Legislature(2023 - 2024)BUTROVICH 205
04/15/2024 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SJR19 | |
| Presentation(s): Department of Natural Resources Next Generation Mineral Assessment in Alaska | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SJR 19 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SJR 19-SUPPORTING CERTAIN US TRADE POLICIES
3:32:57 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL announced the consideration of SENATE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 19 "Supporting trade policies for the United
States that hold China and other countries accountable, reward
leadership in clean production standards, reward superior
environmental performance, support economic development, and
support the rebuilding of supply chains in the United States."
3:33:09 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL solicited a motion.
3:33:11 PM
CO-CHAIR BISHOP moved to adopt the Committee Substitute (CS) for
SJR 19, work order 33-LS1498\S, as the working document.
3:33:46 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL objected for purposes of discussion.
3:33:57 PM
JULIA OCONNER, Staff, Senator Cathy Giessel, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, presented the explanation of
changes from Version B to S of SJR 19:
[Original punctuation provided.]
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 19
SUPPORTING CERTAIN U.S. TRADE POLICIES
Explanation of Changes
SENATE CS for Senate Joint Resolution 19 (RES)
Version 33-LS1498\B to 33-LS1498\S
The Senate Resource Committee adopted the following
changes:
• Updated title, technical change
• Page 2, lines 12 to include Russia along with
China as a focus of the resolution
3:34:28 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL announced invited testimony on SJR 19.
3:35:02 PM
DAVE BANKS, Managing Director, Battle Group, Fairfax, Virginia,
delivered a presentation related to SJR 19. He gave a brief
overview of his work history. He said that he would be
discussing the challenges facing America and the threat of
Chinese and Russian aggression as well as Alaska's role in
helping to address these challenges. He stressed the need for a
new federal trade policy to help strengthen competitiveness,
increase supply chain security, bolster the economy, and create
well-paying jobs while holding major polluters (e.g. China)
accountable. He opined that Alaska would benefit from trade
policy that values high environmental and labor standards. He
commented that few states produce resources as "cleanly" as
Alaska and the industry in Alaska could serve as a model for the
rest of the world.
3:37:13 PM
MR. BANKS said that reversing the United States' decreasing
competitiveness in the national market is becoming a national
priority. US manufacturing output has fallen relative to foreign
competitors - particularly since China's entry into the World
Trade Organization (WTO). He stated that this cost the US
roughly 3.4 million jobs. He briefly described Chinese
production and trade practices.
3:38:20 PM
MR. BANKS moved to slide 2 and spoke to the maps depicting
China's increasing global dominance in importation from 2000 to
2021. He stated that this expansion has significantly decreased
access to gateway jobs from the lower to middle classes in the
United States. He shared a personal story to illustrate the
destructive impact of naïve trade policy. He emphasized the
impact this has on Americans' health and supply chain security.
The latter has an impact on key strategic sectors, including
strategically critical minerals.
3:40:41 PM
MR. BANKS moved to slide 3 and spoke to the production of
selected minerals based on country. He said that China is
wealthy in minerals - although not enough to achieve the goal of
dominating worldwide mineral trade. He said that gaining global
supremacy in mineral resource extraction and processing would
help China to secure its role as the world's factory and
increase China's power and influence. He explained that China
has reinforced its edge in domestic mineral production by
extending control of overseas mining interests. He briefly
explained this process. He stated that this is too risky for the
United States. He briefly discussed how China controls both
production and refining of various minerals and the impacts this
has on the global mineral supply chain.
3:41:45 PM
MR. BANKS briefly referred to slide 2 and reiterated that this
slide illustrates how China dominates in strategic minerals,
including extraction in Sub-Saharan Africa. He advanced to slide
4 and discussed Chinese controlled production of selected
minerals in Africa. He stated that the current trade regime
rewards "bad performers" such as China and Russia and ignores
the environmental superiority of American producers. He
emphasized that the United States leads with respect to reduced
emissions.
3:42:18 PM
MR. BANKS moved to [slide 5] and contrasted Chinese CO2
emissions with the United States' CO2 emissions. He emphasized
that from 2005 to 2020, the US led in cutting CO2 emissions and
briefly explained the data. He contrasted this with China's CO2
productions, which grew by 24 percent during the aforementioned
time period. He pointed out that China's emissions levels are
currently three times that of the US. He stated that the United
States is one of the cleanest countries in terms of the amount
of carbon needed for production. He referred to a 2020 report
published by the Climate Leadership Council that found US
manufactured products to be 40 percent more carbon efficient
than the world's average. He contrasted this with China's
manufactured products, which require at least three times more
carbon than in the US. He also contrasted this with Russian
manufactured products, which require at least four times more
carbon.
