Legislature(2001 - 2002)
02/20/2001 09:03 AM Senate FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
MINUTES
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
February 20, 2001
9:03 AM
TAPES
SFC-01 # 18, Side A
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Dave Donley convened the meeting at approximately
9:03 a.m.
PRESENT
Senator Dave Donley, Co-Chair
Senator Pete Kelly, Co-Chair
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Gary Wilken
Senator Alan Austerman
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Donald Olson
Also Attending:
Attending via Teleconference: CAM TOOHEY, Executive Director,
Arctic Power
SUMMARY INFORMATION
SB 95 - APPROP: GRANT TO ARCTIC POWER FOR ANWR
The Committee heard testimony from Arctic Power and the bill was
held in Committee.
SENATE BILL NO. 95
"An Act making an appropriation for a grant to Arctic Power to
promote the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil
and gas exploration and development; and providing for an effective
date."
Co-Chair Donley indicated that this appropriation is also included
in the House version of the fast track supplemental, HB 117.
CAM TOOHEY, Executive Director, Arctic Power, testified via
teleconference, indicated that the appropriation before them
requests $1.5 million in order to take advantage of the public
interest and promote the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as
the solution to the future problems of the country. He explained
that the funds would be used to educate members of Congress through
tours, visits from Alaska's capitol hill, visits by Alaskans to
other states across the country to educate their support groups and
also to launch response media campaigns to keep the field level in
an effort to educate people in national environmental groups.
Mr. Toohey further noted that while their efforts are coordinated
between the Alaska delegation, the Alaska State Legislature and the
Governor's Office, Senator Murkowski, who will be before the
legislature tomorrow, will be able to give them details and assist
them in their understanding of the situation.
Senator Leman asked for two things to be addressed: one, a work
plan on how the $1.5 million would be spent; second, this
particular piece of legislation shows a lapse date of June 30,
2006. He wondered why the lapse date is five years out when it is
in the supplemental for this year.
Mr. Toohey addressed the second question. He indicated that their
intentions are to use the funds now, because it gives them more
flexibility if all the funds are not used now they would be able to
allocate the funds later. He noted that he has not spent a lot of
time on the lapse date discussion. He referred to the first
question with regards to a detailed work plan and indicated that he
would be happy to go over that with Senator Leman.
Senator Leman replied that he wants to be sure that they are using
their best efforts and are continuing to maximize coordination with
other efforts that are ongoing.
Mr. Toohey agreed that it is definitely their goal. He noted that
they intend to match the public funds with private contributions;
therefore, they would be looking at an overall budget of $4
million.
Senator Austerman wondered how long Arctic Power has been working
on ANWR.
Mr. Toohey indicated that Arctic Power was formed in 1992, just
after the Gulf War. He explained that it was the intention of the
legislature, at the time, to form a group to respond to the
opportunities that might be presented to the state in the effort to
open ANWR. He pointed out that like the Gulf War in 1992 they are
faced with a similar opportunity today with American's interested
in solving their long-term energy needs. He added that they have
been receiving state funds since 1995.
Senator Austerman wondered how much they have received from the
state since 1995.
Mr. Toohey indicated that the legislature has made available to
them $500,000 annually, which was determined to be the amount
needed to keep the issue alive and to take advantage of
opportunities as they arose. He explained that of the $500,000
they have been expending approximately $250,000 annually;
therefore, coupled with their private funds the operation has been
fairly small until the last two months when the issues reemerged.
Senator Austerman wondered why they need a fast track supplemental
right now.
Mr. Toohey said that they are in a situation where the
opportunities are presented to them immediately. He pointed out
that legislation has already been introduced in the U.S. House,
Congressman Young is working on getting a hearing for the bill and
Senator Murkowski is introducing his legislation in the
comprehensive energy package. He further noted that next week ANWR
will be brought up and they have to educate members of Congress, as
well as, deal with the media onslaught. He explained that they are
receiving approximately seven to ten interviews a day and requests
for media tours. They have over fifteen Congressional tours
planned starting as early as March and going through the summer
months. He pointed out that the amount of interest and work that
is going to be required to keep the positive message of ANWR
development in the national media and in Congress is tremendous.
He said that people who have been working on this issue for 20
years have never seen this level of interest in the lower 48 with
regards to ANWR.
Senator Austerman wondered if they expect the $1.5 million to come
in one lump sum or to be spread out over the five years.
Mr. Toohey indicated that this would be something they need in the
next 30 days.
Senator Hoffman asked if there was a report on what has been
accomplished in prior appropriations and if they could provide a
brief breakdown of the composition of the membership of Arctic
Power.
Mr. Toohey indicated that over the last four or five years they
have been working to maintain and strengthen their support base in
Congress. He noted that last year there was a budget resolution
that passed the U.S. Senate that included ANWR. He indicated that
the funds have predominately been used for ANWR tours, which they
offer all members of Congress. They have continually maintained
the Internet website. He believes that it is evident that the
long-term investment has started to payoff.
Senator Hoffman reiterated his question, asking if there is a
written report and what is the composition of the membership.
Mr. Toohey indicated that they do not have a written report of the
expenditures, but it can be provided to the Committee members. He
pointed out that they have provided the normal audits required for
state funding and would be happy to go through those. He explained
that the board is made up of 55 members, to date, mostly consisting
of Alaskans from all over the state and a few people from Seattle.
