00 CS FOR SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 3(RES) 01 Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the 02 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, development, and 03 production; relating to oil and gas exploration, development, production, and royalties; 04 and relating to renewable and alternative energy technologies. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3142 (sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 07 Conservation Act), the United States Congress reserved the right to permit further oil and gas 08 exploration, development, and production within the coastal plain of the Arctic National 09 Wildlife Refuge; and 10 WHEREAS the oil industry, the state, and the United States Department of the 11 Interior consider the coastal plain to have the highest potential for discovery of very large oil 12 and gas accumulations on the continent of North America, estimated to be as much as 13 10,000,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil; and 14 WHEREAS the "1002 study area" is part of the coastal plain located within the North 15 Slope Borough, and many of the residents of the North Slope Borough, who are 01 predominantly Inupiat Eskimo, are supportive of development in the "1002 study area"; and 02 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development of the coastal plain of the refuge 03 and adjacent land could result in major discoveries that would reduce our nation's dependency 04 on oil produced by hostile foreign nations, help balance the nation's trade deficit, and 05 significantly increase the nation's security; and 06 WHEREAS the state's and the nation's future energy independence would be 07 enhanced with additional natural gas production from the North Slope of Alaska including 08 what are expected to be significant gas reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and 09 the development of those reserves would enhance the economic viability of the proposed 10 Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline; and 11 WHEREAS domestic demand for energy continues to rise, and the United States 12 continues to depend on imports of oil from foreign sources; and 13 WHEREAS development of oil at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Endicott, Lisburne, and 14 Milne Point has resulted in thousands of jobs throughout the United States, and projected job 15 creation as a result of coastal plain oil development will have a positive effect in all 50 states; 16 and 17 WHEREAS North Slope production is declining; and 18 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, a national asset that would cost 19 billions of dollars to replace, would have its useful physical life extended for a substantial 20 period if the additional reserves of recoverable oil from the coastal plain were produced; and 21 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System currently is being extended to leases at 22 Point Thomson, an area bordering the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and oil produced in 23 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would only require the additional construction of a 24 pipeline to Point Thomson to deliver oil to market; and 25 WHEREAS, while new oil field developments on the North Slope of Alaska may 26 temporarily slow the decline in production, only allowing access to the state's coastal plain 27 fields would enable the production volume of Alaska oil to increase to a significant degree; 28 and 29 WHEREAS opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge now 30 allows sufficient time for planning environmental safeguards, development, and national 31 security review; and 01 WHEREAS the 1,500,000-acre coastal plain of the refuge makes up less than eight 02 percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, and the development of the oil and gas reserves in the 03 refuge's coastal plain would affect a limited area as defined by the United States Congress; 04 and 05 WHEREAS 8,900,000 of the 19,000,000 acres of the refuge have already been set 06 aside as wilderness; and 07 WHEREAS the oil industry has shown at Prudhoe Bay, as well as at other locations 08 along the Arctic coastal plain, that it is capable of conducting oil and gas activity without 09 adversely affecting the environment or wildlife populations; and 10 WHEREAS the state will continue to strive to ensure the ongoing health and 11 productivity of the Porcupine and Central Arctic caribou herds and the protection of land, 12 water, and wildlife resources during the exploration and development of the coastal plain of 13 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 14 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry has developed directional drilling technology that 15 will allow horizontal drilling in a responsible manner by minimizing the development 16 footprint within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and this directional drilling technology 17 may be capable of drilling from outside of the boundaries of the 1002 study area; and 18 WHEREAS the oil industry is using innovative technology and environmental 19 practices in new field developments, and those techniques are directly applicable to operating 20 on the coastal plain and would enhance environmental protection beyond traditionally high 21 standards; and 22 WHEREAS the state recognizes that the economic prosperity of the state is dependent 23 on available, reliable, and affordable energy; and 24 WHEREAS the state promotes the development of renewable and alternative energy 25 resources and created the Alaska Energy Authority to assist the state in advancing new energy 26 projects and technology; and 27 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature encourages the use of revenue from 28 development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the development of renewable and 29 alternative energy resources in the state; 30 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 31 Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 01 to oil and gas exploration, development, and production; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges that oil and gas 03 exploration, development, and production activity be conducted in a manner that protects the 04 environment and the naturally occurring population levels of the Porcupine caribou herd on 05 which the Gwich'in and other local residents depend, that uses directional drilling and other 06 advances in technology to minimize the development footprint in the 1002 study area, and 07 that uses the state's work force to the maximum extent possible; and be it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 09 Congress to pass legislation opening the 1002 study area for oil and gas development while 10 continuing to work on measures for increasing the development and use of renewable and 11 alternative energy technologies; and be it 12 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any unilateral 13 reduction in royalty revenue from exploration and development of the coastal plain of the 14 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and any attempt to coerce the State of Alaska into accepting 15 less than the 90 percent of the oil, gas, and mineral royalties from the federal land in the state 16 that was promised to the state at statehood. 17 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 18 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 19 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the 20 Interior; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 21 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 22 Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, 23 Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ron Wyden, Chair of the Energy and 24 Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 25 Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 26 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 113th United 27 States Congress.