00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 49                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to enact S.J. Res. 26, a resolution disapproving the                                  
02 Environmental Protection Agency's imposition of climate regulations that would harm                                     
03 Alaska's economy and the livelihoods of the state's citizens.                                                           
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS the President of the United States and members of the President's party in                              
06 the United States Congress are seeking to enact far-reaching climate legislation in order to                            
07 force reductions in domestic greenhouse gas emissions; and                                                              
08       WHEREAS the United States House of Representatives has passed H.R. 2454, the                                    
09 American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, and the United States Senate is waiting to                              
10 consider S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act; and                                                     
11       WHEREAS both H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 will result in unnecessary regulation and                                    
12 economic interference by the federal government, hindering the nation's free market                                     
13 economy, increasing federal involvement in business, and mandating state oversight; and                                 
14       WHEREAS Congressional support for H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 has weakened because                                  
15 of widespread concerns over economic cost, environmental effectiveness, and the intensely                               

01 partisan process surrounding their development; and                                                                   
02       WHEREAS efforts of the United States Congress to develop a more responsible                                     
03 policy continue, but the Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to circumvent the                                   
04 Congress and the people of the United States by pursuing an unprecedented expansion of the                              
05 Clean Air Act; and                                                                                                      
06       WHEREAS the Environmental Protection Agency, having recently issued an                                          
07 "endangerment finding" for six greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, is now on the                                 
08 verge of issuing economy-wide command-and-control regulations to force reductions in                                    
09 greenhouse gas emissions; and                                                                                           
10       WHEREAS the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that up to 6,000,000                                  
11 American businesses, facilities, farms, and other greenhouse gas emitters will fall under the                           
12 new climate regulations, as opposed to the 15,000 emitters who are currently regulated; and                             
13       WHEREAS the proposed climate regulations would subject a massive number of                                  
14 persons to an extremely expensive, time-intensive process that would require new permits to                             
15 be obtained and new equipment and technologies to be installed; and                                                     
16       WHEREAS the administrative responsibilities associated with the proposed climate                              
17 regulations would overwhelm state and local agencies, which already struggle to complete                                
18 their work because of budget constraints, leading to unacceptable delays or rejections of new                           
19 job-creating projects that would stimulate the economy; and                                                             
20       WHEREAS the consequences of the proposed climate regulations would be higher                                  
21 energy prices, higher food prices, fewer jobs, and reduced production of domestic oil, natural                          
22 gas, and coal; and                                                                                                      
23       WHEREAS the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed "tailoring rule" does                                    
24 not make the proposed climate regulations any more tenable because of state and local Clean                             
25 Air Act requirements and the likelihood that the rule would not withstand the numerous legal                            
26 challenges being prepared; and                                                                                          
27       WHEREAS the Clean Air Act was not designed to regulate greenhouse gas                                           
28 emissions, and the economic consequences of the proposed climate regulations would be felt                              
29 nationwide and would be particularly harmful in Alaska; and                                                             
30       WHEREAS, because the Clean Air Act does not account for Alaska's unique                                     
31 circumstances, including population, physical size, geographic location, and arctic climate,                            

01 the proposed climate regulations would uniquely disadvantage the state; and                                             
02       WHEREAS the proposed climate regulations will have both predictable and                                         
03 unforeseen negative effects on the state's economy and citizens; and                                                    
04       WHEREAS the state's economy is reliant on the responsible development of the                                    
05 state's abundant natural resources, which is, at present, relatively unburdened by regulations                          
06 that are not specific to Alaska's market and industrial character; and                                                  
07       WHEREAS the state is a major exporter of carbon-based energy and receives more                                  
08 than 80 percent of its unrestricted general fund revenue directly from oil and gas operations,                          
09 producing approximately 13 percent of the nation's oil supply; and                                                      
10       WHEREAS Alaska's refineries, which are essential to the state's economy and cold                                
11 weather fuel needs, are uniquely vulnerable to the increased costs that would result from the                           
12 proposed climate regulations; and                                                                                       
13       WHEREAS the detrimental effect that the proposed climate regulations would have                               
14 on Alaska's refineries and North Slope oil production would also affect the Trans Alaska                                
15 Pipeline System, which transports hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil to American                                   
16 markets each day and provides revenue needed for the state budget; and                                                  
17       WHEREAS the prospects for the construction of an Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline with                             
18 the capacity to supply affordable and clean energy to the state and the nation as a whole                               
19 would be severely affected on both developmental and delivery levels by the proposed climate                            
20 regulations; and                                                                                                        
21       WHEREAS large fish processors, mines, hotels, hospitals, and dozens of other                                    
22 facilities in the state would be subject to the proposed climate regulations, threatening                               
23 important state economic engines and Alaskans' ability to obtain access to and afford many                              
24 essential services; and                                                                                                 
25       WHEREAS the proposed climate regulations will be detrimental to the state's                                     
26 economy and workers, stifling economic development and potentially causing enormous job                                 
27 losses; and                                                                                                             
28       WHEREAS natural resource development in the state, including refinery operations,                               
29 existing infrastructure, and proposed projects, will be negatively affected by the                                      
30 Environmental Protection Agency's proposed use of the Clean Air Act to limit carbon dioxide                             
31 and greenhouse gas emissions;                                                                                           

01       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
02 Congress to enact S.J. Res. 26, a bipartisan resolution of disapproval offered by Senator Lisa                          
03 Murkowski of Alaska, which would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency's                                          
04 endangerment finding from having any force or effect, and thereby prevent the agency from                               
05 imposing economically harmful climate regulations that would negatively affect Alaska's                                 
06 economy and the livelihoods of Alaskans through the elimination of jobs and increased costs                             
07 for goods and services; and be it                                                                                       
08       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports responsible                                         
09 measures developed by the United States Congress, not by unelected federal bureaucrats, that                            
10 encourage investments in technology to reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.                              
11       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
12 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
13 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
14 Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and the                                  
15 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the                                          
16 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.