HCS CSSSSJR 3(RES): 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; 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.
00 HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SS 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; urging the United States Department of the Interior to recognize the private 04 property rights of owners of land in and adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 05 relating to oil and gas exploration, development, production, and royalties; and relating 06 to renewable and alternative energy technologies. 07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3142 (sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 09 Conservation Act), the United States Congress reserved the right to permit further oil and gas 10 exploration, development, and production within the coastal plain of the Arctic National 11 Wildlife Refuge; and 12 WHEREAS the oil industry, the state, and the United States Department of the 13 Interior consider the coastal plain to have the highest potential for discovery of very large oil 14 and gas accumulations on the continent of North America, estimated to be as much as
01 10,000,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil; and 02 WHEREAS the "1002 study area" is part of the coastal plain located within the North 03 Slope Borough, and many of the residents of the North Slope Borough, who are 04 predominantly Inupiat, are supportive of development in the "1002 study area"; and 05 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development of the coastal plain of the refuge 06 and adjacent land could result in major discoveries that would reduce our nation's dependency 07 on oil produced by hostile foreign nations, help balance the nation's trade deficit, and 08 significantly increase the nation's security; and 09 WHEREAS the state's and the nation's future energy independence would be 10 enhanced with additional natural gas production from the North Slope of Alaska, including 11 what are expected to be significant gas reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and 12 the development of those reserves would enhance the economic viability of the proposed 13 Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline; and 14 WHEREAS domestic demand for energy continues to rise, and the United States 15 continues to depend on imports of oil from foreign sources; and 16 WHEREAS development of oil at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Endicott, Lisburne, and 17 Milne Point has resulted in thousands of jobs throughout the United States, and projected job 18 creation as a result of coastal plain oil development will have a positive effect in all 50 states; 19 and 20 WHEREAS North Slope production is declining; and 21 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, a national asset that would cost 22 billions of dollars to replace, would have its useful physical life extended for a substantial 23 period if the additional reserves of recoverable oil from the coastal plain were produced; and 24 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System is currently being extended to leases at 25 Point Thomson, an area bordering the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and oil produced in 26 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would require only the additional construction of a 27 pipeline to Point Thomson to deliver oil to market; and 28 WHEREAS, while new oil field developments on the North Slope of Alaska may 29 temporarily slow the decline in production, only allowing access to the state's coastal plain 30 fields would enable the production volume of Alaska oil to increase to a significant degree; 31 and
01 WHEREAS opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge now 02 allows sufficient time for planning environmental safeguards, development, and national 03 security review; and 04 WHEREAS the 1,500,000-acre coastal plain of the refuge makes up less than eight 05 percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, and development of the oil and gas reserves in the 06 refuge's coastal plain would affect a limited area as defined by the United States Congress; 07 and 08 WHEREAS 8,900,000 of the 19,000,000 acres of the refuge have already been set 09 aside as wilderness; and 10 WHEREAS the oil industry has shown at Prudhoe Bay, as well as at other locations 11 along the Arctic coastal plain, that it is capable of conducting oil and gas activity without 12 adversely affecting the environment or wildlife populations; and 13 WHEREAS the state will continue to strive to ensure the ongoing health and 14 productivity of the Porcupine and Central Arctic caribou herds and the protection of land, 15 water, and wildlife resources during the exploration and development of the coastal plain of 16 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 17 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry has developed directional drilling technology that 18 will allow horizontal drilling in a responsible manner by minimizing the development 19 footprint within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and that directional drilling technology 20 may be capable of drilling from outside of the boundaries of the 1002 study area; and 21 WHEREAS the oil industry is using innovative technology and environmental 22 practices in new field developments, and those techniques are directly applicable to operating 23 on the coastal plain and would enhance environmental protection beyond traditionally high 24 standards; and 25 WHEREAS the state recognizes that the economic prosperity of the state is dependent 26 on available, reliable, and affordable energy; and 27 WHEREAS the state promotes the development of renewable and alternative energy 28 resources and created the Alaska Energy Authority to assist the state in advancing new energy 29 projects and technology; and 30 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature encourages the use of revenue from 31 development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the development of renewable and
01 alternative energy resources in the state; 02 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 03 Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 04 to oil and gas exploration, development, and production; and be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges that oil and gas 06 exploration, development, and production activity be conducted in a manner that protects the 07 environment and the naturally occurring population levels of the Porcupine caribou herd on 08 which the Inupiat, Gwich'in, and other local residents depend, that uses directional drilling 09 and other advances in technology to minimize the development footprint in the 1002 study 10 area, and that uses the state's work force to the maximum extent possible; and be it 11 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 12 Congress to pass legislation opening the 1002 study area for oil and gas development while 13 continuing to work on measures for increasing the development and use of renewable and 14 alternative energy technologies; and be it 15 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 16 Department of the Interior to recognize and respect the rights of Native landowners in and 17 adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 study area, including the rights of the 18 Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation to develop their land 19 and resource entitlements received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and other 20 agreements; and be it 21 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any unilateral 22 reduction in royalty revenue from exploration and development of the coastal plain of the 23 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and any attempt to coerce the state into accepting less than 24 the 90 percent of the oil, gas, and mineral royalties from the federal land in the state that was 25 promised to the state at statehood. 26 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 27 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 28 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the 29 Interior; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 30 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 31 Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell,
01 Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ron Wyden, Chair of the Energy and 02 Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 03 Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 04 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 113th United 05 States Congress.