3:43:09 PM
MR. BANKS moved to [slides 7 and 8] and discussed America's
carbon efficiency across a variety of sectors compared to that
of select U.S. allies and China. He noted that mining and other
resource extraction activities in China are more than two times
as carbon intensive than in the US. For mining support services,
the gap is more than 5 times. He argued that resource production
in the US (including in Alaska) would displace "dirtier"
resource production overseas -particularly from China- and this
would reduce global emissions. He said that greenhouse gas life-
cycle emissions of coal, natural gas and oil vary by supplier.
3:44:08 PM
MR. BANKS moved to slide 9 and spoke to the 20-year life cycle
emissions from fossil fuels. He explained that Russian produced
natural gas, shipped via pipeline to Europe has roughly 41
percent higher life-cycle emissions than US liquified natural
gas (LNG) shipped to the same destination. Similarly, Russian
produced natural gas shipped via pipeline to China has 47
percent higher life-cycle emissions than US LNG exported to
China. He noted that this data reflects US Gulf Coast exports
and surmised that the numbers would be better if Alaskan exports
were included.
3:45:17 PM
MR. BANKS said that US producers would benefit from a policy
framework that rewards environmental performance. He argued that
this type of approach would drive efficiency gains across the
global fossil fuel supply chain, encouraging industries to
invest in advanced technologies and adopt best practices. He
said this would hold foreign competitors like Russia and China
accountable. He reiterated that current trade rules do not
reward US industry for its environmental performance; instead,
poor environmental performers such as Russia and China are
rewarded. He argued that this results in the off shoring of
domestic jobs and undermines socio-economic mobility in the US.
3:46:15 PM
MR. BANKS moved to slide 10 and said that America and its allies
are at a significant disadvantage, with Chinese dominance in
global trade and supply chains. He asserted that America must
work to wrest control of these critical supply chains from China
and Russia. He argued that a new trade policy would offer an
opportunity to bolster US economic and job security while
reducing the influence of American adversaries in the global
economy.
3:47:01 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL removed her objection; finding no further
objection, CS SJR 19 was adopted.
3:47:19 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL asked Mr. Banks to summarize the CS SJR 19.
3:47:28 PM
MR. BANKS replied that the purpose of the resolution is to send
a request to the federal government to reset US trade policy. He
clarified that CS SJR 19 does not specify a particular policy;
rather, it calls for a new trade policy that would hold foreign
polluters accountable and reward US industry for its
environmental performance.
3:48:15 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL agreed with this summary. She added that this
would include raising awareness of the carefulness the US places
on the protection of air, water, and land. She pointed out that,
while Alaska has vast minerals, these are largely sent to China
for processing. Once they cross the border into China, they
become property of China. The Chinese government is then in
control of the export of these minerals, which poses challenges
when the US attempts to buy them back. She briefly discussed
several minerals that are produced at the Red Dog Mine and are
now banned from export in China. She asked Co-Chair Bishop if
her understanding is correct.
3:49:28 PM
CO-CHAIR BISHOP shared his understanding that this is correct.
3:49:42 PM
SENATOR KAUFMAN said that he is glad SJR 19 is being considered.
3:49:57 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL thanked Senator Dunbar for proposing to hold
Russia accountable.
3:50:19 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL opened public testimony on SJR 19; finding
none, she closed public testimony.
3:50:37 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL solicited the will of the committee.
3:50:40 PM
CO-CHAIR BISHOP moved to report CSSJR 19, work order 33-
LS1498\S, from committee with individual recommendations and
attached fiscal note(s).
3:50:58 PM
CO-CHAIR GIESSEL found no objection and CSSJR 19(RES) was
reported from the Senate Resources Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SJR 19 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| SJR 19, version B.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| SJR 19 Fiscal Note 4.12.24.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| SJR 19, version S.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| SJR 19 Summary of Changes, version B to S.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| SJR 19 Supporting Document_Greenhouse Gas Lifecycle Assessment.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| SJR 19 Supporting Document_New Trade Regime Can Counter Chinese Supply Chain.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| SJR 19 Dave Banks SRES Presentation 4.15.24.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 19 |
| DNR Mineral Assessment SRES Presentation 4.15.24.pdf |
SRES 4/15/2024 3:30:00 PM |