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Interior asked to postpone Chukchi lease sale Ploy by Democrats to block Arctic Alaska exploration with polar bear question could backfire, endanger economy, Don Young warns Rose Ragsdale For Petroleum News
U.S. Rep. Don Young, Alaska’s sole congressman, accused a colleague Jan. 22 of promoting legislation that would hinder the U.S. economy by blocking oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and more recently in the Chukchi Sea.
In a letter to Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Young criticized the longtime opponent of Arctic drilling for using the polar bear as a reason to stop oil and gas activity not only in Alaska, but in virtually every state in the nation.
Markey, who chairs the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, sent a letter Jan. 18 to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne urging the secretary to postpone federal Lease Sale 193, a pending offering of oil and gas leases in the outer continental shelf off the northern coast of Alaska until after he makes a decision on whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species. The lease sale is scheduled for Feb. 6.
Hearing Jan. 17 The Massachusetts congressman held a committee hearing Jan. 17 where he questioned the wisdom of putting oil extraction ahead of species extinction and introduced legislation requiring that the Interior Department decide the polar bear’s status before allowing the lease sale to proceed.
“Placing the lease sale ahead of the polar bear decision gives the strong appearance of politics trumping science, especially because the polar bear decision has been delayed despite a very thorough study showing that global warming is rapidly wiping out the polar bear habitat and urgent action is needed to save the species,” Markey said. “We have many options as a nation to move away from our addiction to oil, but the polar bear will starve and drown if it loses its habitat.”
Young: Markey’s efforts a threat Young is the top-ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Markey bill.
In his letter to House leaders, Young said Markey’s efforts could pose a severe threat to U.S. energy production and national security.
“OCS lease sale 193 is estimated to contain 15 billion barrels of oil and 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, for a combined total of 27.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. ANWR is estimated to hold another 10.4 billion barrels of oil, for a total of 38.2 billion barrels of oil. This would almost double the total proven reserves of oil,” Young wrote.
At today’s prices of roughly $90 per barrel of oil and $8.50 per million Btu of natural gas, Lease Sale 193 and ANWR represent nearly $3 trillion to the U.S. economy, money Americans, otherwise, will spend to buy foreign oil before the nation can switch to alternatives, he said.
Based on questioning of witnesses at the Select Committee hearing, Young said it became clear to him that the Democrats are trying to use the Endangered Species Act as a tool to stop domestic energy production in all states.
At the hearing, witnesses admitted that listing the polar bear as an endangered species would give the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the authority to review permits for all carbon dioxide-emitting energy projects, including coal plants in distant states like Arizona, Young said.
The Alaska congressman also noted that polar bears are already protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which in many cases is much more restrictive than the Endangered Species Act.
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