Herron eager for President Obama visit

Bethel Democrat says coming events leading into and including Obama’s arrival puts Alaska at center stage for Arctic policy issues

STEVE QUINN

For Petroleum News

House Majority Whip Bob Herron’s August calendar keeps filling up. On Aug. 14, he will be part of a gathering featuring a host committee for an expected visit to Alaska by President Barack Obama and possibly Secretary of State John Kerry. On Aug. 23-25, he’ll be part of a conference discussing priorities for advancing Alaska’s interests in Arctic policy.

And on Aug. 31, Alaska welcomes Obama and members of his team for a discussion on the Arctic. It will be part of a conference called Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience, also known as GLACIER.

Herron, along with Senate colleague Lesil McGuire, has been on the front lines of Arctic policy for the state.

The Bethel Democrat, who aligns himself with the Republican majority, recently accepted an appointment as chair for the Arctic Caucus from the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region, a coalition of states and Canadian provinces and territories looking to advance mutual economic interests.

Herron spoke to Petroleum News about what lies ahead in August and a little beyond.

Petroleum News: Let’s start by talking about your PNWER appointment as Arctic caucus chair. What would you like to accomplish for Alaska?

Herron: Every year the three jurisdictions rotate. So it’s Alaska’s turn. It will either be the Yukon or the Northwest Territories next year. So, it’s not just Alaska, of course. It’s the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. We have so much in common being in the northern latitudes. The Canadian federal government has what I would call a better relationship with its two sub national jurisdictions than possibility we do. You know, I’m not focusing on that. The thing I’m going to focus on is how can we work together across the border for our own mutual benefit.

At this conference PNWER had in Montana, David Ramsay (Northwest Territories minister of Justice, Industry and Tourism), he said they found in the Mackenzie, their oil deposits, there might be between 200 million and 300 million barrels of a deposit there. And so, to have such a large deposit so close to Alaska how would that benefit Alaska. He even mentioned in his remarks there is a pipeline that goes to Valdez that’s not far away.

It’s all about the stranded natural resources all three jurisdictions have. It’s all about the opportunities that are coming our way because of Arctic issues. There are just so many opportunities to try to move the Arctic caucus within PNWER forward with again all the opportunities that come our way.

Petroleum News: Do you like that it coincides with the U.S. becoming chair of the Arctic Council?

Herron: Well, PNWER was real sensitive about that. So was the Yukon and Northwest Territories. It made sense that we have the chair of the Arctic caucus when we have chair of the Arctic council. It made sense to all three jurisdictions.

Petroleum News: You know PNWER is a rather elusive organization to the general public. So with that in mind, and with Alaska on the forefront of the U.S. holding the chair position with Arctic Council, how else can PNWER help during these next two years?

Herron: It’s an education process that we are all doing. We are all trying to make sure the Lower 48 states understand what Arctic means to them. The same thing goes for PNWER. Both the four Pacific Northwest states - Montana, Washington, Idaho and Oregon - and then all the jurisdictions on the Canadian side - British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan - why the Arctic region helps them. So again, when a person from Montana or a person from Alberta gets in the discussion, they must think of how the Pacific Northwest can benefit from the Arctic.

That’s why these protests that we saw in Seattle and Portland were, I don’t know how you put it, to me they were shortsighted. To me, these people - well meaning, they don’t realize how resource development not only helps people who live in the north, it helps them.

I always ask facetiously, were those kayaks all made of wood in the Pacific Northwest, and were all those kayaks tested for invasive species? They just can’t see that there are positives to making sure we work as a region, specifically the Pacific Northwest region, how our future can be positive. It’s not all going to be negative. Sure there are challenges. That’s what’s so ironic. They want all the benefits, but they want to lock up this place for what? Who? Clearly, I guess I would say I was bemused.

Petroleum News: Certainly there were protesters from Washington, Oregon and maybe even Alaska down there, but there were also lawmakers, political leaders ranging from Seattle City Council, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. What are your thoughts on this? Are they meddling in Alaska’s business or simply tending to their own?

Herron: It would be the same for us up here. You have to be responsive to your constituents. As you know, when you’re an elected official you can’t worry about your own constituents; you have to worry about everybody. Unfortunately, in society, today, and it’s every aspect of society, there always has to be a winner and there has to be a loser. We’ve lost that at the local level, somewhat at the state level and at the federal level.

