Legislature(1999 - 2000)

03/22/2000 03:10 PM Senate RES

Audio Topic
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
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             SJR 39-ENCOURAGING CONGRESS TO OPEN ANWR                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN HALFORD  called the Senate  Resources Committee  meeting to                                                          
order at 3:10 p.m. and  announced SJR 39 to be up for consideration.                                                            
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR PEARCE said SJR  39 was introduced by the Rules Committee at                                                            
her request.   U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski has introduced  S. 2214,                                                            
a bill  that  calls for  opening  the coastal  plain  of the  Arctic                                                            
National  Wildlife   Refuge  (ANWR)   to  responsible  exploration,                                                             
development  and  production  of oil  and  gas  resources.   SJR  39                                                            
supports Alaska's role  in providing the nation with a major portion                                                            
of its domestic  oil and  encourages Congress  to pass S. 2214.   It                                                            
further resolves  that the  legislature opposes  any effort  to make                                                            
the  coastal plain  a  national monument.    There is  concern  that                                                            
President Clinton  will use the Antiquities Act for  further Alaskan                                                            
withdrawals, including ANWR, before he leaves office this year.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR LINCOLN said that  a similar resolution [HJR 11] passed last                                                            
year.  She distributed  a proposed amendment that contains the exact                                                            
language that  was included in the previous year's  resolution.  The                                                            
proposed amendment reads as follows.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Page 2, following line 30, insert:                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     WHEREAS  the state will  ensure the  continued health  and                                                               
     productivity   of the  Porcupine   Caribou  herd  and  the                                                                 
     protection  of the  land,  water, and  wildlife resources                                                                  
     during  the exploration  and  development  of the coastal                                                                  
     plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Page 3, following line 6, insert:                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     FURTHER RESOLVED that oil exploration and development                                                                    
     activity be conducted in a manner that protects the                                                                        
     wildlife and the environment and utilizes the state's                                                                      
     work force to the maximum extent possible; and be it                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR LINCOLN moved to adopt the amendment.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR GREEN objected for the purpose of discussion.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR PEARCE said she has no problem with the amendment.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  TAYLOR  asked  how  the state  is  ensuring  the  continued                                                            
health of the herd and whether it has a policy with Lloyd's.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR PEARCE  said there is mitigation  on the North Slope  within                                                            
the present Prudhoe  Bay Unit and other units, which  disallows some                                                            
activities  during  calving  and other  important  seasons  for  the                                                            
central herd.   She assumed that it  has always been the  promise of                                                            
the state that any adverse  effects on the Porcupine herd during the                                                            
exploration,  which  takes  place  during winter  when  the  caribou                                                            
aren't there,  will be mitigated.   She was  sure the same  sorts of                                                            
policies would continue  and the ANWR project will require State and                                                            
Borough permits  as well.  The caribou  herds have been an  on-going                                                            
concern of  the people of the North  Slope, particularly  the people                                                            
in Kaktovik  who utilize the herd  for a portion of their  food each                                                            
year.   They  feel  comfortable  that impacts  on  the  herd can  be                                                            
mitigated.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN  HALFORD asked  if  the objection  was maintained.    There                                                            
being  no further  objection,  the  motion  to adopt  the  amendment                                                            
carried.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN  HALFORD   announced  the   committee  would  take   public                                                            
testimony.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Number 500                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MS. SUSAN SCHRADER, representing  the Alaska Conservation Voters and                                                            
the  Alaska Conservation  Alliance  (ACV-ACA),  mentioned  that  all                                                            
Americans,  as well as the  22,000 members  of the ACV-ACA,  enjoyed                                                            
the lower  fuel prices last  year and now  feel the pinch of  higher                                                            
prices.  ACV-ACA  members do not, however, believe  that drilling in                                                            
ANWR is the answer to the current situation.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS.  SCHRADER  brought  some  polling  results  to  the committee's                                                             
attention, and particularly  some results that relate to a "Whereas"                                                            
clause  on page  2, line  28,  that states,  "The  vast majority  of                                                            
Alaskans support  development in the coastal plain."   She felt that                                                            
is a profound overstatement.   Earlier this year, the ACA contracted                                                            
with  Ivan Moore  Research  to conduct  a  telephone  survey of  500                                                            
Alaskans.  Only  50.7 percent of those polled supported  drilling in                                                            
