SCS 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 SENATE CS FOR 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 have removed previously perceived barriers to the 07 commercialization of Alaska's North Slope natural gas; and 08 WHEREAS it is widely recognized that maximum benefit to Alaskans from the 09 commercialization of North Slope natural gas lies in market exposure for Alaska North Slope 10 gas reserves, opportunities for in-state use of the natural gas and for participation by Alaskans 11 in construction, maintenance, and operation of the gas line transportation project, and the 12 recovery of revenue by the state from the development, transport, and sale of Alaska North 13 Slope gas reserves; and 14 WHEREAS the "northern" or "over-the-top" route for the proposed pipeline, running 15 east from the North Slope to Canada's Mackenzie River Valley, then south through that valley 16 to link to existing pipeline networks, under consideration by the North American Gas Pipeline 17 Group, offers none of these benefits; and 18 WHEREAS oil and gas leaseholders on Alaska's North Slope continue to develop 19 competing gas projects elsewhere in the world, including liquefied natural gas shipments to 20 North American West Coast ports, while Alaska gas remains warehoused; 21 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the commercialization 22 of Alaska North Slope natural gas for the maximum benefit of the people of the state; and be 23 it 24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature will exercise every reasonable power 25 within its constitutionally required authority to facilitate commercialization of Alaska North 26 Slope natural gas for the maximum benefit of the people of the state; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature opposes construction of a "northern" or 28 "over-the-top" route for a natural gas pipeline; and be it 29 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature will exercise every reasonable power 30 within its authority to prevent the routing of a North Slope natural gas pipeline that bypasses 31 Alaska.
01 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President 02 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States 03 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House 04 of Representatives; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 05 Honorable Thomas Daschle, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gale Norton, 06 United States Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Tony Knowles, Governor of the State of 07 Alaska; the Honorable Pat Pourchot, Commissioner, Department of Natural Resources, the 08 Honorable Wilson L. Condon, Commissioner, Department of Revenue, the Honorable 09 Michele Brown, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation, the Honorable 10 Frank Rue, Commissioner, Department of Fish and Game, the Honorable Joseph L. Perkins, 11 Commissioner, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the Honorable Ed 12 Flanagan, Commissioner, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Honorable 13 Glenn G. Godfrey, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, and Patrick Galvin, Director, 14 Division of Governmental Coordination, Office of the Governor, the heads of the agencies 15 specified in Administrative Order 187 with responsibilities with regard to state permits, 16 authorizations, and oversight related to the preconstruction and construction of certain natural 17 gas pipelines; Frank Brown and Jim Sampson, co-chairs, and Mike Navarre, George Wuerch, 18 Grace Schaible, Bill Corbus, Charles Cole, Al Adams, Carl Marrs, Rosemarie Maher, Esther 19 Wunnicke, Jack Roderick, Brian Davies, Jim Jansen, Dave Rose, Ed Rasmuson, Lee Gorsuch, 20 Bob Penney, Rhonda Boyles, Ron Duncan, Ken Thompson, Peg Tileston, Jacob Adams, 21 George Ahmaogak, Jeff Feldman, Jon Rubini, Jerry Hood, and Mike O'Connor, members, 22 Governor's Alaska Highway Natural Gas Policy Council; William G. Britt, Jr., Pipeline 23 Coodinator, Office of the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources; and to the 24 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the 25 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.