How we get that boat turned around where we get people working together to make our lives better rather than making sure the other guy loses. That’s where I kind of put it in that respect. And so the elected officials from any of these states down there, they need to listen to their constituents, and hopefully they can listen to them and understand it’s not all about one place. It’s about all of our places.

Petroleum News: What progress have you seen this year, maybe separate from the bills and resolutions passed, toward advancing Alaska’s interest in Arctic development? I know these things take time, so I wouldn’t expect a long list necessarily.

Herron: Well, again, it’s such a long trail. There is not going to be quick solutions. What we’ve got to keep our focus on is that it takes money, of course; it takes infrastructure and the ramp up of infrastructure is going to take a while. And the competing interests of everyone, and I’ve said this before, politicians have short attention spans. They really do want to be successful.

But on the Arctic, though, I guess it’s how can we deal with the opportunity and the exposure we are going to have with so many people coming to Alaska to talk about circumpolar issues. So how do we do that? What do we learn from it?

On Aug. 25, the two Arctic committees from the House and the Senate, we will have a joint hearing. We are going to listen to President (Olafur Ragnar) Grimsson from Iceland, (former Lt. Governor) Mead Treadwell from Alaska and (Alaska Dispatch publisher) Alice Rogoff from Alaska. We are going to ask a lot of Bering Sea mayors, both from the larger hubs and the smaller hubs, what is our future with shipping ports.

What are going to learn from this conference in late August? How can the government, how can the Legislature, given its current challenges, learn from these people and decipher and flesh out all of these ideas that are coming, and figure out which one makes the most sense. Obviously there is going to be an emphasis on the climate change issue that will be, I’m assuming, delivered by the president or John Kerry. Hopefully, they will understand yes, we’ve got to be part of the solution, but how can 730,000 people compared to over 339 million people who live in the rest of the United States? Why should we be punished for trying to steer our destiny when 339 million people have far greater effect on the climate? I don’t want people to lose sight of the fact that we are just a little speck on the political scene just by the small numbers that we have. At the same time we have a really large mass. We have a world looking to what’s essentially not only their countries but our state. We have to make sure we take advantage of legislation that promotes Alaska and protects Alaska all at the same time.

It’s keeping in mind what is our Arctic policy to us, and how does it dovetail into what other people want to do with Arctic policy, whether it’s international or with our own government. That’s what we need to do. Remember who we are instead of getting distracted. People, in my opinion, will try to slice us off and get us to where we are not together. Hopefully, we don’t go there.

Petroleum News: Let’s talk more about the president’s visit? Will you be involved at all, given your role on advancing the state’s Arctic policies?

Herron: I’ll physically be in the room, but obviously the chances of me meeting him are a trillion to one. Realistically, it ain’t going to happen. But that’s fine. Just to be there will be interesting to watch. He’s been to Alaska before but he’s never stepped off JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson). It will be the first time he’s on Alaskan soil. At least I’m invited to go to the Glacier Conference and I will go.

Petroleum News: When the president and Secretary Kerry come there with his own mission, his own agenda, so what would you like the president to take away from this trip?

Herron: That Alaska is a beautiful state, has wonderful people. He’ll get to see Anchorage. The word on the street is he is going to travel to two other parts of Alaska. He is going to go to the Northwest and he’s going to go to the Southwest. The Northwest is of course, the Arctic, and how those small communities go about life. Then he is apparently to go to the Southwest in Bristol Bay. He’s going to see a different kind of Alaska, but not a different kind of people. This is just an assumption here, but he’ll get an urban Alaska, Northwest Arctic Alaska and, of course, the Southwest on the edges of the Aleutians.

I think it will be a good balance. What he comes away with is something that is not like a smaller region in the Lower 48 where there is a power grid and everybody is connected by it somehow. Up here there are 200 mini grids. Just the sheer time it takes to fly across Alaska compared to how long it takes to drive across a few counties in the Lower 48. I hope he gets that sort of mosaic and sees that there is no one size fits all. That’s when we were carved out of the coal issue (Obama’s recent EPA emissions standards), somebody got it and understood it.

I hope it says he wants his climate change legacy but it does have a recognition that it’s not a one size fits all.

Petroleum News: Can you talk about that a little bit more? Could something like that be a turning point for seeing that Alaska needs its own considerations on certain federal policies, not all, of course?

