Enrolled SJR 4: Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, to oil and gas exploration, development, and production.
00Enrolled SJR 4 01 Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic 02 National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, to oil and gas exploration, development, and production. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS, in sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 06 exploration, development, and production within the coastal plain of the Arctic National 07 Wildlife Refuge, Alaska; and 08 WHEREAS the oil industry, the state, and the United States Department of the 09 Interior consider the coastal plain to have the highest potential for discovery of very large oil 10 and gas accumulations on the continent of North America, estimated to be as much as 11 10,000,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil; and 12 WHEREAS the "1002 study area" is part of the coastal plain located within the North 13 Slope Borough, and residents of the North Slope Borough, who are predominantly Inupiat 14 Eskimo, are supportive of development in the "1002 study area"; and 15 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development of the coastal plain of the refuge
01 and adjacent land could result in major discoveries that would reduce our nation's future need 02 for imported oil, help balance the nation's trade deficit, and significantly increase the nation's 03 security; and 04 WHEREAS domestic demand for oil continues to rise while domestic crude 05 production continues to fall with the result that the United States imports additional oil from 06 foreign sources; and 07 WHEREAS development of oil at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Endicott, Lisburne, and 08 Milne Point has resulted in thousands of jobs throughout the United States, and projected job 09 creation as a result of coastal plain oil development will have a positive effect in all 50 states; 10 and 11 WHEREAS Prudhoe Bay production is declining by approximately 10 percent a year; 12 and 13 WHEREAS, while new oil field developments on the North Slope of Alaska, such as 14 Alpine, Badami, and West Sak, may slow or temporarily stop the decline in production, only 15 giant coastal plain fields have the theoretical capability of increasing the production volume 16 of Alaska oil to a significant degree; and 17 WHEREAS opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge now 18 allows sufficient time for planning environmental safeguards, development, and national 19 security review; and 20 WHEREAS the 1,500,000-acre coastal plain of the refuge makes up only eight 21 percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, and the development of the oil and gas reserves in the 22 refuge's coastal plain would affect an area of only 2,000 to 7,000 acres, which is less than 23 one-half of one percent of the area of the coastal plain; and 24 WHEREAS 8,000,000 of the 19,000,000 acres of the refuge have already been set 25 aside as wilderness; and 26 WHEREAS the oil industry has shown at Prudhoe Bay, as well as at other locations 27 along the Arctic coastal plain, that it can safely conduct oil and gas activity without adversely 28 affecting the environment or wildlife populations; and 29 WHEREAS the state will ensure the continued health and productivity of the 30 Porcupine Caribou herd and the protection of land, water, and wildlife resources during the 31 exploration and development of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
01 Alaska; and 02 WHEREAS the oil industry is using innovative technology and environmental 03 practices in the new field developments at Alpine and Northstar, and those techniques are 04 directly applicable to operating on the coastal plain and would enhance environmental 05 protection beyond traditionally high standards; 06 BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Congress of the United 07 States is urged to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife 08 Refuge, Alaska, to oil and gas exploration, development, and production, and that the Alaska 09 State Legislature is adamantly opposed to further wilderness or other restrictive designation in 10 the area of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska; and be it 11 FURTHER RESOLVED that that activity be conducted in a manner that protects the 12 environment and the naturally occurring population levels of the Porcupine Caribou herd, and 13 that uses the state's work force to the maximum extent possible; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any unilateral 15 reduction in royalty revenue from exploration and development of the coastal plain of the 16 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, and any attempt to coerce the State of Alaska into 17 accepting less than the 90 percent of the oil, gas, and mineral royalties from the federal land in 18 Alaska that was promised to the state at statehood. 19 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President 20 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States 21 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gale Norton, United States Secretary of the 22 Interior; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 23 Honorable Bill Frist, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ted Stevens and the 24 Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 25 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and to all other members of 26 the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives serving in the 108th United States 27 Congress.