ANWR issue alive, ongoing education needed, Murkowski says

Steve Sutherlin, Petroleum News associate editor

Access to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a live issue in Congress, even though a Senate version of an energy bill was passed out of committee recently without approvals for oil and gas exploration in the refuge. The ANWR drilling issue lives on in a House energy bill that contains a provision allowing access to the refuge.

The energy bill is expected to be considered by the full Senate this month. Differences between the House and Senate versions of the energy bill will be then hammered out in conference committee, where the two bills must be reconciled into a combined bill, which then must pass both bodies.

The Senate version moved out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee April 30 on a 13-10 vote. There was only one yes vote on the bill from a Democrat -- from Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.

Murkowski wants funds for Arctic Power

The state needs a steady, ongoing campaign to get its message on energy issues out to the nation, particularly on ANWR and a gas pipeline from the North Slope, Murkowski said in her first address to a joint session of the Legislature.

“We need to advertise our story,” Murkowski said. “I don’t care what resource it is, we have to show how we can do it right.”

Murkowski said the state needed to make a commitment to funding Arctic Power, so the organization can effectively promote ANWR access in Washington D.C. and the rest of the nation.

“It’s not enough to give a bit of money to Arctic Power for a flurry of activity and intense campaign,” she said.

Murkowski said Alaskans must deal with the fact that economic activity in the state will come under scrutiny from the government and from people who would like to be tourists in the state’s open spaces.

“We need to tell (people), ‘we’re happy to have you as tourists, but we don’t want the only job opportunities in Alaska to be carrying bags for the tourists,’” she said.