Herron: I don’t know what the real ramifications are from that or how thorough it is. At least there is a recognition. Whatever he says at the end of the month, he is going to say, and I just want to come away with knowing he is driven to having climate change be his legacy but at the same time he can’t forget that people live up here. Alaska is such a dynamic place and we want it to be a sustainable healthy place to life. What it takes in my opinion - and people may disagree with me - it does take responsible resource development to make that happen.

Petroleum News: I know you’ve had one informal meeting with Sen. Lesil McGuire and Gov. Walker’s Arctic advisor Craig Fleener. What have you guys discussed in advance of the president’s visit?

Bob Herron: Me and Lesil have been talking to a new woman in the White House on Arctic initiatives. She is a Coast Guard commander who came out of the Gulf States, and her responsibility was maritime and maritime security. It’s a good transition and we’ve been talking a lot about this. You know this G7 foreign ministers’ Glacier Meeting is the first major gathering that will set the tone, I guess. We are pretty excited about it. As far as me being one of the members of the host committee, and that’s just on the government side - there is a who’s who on the private sector side - collectively we will open our arms to welcome everybody who comes here.

We want to strive for the host committee to be involved in all these meetings. It’s not about us. It’s about we want to make sure we are included in the conversations wherever they are at. If it’s a senior Arctic officials meeting, we want to be there. If it’s a working group out of the Arctic Council, we want to be there. We want to listen. We want to be involved.

For example on the Arctic Council and the working groups, we clearly have the number of delegates because of all the participants who are from Alaska. In this kickoff that will happen Aug. 14 with Sen. Murkowski in the inaugural gathering with the entire host committee, it should be a lot of fun and it should bring a lot of ideas on how we can take advantage of these visitors.

Petroleum News; Do you get a sense that you and Sen. McGuire are off to a good start with Craig Fleener in working with the administration?

Bob Herron: Oh, absolutely. He’s doing real good. One of the benefits that’s come out of this is that the Arctic forum hosted by Alice (Rogoff) is Gov. Walker is the keynote speaker. That’s really good because the highest elected official in the state of Alaska is going to address this. It’s a good time for the governor of Alaska to let us hear for ourselves what his Arctic vision is. But Craig has been really good. He’s already represented the governor in many places in the Lower 48, Washington, D.C., and in Alaska. I think it’s been really beneficial. We are in this Arctic spotlight. These are all great opportunities for us.

Petroleum News: I know everyone in the Legislature seems to have their specialties, but I’d like to switch to the gas line and the prospects of a special session. What are your thoughts on the gas line and a special session?

Herron: First of all, I want a gas line special session. It’s important. The issues going on in conversation, but of course I don’t get to sit in on those, is the gas balance issue that is going on. BP and ExxonMobil in conversations with AOGCC, how can the offtake increase that won’t affect oil production. Those are some of the things going on that the Legislature will need to be brought up to speed on. What I’m hearing is the project is doing well on the technical side. When we were down in Kenai (in June) I came away with a really good feeling that we are still marching along. It’s pretty well known that the Big 3 are not really interested in going from 42 to a 48 (inch line) from what I understand is not necessary.

If the governor wants to bump it to 48, then that’s your part of the price tag but they are not interested in that. But everybody is being realistic here. Oil is not going to jump back over $100 any time soon. Maybe in a couple of years. That would be great.

No matter where we are at in the conversation the timing for an update from all parties, is very, very important. I want it to happen in late October or early November. We really need to have an update to say here’s where we are at, here is what the Legislature needs to do whether it’s a kick in the pants or a pat on the back. We just need to keep the momentum going.

Petroleum News: Looking ahead to next session, it’s pretty well expected that the Legislature will be reviewing the state’s tax credit system in the aftermath of the governor vetoing tax credit payments from the budget and delaying them until next year. Is this something that should be examined next year, either separate from budget talks, part of those discussions or both?

Herron: Well, tax credits, if it’s a benefit to your constituents, that’s a great deal. If you don’t see any direct benefit, it’s not such a great deal. So the debate has to happen. How can we minimize the impact of a tax credit but maximize the benefit of a tax credit. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s going to be a conversation that’s going to become intense. Hopefully, as I said earlier about society, let’s make sure everybody wins, not where there is going to be a definitive winner and a definitive loser. We are kidding ourselves if we can’t find that compromise.