ANWR; 41.7 percent favored  protecting caribou and bird habitat; and                                                            
7.6  percent  were  neutral.    She  repeated  it  is a  bit  of  an                                                            
overstatement to suggest  that 51 percent is a vast majority.  These                                                            
results were very much  in line with other polls conducted in Alaska                                                            
by ACA in years passed.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Another  question was  whether respondents  favor  state funding  of                                                            
Arctic  Power Group.   The  results showed  that  only 41.6  percent                                                            
favor state funding, while  46.6 percent did not support this use of                                                            
state funds.  11.8 percent did not know.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHRADER  said the most compelling  and simple argument  against                                                            
opening  ANWR is  that  95 percent  of the  North  Slope is  already                                                            
available for  oil and gas exploration.   The coastal plain  of ANWR                                                            
equals  five   percent.    While   the  Natives  of  Kaktovik   have                                                            
consistently  supported  opening the  refuge, the  Gwit'chen  people                                                            
spoke in Canada  and Alaska and consider the coastal  plain a sacred                                                            
ground.     For  an  estimated  20,000   years,  their  traditional                                                             
subsistence  lifestyle has depended  heavily on the 129,000  caribou                                                            
of the Porcupine  herd, which uses  the coastal plain as  a birthing                                                            
ground.   Many believe  that protection  of this  herd, the  coastal                                                            
plain, and  the Gwit'chen  culture makes this  issue a human  rights                                                            
one.  Opening  the refuge will not be a quick fix  to the high price                                                            
of gasoline.   During the gas crisis  in 1973, it was the  desire of                                                            
people to conserve fuel  that resolved the crisis by using more fuel                                                            
efficient cars.   Other solutions to the high price  of fuel are out                                                            
there; opening  the last five percent of the North  Slope is not the                                                            
only one.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  TAYLOR said an  ice age  was underway  10,000 years  ago so                                                            
there  were probably  no caribou  up there,  and he  just watched  a                                                            
television  program about  a wooly  mammoth skeleton  found in  that                                                            
area.  He thought she should check some of her facts.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHRADER responded  that it is her understanding that the Bering                                                            
land-sea  bridge was formed  and in place  somewhere between  10,000                                                            
and 20,000  years ago.   The best theory  of the anthropologists  is                                                            
that  the Athabaskan  people  migrated across  this  bridge at  that                                                            
time.  Her concern  is that those people have been  in that area for                                                            
about  20,000  years  and  they  have  been  living   a subsistence                                                             
lifestyle.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked  her where she got most of her information on                                                            
the coastal plain of ANWR.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHRADER  answered that  she hasn't been  in the refuge  itself,                                                            
but she  has been  in the  Brooks Range.   She spent  quite a  while                                                            
along the Noatak.   The coastal plain  is a known birthing  area for                                                            
the caribou herd.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN HALFORD  said the coastal plain is a very  small portion of                                                            
ANWR.   It's very  different  from the  high country.  He noted  the                                                            
coastal  plain  is a  flat,  high-level mosquito  bog.  He  couldn't                                                            
imagine that  anyone camps  on the coastal  plain for any length  of                                                            
time during the summer.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHRADER said her argument  is that the coastal plain is a known                                                            
birthing  area for  the caribou  herd.   She said  they are  talking                                                            
about  a very  small  area  but it  is not  barren  and  it is  very                                                            
critical.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN   HALFORD  said   the  exaggerations   of  the  threat   of                                                            
development  and  modern  technology  on  ANWR  does  not  help  her                                                            
argument  because  the size  of the  footprint  and  the ability  to                                                            
develop in ANWR with minimal impact is there.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS.  SCHRADER said  the  exaggeration  is in  the resolution.    The                                                            
physical footprint the  petrochemical industry has to make to do the                                                            
exploration  may be smaller now, but  she can guarantee there  would                                                            
be helicopter and fixed-wing  overflights, exploring and 3-D seismic                                                            
testing during the winter  when the polar bears are denning. To risk                                                            
the last five percent of  the North Slope because we're debating who                                                            
is exaggerating more is  shortsighted. She emphasized the importance                                                            
of oil conservation.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN  HALFORD  responded  that  numerically   her  facts  aren't                                                            
accurate.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR TAYLOR asked Ms.  Schrader if she has any numbers to back up                                                            
her statement  that the  oil crisis  of 1973 was  alleviated  by the                                                            
public's conservation  measures, such as buying gas  efficient cars.                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHRADER  said she would get some.   She said her point  is that                                                            