Senator Wilken believes that it would be interesting to compare the
differences in revenue structure between the National Petroleum
Reserve - Alaska (NPRA) and ANWR, so that they could see which one
would bring the most resources to the state. Subsequently they
could decide which one they would like to develop. He pointed out
that one of the problems when people talk to him about ANWR is that
in their minds they are envisioning the drilling techniques of old,
which creates fear in their eyes. He asserted that the changes in
drilling technology over the last 20 years, because of Prudhoe Bay,
have changed remarkably. He believes that Alaska is at the leading
edge of drilling technology. He urged that Mr. Toohey work with
the oil companies and formulate a 20-minute presentation on how
they are going to drill in ANWR in an environmentally safe manner.
He feels that they should be working on that today and it should be
rolled out at every Rotary Club or PTA meeting and they should be
talking to the voting public. He asserted that there is a
necessity for the people of Alaska and America to know how to drill
an oil well and how that reserve can be tapped without decimating
it. He offered that to Mr. Toohey with the hope that Arctic Power
would take some of the money and put that in place.
Senator Wilken further pointed out that there seems to be a
perception of people that ANWR is just like Prudhoe Bay or on the
other side that ANWR is totally different than Prudhoe Bay. He
urged that the people who have not had a chance to visit Prudhoe
Bay and ANWR have that opportunity; therefore, if a delegation from
Washington, D.C. is going then Arctic Power should be sure if there
is an extra seat on the plane that everyone in the Alaska State
Legislature has been there too, so they can counter those arguments
or at least have some response to their constituents.
Senator Olson expressed that they understand the benefits and the
reason for capitalizing on the interest shown by the public,
because of the circumstances that they are under. He indicated
that they would hate to lose any of that momentum during this time
of energy need. He pointed out that they are using a fair amount
of money for tours and the question for him is what solid evidence
will they have in the future besides giving people a tour of ANWR.
Mr. Toohey responded that their objective is a successful vote in
the U.S. House and Senate and it will be something that they can
look back on and say that it was money well spent.
Senator Olson requested clarification that there were no funds
going towards purchasing generators or slotted for the ANWR area
specifically.
Mr. Toohey clarified that the funds would go predominately to
educating members of Congress and to support the legislation that
has been introduced in the House and Senate to open ANWR for oil
and gas development. He indicated that it was strictly for helping
fund the campaign to get the word out on ANWR and maintain their
support in Congress.
Senator Wilken followed up on whether Mr. Toohey thought that his
recommendation to use some of the funding for a drilling
presentation and also to promote visits to ANWR were good ideas.
Mr. Toohey stated that the number one most effective program is
tours; "seeing is believing". He indicated that whenever they have
taken members to the coastal plain they are impressed with the
technology, the care to the environment and the harshness of the
climate in the area that they are trying to develop. He pointed
out that the hardest part is getting people to take the tours. He
said that they have seen the most interest this year, because the
issue is gaining national attention. He explained that the
advancements in the last 25 years in arctic development are
tremendous. He said that when they show them the field of Prudhoe
Bay with the larger footprint and then show them a field like
Alpine or Badami, which is roadless and developed on less than 100
acres of land, it is very impressive. He noted that the national
media; 60 minutes, NBC, New York Times and Scientific America, all
concentrated on the technology. He added that the American people
are interested in technology and also feel comfortable that ANWR
can be developed without damaging the environment. He agreed that
it would be an excellent idea to put together a presentation
designed toward supporting ANWR and also around the technology
story.
Senator Leman wondered how many dues paying members there are in
Arctic Power.
Mr. Toohey responded that there are 9,000 individual and company
members. He indicated that they are working to expand, because
they need more members to support the organization and they need
the funding to match the public funding appropriation.
Senator Leman said that he has been thinking through various
organizations in the state and cannot think of any other in the
state with as broad a base as Arctic Power and wondered if Mr.
Toohey could think of any other organization in the state.
Mr. Toohey replied that there is definitely no other single-issue
organization with as large of a base.
Co-Chair Donley reiterated that SB 95 was going to be a part the
consideration of the House fast track supplemental.
Senator Austerman commented that he believes that Artic Power is a
good organization, but as Mr. Toohey indicated Arctic Power has
been receiving $500,000 annually from the state and spending about
$250,000 of that and now they want the legislature to allocate
another $1.5 million in the next 30 days. He noted that there is
no backup that indicates that the $1.5 million is going to be
matched. He voiced concern that there should be some backup as to
where exactly the money is going to be spent. He added that when
they get to the vote on the bill those would be his comments.
Co-Chair Donley agreed that there should have been a little more in
the file, but knowing that it was not going to be the vehicle used
it was prepared with the intent of including it in the House fast
track supplemental.
Senator Austerman said that he would like some more backup
information that shows exactly how the money is being spent.
Mr. Toohey indicated that he would be happy to work with Senator
Austerman.
Co-Chair Donley summarized that the questions being asked were what
kind of commitment there is for a match, how much money has been
spent over the last five years, what is the appropriate lapse date
and a plan of some kind for the utilization of this money.
Senator Austerman added that he also would like to know how it is
being matched.
Mr. Toohey indicated that he would be happy to provide some general
information, but it is very critical that they do not provide
information that could be used against the state's efforts to open
ANWR.
ADJOURNMENT
Co-Chair Donley adjourned the meeting at 9:27 a.m.
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