Enrolled SR 401: Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, development, and production.
00Enrolled SR 401 01 Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic 02 National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, development, and production. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE: 05 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3142 (sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 06 Conservation Act (ANILCA)), the United States Congress reserved the right to permit further 07 oil and gas exploration, development, and production within the coastal plain of the Arctic 08 National Wildlife Refuge; and 09 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry, the state, and the United States Department of 10 the Interior consider the Arctic coastal plain to have the highest potential for discovery of very 11 large oil and gas accumulations on the continent of North America, estimated to include as 12 much as 10,000,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil and significant amounts of natural gas; and 13 WHEREAS, while new oil and natural gas field developments on the North Slope of 14 Alaska, such as Alpine, Northstar, and West Sak, may temporarily slow the decline in 15 production, only giant coastal plain fields have the theoretical capability of increasing the
01 production volume of Alaska oil and gas to a significant degree; and 02 WHEREAS the state's future energy independence would be enhanced with 03 additional natural gas production from the North Slope of Alaska, including what are 04 expected to be significant gas reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the 05 development of those reserves would enhance the economic viability of the proposed Alaska 06 Natural Gas Pipeline; and 07 WHEREAS the proposed Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline and the Trans Alaska Pipeline 08 System are transportation facilities that will be and are national assets that are integral to 09 satisfying the present and future needs of the United States; and 10 WHEREAS the "1002 study area" is part of the coastal plain located within the North 11 Slope Borough, and many of the residents of the North Slope Borough, who are 12 predominantly Inupiat Eskimo, are supportive of development in the "1002 study area"; and 13 WHEREAS enhancements in technology can be used in a manner that minimizes the 14 area within the refuge that is used for exploration and development, while providing the 15 nation with a needed supply of oil and gas; and 16 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry is using innovative technology and 17 environmental practices in the new field developments at Alpine and Northstar, and those 18 techniques are directly applicable to operating on the coastal plain and would enhance 19 environmental protection beyond traditionally high standards; and 20 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry has shown at Prudhoe Bay, as well as at other 21 locations along the Arctic coastal plain, that it is capable of conducting oil and gas activity 22 without adversely affecting the environment or wildlife populations; and 23 WHEREAS opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge now 24 allows sufficient time for planning environmental safeguards, development, and national 25 security review; and 26 WHEREAS the state will ensure the continued health and productivity of the 27 Porcupine caribou herd and the protection of land, water, and wildlife resources during the 28 exploration and development of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 29 WHEREAS 8,900,000 of the 19,000,000 acres of the refuge have already been set 30 aside as wilderness; and 31 WHEREAS the 1,500,000-acre coastal plain of the refuge makes up only eight
01 percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, and the development of the oil and gas reserves in the 02 refuge's coastal plain would affect an area of only 2,000 to 7,000 acres, which is less than 03 one-half of one percent of the area of the coastal plain; and 04 WHEREAS the continued competitiveness and stability of the state and its economy 05 require that the Senate consider national trends toward renewable energy development; and 06 WHEREAS the Senate encourages the use of revenue from any development in the 07 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the development of renewable energy resources in the 08 state; 09 BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate urges the United States Congress to pass 10 legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas 11 exploration, development, and production, and that the Senate is adamantly opposed to further 12 wilderness or other restrictive designation in the area of the coastal plain of the Arctic 13 National Wildlife Refuge; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the oil and gas exploration, development, and 15 production be conducted in a manner that protects the environment and the naturally 16 occurring population levels of the Porcupine caribou herd on which the Gwich'in and other 17 local residents depend, that uses directional drilling and other advances in technology to 18 minimize the development footprint in the "1002 study area," and that uses the state's work 19 force to the maximum extent possible; and be it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate urges the United States Congress to pass 21 legislation opening the "1002 study area" for oil and gas development while continuing to 22 work on measures for increasing the development and use of renewable energy technologies; 23 and be it 24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate opposes any unilateral reduction in royalty 25 revenue from exploration and development of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife 26 Refuge and any attempt to coerce the State of Alaska into accepting less than the 90 percent 27 of the oil, gas, and mineral royalties from the federal land in Alaska that was promised to the 28 state at statehood. 29 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President 30 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States 31 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, United States Secretary of
01 the Interior; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 02 Honorable John Boehner, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 03 Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, 04 Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Jeff Bingaman, Chair of the U.S. Senate 05 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable 06 Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 07 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 110th United 08 States Congress.