fuel conservation  by the  citizens of the  United States will  go a                                                            
long way to helping the current problem.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KELLY asked Ms.  Schrader if she is trying to slow down this                                                            
resolution.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHRADER  said she didn't  think her  testimony would make  much                                                            
difference.  She  hoped it would at least make them  pause and think                                                            
about  the many  other  Alaskans who  care about  this  issue.   She                                                            
thought the committee  needs to look at the polling  data carefully.                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Number 1555                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  GREEN  said  she  recalled  that  the  Arctic  Power  Group                                                            
presented documented figures  that showed the Porcupine caribou herd                                                            
population tripled  since oil development began on  the North Slope.                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS. SCHRADER responded  that her understanding is that Senator Green                                                            
is talking  about a different herd.  She wasn't sure to what  extent                                                            
the  Porcupine caribou  herd  migrates into  the  Prudhoe Bay  area.                                                            
There are several  other herds.  She offered to get  her the correct                                                            
information.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  LINCOLN  thanked Ms.  Schrader  and said  the  idea of  the                                                            
committee  is to allow  people of  different voices  to be heard  on                                                            
legislation  or anything the  committee is  discussing.  She  didn't                                                            
want Ms.  Schrader to feel  like she was going  to be grilled  every                                                            
time she sits at the table.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR TAYLOR  moved to pass SJR 39 from committee  with individual                                                            
recommendations.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MR. JIM  SYKES, representing  himself,  interrupted  to say that  he                                                            
wanted  to testify  in  opposition  to SJR  39. He  asked  committee                                                            
members  to think about  their place  as legislators  in Alaska  and                                                            
Alaska as a  producer of oil for the  U.S.  Alaska produces  about 1                                                            
percent  of  the  world's  oil and  about  20  percent  of  American                                                            
production.     He  appreciated   Ms.  Schrader's   comments   about                                                            
conservation.  Some people  think we need to increase our production                                                            
of oil  so  we can  have more  energy security.  The  fact is  quite                                                            
opposite.  The  more we deplete our reserves, the  higher the danger                                                            
is that we  will not have any national  defense capability  and have                                                            
no alternatives.   In  the absence  of a national  energy plan,  the                                                            
United  States needs to  be very  careful about  our resources.   He                                                            
couldn't  understand why the  State was pushing  to open the  Arctic                                                            
Refuge so fast.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR.  SYKES quoted  from the  1998-99  U.S. Geological  Survey  Artic                                                            
National  Wildlife Refuge  10-02  Area Petroleum  Assessment  Report                                                            
which  states, "About  2.6  billion barrels  of oil  distributed  in                                                            
about three  fields is  expected to be  economically recoverable  in                                                            
the unformed (ph)  part of the 10-02 area."  That  means there is no                                                            
central location  for a huge pot of  oil - the oil is spread  across                                                            
the 10-02 area.  If one compares the  estimated 2.6 billion  barrels                                                            
with  the unexplored  potential  between  the Colville  and  Canning                                                            
Rivers, which  the State owns, it certainly makes  sense that should                                                            
be explored first  and those supplies should be used  up long before                                                            
ANWR is considered.   ANWR is a very  special area and, if  there is                                                            
not much  oil there,  it should not  be high  on the priority  list.                                                            
Although the technology  has improved, any spill that occurred would                                                            
have  the  potential  of  reaching  the coast  so  it  could  effect                                                            
millions of  acres. The second area  that should be explored  is the                                                            
NPRA.  He also  thought they  needed  to consider  that development                                                             
would happen  in a "net" rather than  a small footprint.   These are                                                            
very important national arguments.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MR. SYKES asked  the committee to  look at the website of  the Union                                                            
of Concerned  Scientists.   They  have issued  a report  on how  the                                                            
United  States can lessen  its dependence  on fossil  fuels over  80                                                            
percent over  30 years without degrading  our lifestyle.   We simply                                                            
have to  make changes  in technology  and in the  way we do  things.                                                            
Alaska's oil is a drop  in the bucket as far as American consumption                                                            
goes.  It  should be saved  for our grandchildren  in case  we don't                                                            
responsibly manage our resources.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR TAYLOR  moved CSSJR 39(RES)  from committee with  individual                                                            
recommendations.   There were no objections  and it was so  ordered.                                                            

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