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ANWR lives! Roger Herrera says ANWR support strong, congressional action soon looks favorable but prognosis uncertain if action is delayed past election Steve Sutherlin PNA Managing Editor
ANWR is not dead, Arctic Power’s Washington, D.C., coordinator Roger Herrera told a Sept. 6 Anchorage luncheon sponsored by Arctic Power, the Resource Development Council and the Alaska Support Industry Alliance.
A perception among foes of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that the issue is dead actually might benefit passage of a pro-drilling bill by allowing Congress to consider the issue objectively without the distraction of political protest, he said.
A Senate-House version of the energy bill containing a provision to explore ANWR will likely pass Congress if lawmakers act on the measure before the November elections, Herrera said, but if consideration of the bill is delayed, its prognosis is much less clear.
Congress and its staffers are capable of completing the program they have set for themselves between now and early October, Herrera said, but it is difficult to predict what they will actually accomplish. He said the energy bill is a second tier priority in Congress. There are many more important things to be done first.
“One certainty will occur, that is that they will break to get themselves reelected in November,” Herrera said. “If, in reality, sometime in September the leadership says ‘we can’t get our work finished and there will be a late session,’ I think we have to accept the inevitable that the energy bill will not be completed prior to the election.
“If that’s the case then your guess is as good as mine what will happen to it, because I have not the slightest clue.” Positive signs Assuming Congress acts on the energy bill before its break in October, Herrera said, a number of factors bode well for approval of ANWR exploration.
The newest is the specter of a war with Iraq.
“That war, in a certain percentage of people’s minds, changes the attitude toward ANWR,” Herrera said, adding that with tensions rising in the Middle East, the attractiveness of a secure domestic oil source is underscored.
President Bush in recent speeches has made impromptu references to the importance of domestic energy production, a sign that the issue is a high priority for the president, Herrera said.
“I don’t think the White House is going to try to influence the committee on ANWR until the last minute, and then I think there will be pressure on the politicians involved,” Herrera said.
Union support for ANWR drilling also has and will be an impetus for congressional approval, he said.
“The unions are bound and determined to make ANWR happen,” Herrera said. “They have put a lot of time and effort into working this issue and they don’t want it to just fade away. They are going to be working it hard until the midnight hour, and when they get involved and are going flat out they are a force to be reckoned with.”
Another positive factor, Herrera said, is the support of Rep. W.J. ‘Billy’ Tauzin, chairman of the conference committee in the energy bill.
“Tauzin has gone on record as recently as yesterday, saying things very beneficial to pro-drilling.” Herrera said, adding that Tauzin is “hugely in favor of domestic energy production and opening ANWR because of the benefits to the nation and to his home state of Louisiana.”
Tauzin is also on record as saying there will not be an ethanol provision in the bill unless ANWR is there also, Herrera said.
“While ethanol is not very important to the people of Alaska, it’s important politically in 20 states.” Herrera said. “There are 40 senators from agricultural state across the nation who are avidly supporting the ethanol provision in the bill.”
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