interest; and 10 WHEREAS art. VIII, sec. 2, Constitution of the State of Alaska, requires the 11 legislature to provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural 12 resources belonging to the state, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its 13 people; and 14 WHEREAS 35 trillion cubic feet of known natural gas reserves are acknowledged to 15 be adherent to oil and gas leases on the North Slope of Alaska, and, additionally, realistic
01 estimates of total recoverable gas from the reserves exceed 100 trillion cubic feet; and 02 WHEREAS demand for new sources of natural gas supply in North American and 03 Asian markets places Alaska's North Slope natural gas in the unique position of being 04 attractive to both markets; and 05 WHEREAS improved economics, technological advances, and the possibility of 06 public financing of a natural gas pipeline, including particularly the financing proposal of the 07 Alaska Gasline Port Authority, a public authority established by Alaska municipalities for the 08 promotion of transportation-related commerce, have removed previously perceived barriers to 09 the commercialization of Alaska's North Slope natural gas; and 10 WHEREAS it is widely recognized that maximum benefit to Alaskans from the 11 commercialization of North Slope natural gas lies in market exposure for Alaska North Slope 12 gas reserves, opportunities for in-state use of the natural gas and for participation by Alaskans 13 in construction, maintenance, and operation of the gas line transportation project, and the 14 recovery of revenue by the state from the development, transport, and sale of Alaska North 15 Slope gas reserves; and 16 WHEREAS the "northern" or "over-the-top" route for the proposed pipeline, running 17 east from the North Slope to Canada's Mackenzie River Valley, then south through that valley 18 to link to existing pipeline networks, under consideration by the North American Gas Pipeline 19 Group, offers none of these benefits; and 20 WHEREAS oil and gas leaseholders on Alaska's North Slope continue to develop 21 competing gas projects elsewhere in the world, including liquefied natural gas shipments to 22 North American West Coast ports, while Alaska gas remains warehoused; 23 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the commercialization 24 of Alaska North Slope natural gas for the maximum benefit of the people of the state; and be 25 it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature will exercise every power within its 27 constitutionally required authority to facilitate commercialization of Alaska North Slope 28 natural gas for the maximum benefit of the people of the state; and be it 29 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature opposes construction of a "northern" or 30 "over-the-top" route for a natural gas pipeline; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature will exercise every power within its
01 authority to prevent the routing of a North Slope natural gas pipeline that bypasses Alaska. 02 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President 03 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States 04 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House 05 of Representatives; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 06 Honorable Thomas Daschle, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gale Norton, 07 United States Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Tony Knowles, Governor of the State of 08 Alaska; the Honorable Pat Pourchot, Commissioner, Department of Natural Resources, the 09 Honorable Wilson L. Condon, Commissioner, Department of Revenue, the Honorable 10 Michele Brown, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation, the Honorable 11 Frank Rue, Commissioner, Department of Fish and Game, the Honorable Joseph L. Perkins, 12 Commissioner, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the Honorable Ed 13 Flanagan, Commissioner, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Honorable 14 Glenn G. Godfrey, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, and Patrick Galvin, Director, 15 Division of Governmental Coordination, Office of the Governor, the heads of the agencies 16 specified in Administrative Order 187 with responsibilities with regard to state permits, 17 authorizations, and oversight related to the preconstruction and construction of certain natural 18 gas pipelines; Frank Brown and Jim Sampson, co-chairs, and Mike Navarre, George Wuerch, 19 Grace Schaible, Bill Corbus, Charles Cole, Al Adams, Carl Marrs, Rosemarie Maher, Esther 20 Wunnicke, Jack Roderick, Brian Davies, Jim Jansen, Dave Rose, Ed Rasmuson, Lee Gorsuch, 21 Bob Penney, Rhonda Boyles, Ron Duncan, Ken Thompson, Peg Tileston, Jacob Adams, 22 George Ahmaogak, Jeff Feldman, Jon Rubini, Jerry Hood, and Mike O'Connor, members, 23 Governor's Alaska Highway Natural Gas Policy Council; William G. Britt, Jr., Pipeline 24 Coodinator, Office of the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources; and to the 25 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the 26 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.