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Good news, bad news on ANWR coastal plain Proponents of wilderness designation outspend those proposing development by 10 to one, Roger Herrera tells annual Arctic Power meeting Kristen Nelson PNA News Editor
Some 225 members and guests of Arctic Power heard good news and bad news at the group’s annual meeting at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage Nov. 17.
The good news was that the organization continues to work to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas exploration; the bad news is that there is no change that will happen under the present administration.
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, speaking on video from Washington, D.C., told the group that “the steady source of information and base for support provided by Arctic Power is critical” to the work of the state’s Congressional delegation on the issue of opening the coastal plain for oil exploration.
No bill this year Congress is not considering a bill to open the coastal plain this year, he said, but noted that: “Most of the work to build support for opening ANWR happens before Congress takes up the issue.”
One of the most valuable things that Arctic Power does, Young said, is to take members of Congress “up to the North Slope to see the real truth about oil development in Alaska.”
Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, also addressing the group by video, said there is a need for new projects in the state. Alaska’s per capita growth has peaked, he said, rising only 2.1 percent in 1998: “That’s the second lowest growth rate that we’ve had and the second lowest in the nation.”
Murkowski also cited a decline in the state in population aged 20 to 34. “I’m told that there are 32,000 less people in that age group in the last eight years,” he said. We’re losing “a very productive group of Alaskans simply because we don’t have the jobs necessary to provide some opportunities for them.”
Murkowski also said it found it discouraging that 27 percent of the state’s work force is in government, second only to the District of Columbia.
Wilderness proponents spending millions Roger Herrera, who represents Arctic Power in Washington, D.C., said that this year proponents of a wilderness designation for the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have garnered 165 votes in the U.S. House of Representatives as co-sponsors of the wilderness bill.
“They’ve done that by outspending us by a factor of about 10 to one. I mean they’re literally spending millions of dollars while we are hunkered down waiting for Mr. Clinton to pass on, so to speak.”
Herrera said that even though there was no possibility of opening the coastal plain for development under this administration, “we have to prevent our opponents from gathering momentum such that it could be very difficult to stop” in the next administration.
On the defensive We’re on the defensive, Herrera said, and “we have to look at the worst thing that could happen to us.” The president could invoke the Antiquities Act to create a monument of the coastal plain.
“Now that is not a situation which is irreversible, it can be reversed,” Herrera said. “But it would be very difficult. It would take probably years of effort to reverse that action.”
The other risk, he said, is that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee, the organization responsible for world heritage sites, could indicate that it is willing to accept ANWR as a part of a world heritage site in the future at its upcoming meeting. If that happened, Herrera said, then the president could sign an administrative order “which would effectively lock up the coastal plain in that fashion.”
Dec. 2 news reports from the Marrakech, Morocco, meeting indicate that no U.S. sites were among the 48 new cultural and natural sites included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Requirements for a future offensive Once there is a new administration, Herrera said, three things will be needed to move forward on development of the coastal plain.
The most important thing, he said, is the support of Alaskans.
“If we don’t have our (Congressional) delegation, our mayors, our governor, our Legislators, our citizens wholeheartedly supporting this effort, we are never, ever going to pull it off.”
The Arctic Power meeting, Herrera said, was proof that the group has the support of Alaskans. But he said, “we have to retain our unity. That’s absolutely critical for the year 2000 and beyond.”
The second thing we want to pass legislation to open up the coastal plan, he said, “is the high price of oil.” Herrera said he believes that the price of oil is going to stay up, “and so we might have that as a benefit next year when perhaps the opportunity to pass legislation will be arising.”
The third requirement, Herrera said, “is a friendly Congress and administration.” And that, he said, depends on all of us, “and we should jolly well all vote to help that process along.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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