Enrolled HJR 9: Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development; urging the United States Department of the Interior to recognize the private property rights of owners of land in and adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; relating to oil and gas exploration, development, production, and royalties; and relating to renewable and alternative energy technologies.
00Enrolled HJR 9 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 development; urging the United States Department of 03 the Interior to recognize the private property rights of owners of land in and adjacent to the 04 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; relating to oil and gas exploration, development, production, 05 and royalties; and relating to renewable and alternative energy technologies. 06 _______________ 07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3143 (sec. 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 09 Conservation Act), the United States Congress reserved the right to permit oil and gas 10 development and production within the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 11 and 12 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3142 (sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 13 Conservation Act), the United States Congress authorized nondrilling exploratory activity 14 within the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (the "1002 study area"); and
01 WHEREAS the oil industry, the state, and the United States Department of the 02 Interior consider the coastal plain to have the highest potential for discovery of very large oil 03 and gas accumulations on the continent of North America, estimated to be as much as 04 10,000,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil; and 05 WHEREAS the 1002 study area is part of the coastal plain located within the North 06 Slope Borough, and many of the residents of the North Slope Borough, who are 07 predominantly Inupiat, are supportive of development in the 1002 study area; and 08 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development of the coastal plain of the refuge 09 and adjacent land could result in major discoveries that would reduce our nation's dependency 10 on oil produced by hostile foreign nations, help balance the nation's trade deficit, and 11 significantly increase the nation's security; and 12 WHEREAS the state's and the nation's future energy independence would be 13 enhanced with additional natural gas production from the North Slope of Alaska, including 14 what are expected to be significant gas reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and 15 the development of those reserves would enhance the economic viability of the proposed 16 liquefied natural gas project; and 17 WHEREAS development of oil at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Endicott, Lisburne, and 18 Milne Point has resulted in thousands of jobs throughout the United States, and projected job 19 creation as a result of coastal plain oil development will have a positive effect in all 50 states; 20 and 21 WHEREAS North Slope production is declining; and 22 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, a national asset that would cost 23 billions of dollars to replace, would have its useful physical life extended for a substantial 24 period if the additional reserves of recoverable oil from the coastal plain were produced; and 25 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System is currently being extended to leases at 26 Point Thomson, an area bordering the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and oil produced in 27 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would require only the additional construction of a 28 pipeline to Point Thomson to deliver oil to market; and 29 WHEREAS, while new oil field developments on the North Slope of Alaska may 30 temporarily slow the decline in production, only allowing access to the state's coastal plain 31 fields would enable the production volume of Alaska oil to increase by up to 700,000 barrels a
01 day; and 02 WHEREAS opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge now 03 allows sufficient time for planning environmental safeguards, development, and national 04 security review; and 05 WHEREAS the 1,500,000-acre coastal plain of the refuge makes up less than eight 06 percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, and development of the oil and gas reserves in the 07 refuge's coastal plain would affect a limited area as defined by the United States Congress; 08 and 09 WHEREAS 8,900,000 of the 19,000,000 acres of the refuge have already been set 10 aside as wilderness; and 11 WHEREAS the oil industry has shown at Prudhoe Bay, as well as at other locations 12 along the Arctic coastal plain, that it is capable of conducting oil and gas activity without 13 adversely affecting the environment or wildlife populations; and 14 WHEREAS the state will continue to strive to ensure the ongoing health and 15 productivity of the Porcupine and Central Arctic caribou herds and the protection of land, 16 water, and wildlife resources during the exploration and development of the coastal plain of 17 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 18 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry has developed directional drilling technology that 19 will allow horizontal drilling in a responsible manner by minimizing the development 20 footprint within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and that directional drilling technology 21 may be capable of drilling from outside of the boundaries of the 1002 study area; and 22 WHEREAS the oil industry is using innovative technology and environmental 23 practices in new field developments, and those techniques are directly applicable to operating 24 on the coastal plain and would enhance environmental protection beyond traditionally high 25 standards; and 26 WHEREAS the state recognizes that the economic prosperity of the state is dependent 27 on available, reliable, and affordable energy; and 28 WHEREAS the state promotes the development of renewable and alternative energy 29 resources and created the Alaska Energy Authority to assist the state in advancing new energy 30 projects and technology; and 31 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature encourages the use of revenue from
01 development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the development of renewable and 02 alternative energy resources in the state; 03 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges that oil and gas 04 exploration, development, and production activity be conducted in a manner that protects the 05 environment and the naturally occurring population levels of the Porcupine caribou herd on 06 which the Inupiat, Gwich'in, and other local residents depend, that uses directional drilling 07 and other advances in technology to minimize the development footprint in the 1002 study 08 area, and that uses the state's work force to the maximum extent possible; and be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 10 Congress to pass legislation opening the 1002 study area for oil and gas development while 11 continuing to work on measures for increasing the development and use of renewable and 12 alternative energy technologies; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 14 Department of the Interior to recognize and respect the rights of Native landowners in and 15 adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 study area, including the rights of the 16 Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation to develop their land 17 and resource entitlements received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and other 18 agreements; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any unilateral 20 reduction in royalty revenue from exploration and development of the coastal plain of the 21 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and any attempt to coerce the state into accepting less than 22 the 90 percent of the oil, gas, and mineral royalties from the federal land in the state that was 23 promised to the state at statehood. 24 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 25 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 26 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of the 27 Interior; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 28 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 29 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Harry Reid, 30 Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Chair of the Energy and 31 Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senator,
01 and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in 02 Congress; and all other members of the 114th United States Congress.