Enrolled HR 7: Opposing the recent decisions of the Obama Administration to cancel future lease sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; urging the United States Department of the Interior to continue including the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea lease sales in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program; and urging the Obama Administration to support ongoing efforts to develop offshore oil and gas in the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf responsibly and to acknowledge the support of Alaskans.
00Enrolled HR 7 01 Opposing the recent decisions of the Obama Administration to cancel future lease sales in the 02 Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; urging the United States Department of the Interior to continue 03 including the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea lease sales in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental 04 Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program; and urging the Obama Administration to support ongoing 05 efforts to develop offshore oil and gas in the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf responsibly and 06 to acknowledge the support of Alaskans. 07 _______________ 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 09 WHEREAS the official Arctic policy of the state, passed by the Twenty-Ninth Alaska 10 State Legislature, states that "It is the policy of the state, as it relates to the Arctic, to uphold 11 the state's commitment to economically vibrant communities sustained by development 12 activities consistent with the state's responsibility for a healthy environment"; and 13 WHEREAS the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission advises the state, in its list of 14 strategic recommendations, to "promote prudent oil and gas exploration and development in 15 the Arctic"; and
01 WHEREAS the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates that 02 there are 23,000,000,000 barrels and 104,410,000,000,000 cubic feet of undiscovered, 03 technically recoverable oil and natural gas in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; and 04 WHEREAS hundreds of exploration and development wells have been safely and 05 responsibly drilled in state and federal water off the coast of the state, including in the 06 Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; and 07 WHEREAS the economic future of the state and the energy security and strategic 08 global position of the nation stand to benefit greatly from development of the state's outer 09 continental shelf; and 10 WHEREAS the state has a rich history of developing its resources in a sustainable 11 and responsible manner; and 12 WHEREAS development of the state's outer continental shelf is a well-understood 13 undertaking, and Alaskans have the benefit of over half a century's experience in managing 14 Arctic development; and 15 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, a national strategic infrastructure 16 asset, is running at one-quarter of throughput capacity and would benefit from additional 17 future oil supply; and 18 WHEREAS Alaskans, including those living closest to the resource on the North 19 Slope, benefit from outer continental shelf exploration through direct employment, business 20 opportunities, and government revenue; and 21 WHEREAS there are many synergies between the types of infrastructure that would 22 facilitate Arctic oil and gas exploration and development and the infrastructure needs of local 23 communities, the state, and elements of the United States Coast Guard and Navy; and 24 WHEREAS, in January of 2015, the United States Department of the Interior 25 published a draft 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program that 26 proposed one lease sale each in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea Planning Areas; and 27 WHEREAS the federal government has limited immediate opportunities in several 28 areas in the Arctic, including, most importantly, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the 29 National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska, and the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf; and 30 WHEREAS, on October 16, 2015, the United States Department of the Interior 31 cancelled future outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sales in the Chukchi Sea Planning
01 Area and Beaufort Sea Planning Area, scheduled for 2016 and 2017, respectively; 02 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska House of Representatives opposes the recent 03 decisions of the Obama Administration to cancel future lease sales in the Chukchi and 04 Beaufort Seas; and be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska House of Representatives urges the United 06 States Department of the Interior to continue including the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea 07 lease sales in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program; and be it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska House of Representatives urges the Obama 09 Administration to support ongoing efforts to develop offshore oil and gas in the Arctic Outer 10 Continental Shelf responsibly and to acknowledge the support of Alaskans. 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 Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of the 14 Interior; Brian Salerno, Director, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement; and the 15 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the 16 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.