Freshman Talerico co-chairing Resources

Healy Republican, also on Energy Committee, focused on resource development for state, including OCS, ANWR, Alaska LNG project

Steve Quinn

For Petroleum News

House Rep. David Talerico may be a freshman lawmaker, but he’s sharing a gavel with Rep. Bennie Nageak as co-chair for the Resources Committee.

The Healy Republican is no newcomer to public service. Talerico served as the Denali Borough mayor for 10 years until 2012.

He has wasted little time in getting acclimated. He sponsored a gas pipeline right-of-way bill (House Bill 139) and two resolutions speaking against the Obama administration’s restrictions on resource development in the Arctic (House Joint Resolution 8 and HJR 9).

Talerico, who also serves on the House Special Committee on Energy, sat down with Petroleum News to discuss his first two months in office and his time as co-chair.

Petroleum News: Let’s start by talking about you as a co-chair of Resources in your first year. Did you seek out this position?

Talerico: I did. It’s an area of interest for me, resources. Part of it is my background having been a miner. Also being a lifelong fisherman and hunter. Alaska’s constitution is written for us to be a resources-driven state. I’ve always had an interest in that. The biggest interest in the constitutional part of it actually started in high school. My former Alaska history teacher, a gentleman named Bill James, was real big in us being familiar with the constitution, so he brought down a famous person from the judicial branch - Jay Rabinowitz, who was a judge in Fairbanks. When I was a junior in high school he came down to Healy of all places, a little tiny Tri-Valley high school and he spent the afternoon with the entire high school going through the constitution, mostly judicial stuff. But he was quite the historian with Alaska history and statehood act. So that kind of spurred it all on. I don’t remember much from my junior year in high school but I remember that really well.

Petroleum News: Talk about the learning curve that comes with being co-chair.

Talerico: You know it’s pretty steep. I’ve had quite a lot of municipal experience. Most of that was actually being the mayor. As far as basics of operating a meeting, I wasn’t a chairman. I didn’t really run the meetings; I was a part of them. I’m so happy that all of the members are so patient, so kind and so helpful. It’s a good group of people.

I didn’t think I’d feel any pressure and the first day I had to chair a meeting, I felt pressure. It’s really process and procedure. They are set in place so we can do business and do it efficiently. There are rules to operating a meeting and we’ve got them in our uniform and Mason’s rules. There is still a learning curve. I think I still fumble a little bit. All of my peers say don’t worry about it. I’m excited to do it. To be honest I’m very honored to have the opportunity to even serve here. I respect the institution.

Petroleum News: That’s the structural side. How about the informational side, be it a bill, or the volume of material that comes with learning details of the gas line?

Talerico: Fortunately, I had followed some of that before I had come down. Like SB 138, I can’t recite it, but I was somewhat familiar with where they were headed and where they came from. There has been a lot of extra time spent in this office. My first six weeks here didn’t include a day off. I would read anything I could get my hands on with what’s going on with gas line projects, what’s going on in the North Slope, what’s going on in Point Thomson.

When you are new, you are trying to drink from a fire hose and not drown. There is a lot of good information available. I’ve certainly done a lot more reading than I had imagined I would. Some of it is pretty complicated. Some of it is pretty detailed.

What I have found is that all of the folks in the departments are really good. The legislative liaison is really good about staying in touch if you need anything. You can call somebody with the Division of Oil and Gas; you can call DNR and they will come up with answers for you. It helps that I’ve got an experienced staff; my chief of staff (Julie Morris) has a lot of experience and has worked in the building before. Joshua Banks has worked in the building before; he does the special committee on energy with me.

Petroleum News: Speaking of the special committee on energy, does it help to serve on that committee?

Talerico: It does to a certain degree. We are not always going to deal with the exact same bills. Boy, the energy problem, particularly in the Interior, is really something we have to deal with. Outside of the grid, in some of the communities I represent - Tanana, Fort Yukon, Beaver and down toward Tok - the energy costs are just outrageous. To try and work toward some kind of viable solution for them in the future has got to be vitally important. They have some great things happening in places like the Copper Center region by Kenny Lake. That utility will be putting on the Allison Creek hydro project. That is going to help. It still is going to be pretty high, but it will take the edge off. What a tough time to do it because of the budget.

Petroleum News: Is it complementary having both committees in your portfolio?

Talerico: Absolutely. I think it is. It definitely helps. They will be tied together, there is no doubt. There is a magnetism between the two that pulls them together.

Petroleum News: You held a confirmation hearing with the DNR Commissioner Mark Myers. Have you learned anything more about the governor’s direction on the gas line?

Talerico: I don’t think those confirmation hearings did so much. The guy from DNR has such enormous background. He really has done a lot. He’s touched on a lot things. I’m impressed with his background and what he’s accomplished. It was enlightening. DNR is a huge department with all of the things they’ve got going on. It’s a big job, but it was very impressive to talk to him yesterday.

Petroleum News: Now also in the committee you moved HB 132 out of committee on Saturday (March 14). You were one of the sponsors. Why did you support this bill?

Talerico: I think it’s important because it puts a focus on the primary project that I think SB 138 really designated. There seems to be a lot of concern that it’s eliminated a lot of projects. As far as the standalone project, the descriptions I’ve heard from people that thing is as close as ready to go as it could be. I think HB 132 puts sideboards on this so we have the main focus on the project (SB 138).

There are several provisions in that bill. If we don’t meet a particular deadline or if we have a partner pull out, we have a provision to pull the trigger on that project. But I don’t think that it’s supposed to compete with AKLNG. This clarifies that AKLNG is the priority and the backstop project is right there. It was Frank Richards who described it the other day that it’s really ready to go so we can jump right to it if we need to. There are a lot of different perspectives flying around Alaska that’s for sure, but a fair portion of people I talked to are excited about AKLNG.

I think it’s probably a groundbreaking project with our partners and all of those people working together. My wish has always been that gas was closer to a port. That would solve a lot. The transport of that product is a tough thing. That’s why I think when they wanted to do that Interior project with the gas trucking - it’s just so hard to move that in trucks - 400 miles in one direction. There’s a bunch of it up there. I’m not sure we really know how much is up there.

I’ve been reading about the most recent technology, where you can go down there and do the angle drilling. Poke into the shale, back out of it and it kind of fills up with oil or gas. The technology is going to drive a lot of things. Shale oil has impacted the oil market in a big way. Right now the supply is plentiful. OPEC has a lot to do with it. I wish Alaska could control the market. But technology changes our world on a regular basis, and one of the things I think is promising, that angle drilling technology is probably going to prove out to be very beneficial to Alaska.

One thing I think is interesting is the basins companies are starting to pursue. Doyon is a good example outside of Nenana. That probably shows some promise. Boy would I love that for the Interior. That’s a very short distance from Nenana to Fairbanks. I’m glad people are out there pursuing it. I think the gas is probably there. I think eventually they will find that. It would probably change the Interior significantly.

Petroleum News: You sponsored HB 139, the gas line right-of-way bill. Why did you take the lead on that?

Talerico: I had been involved in some of the hearings and one of the comments made to me was we’ve got 437 miles of right of way. I thought that’s about 400 miles short. What are we missing here? The director of state parks came in and talked to me and said we’ve got designated lands here and there but there isn’t right of way, so I started looking into that a little bit just to see what could we do. Mine got introduced, then the administration brought a bill forward. The Senate has heard that bill and they are moving on. Mine came from my office and we are still working on it here and there. We did an overall view from one end to another. I think the other one has more promise and potential.

Petroleum News: So you just want to get it done regardless of whose name is on the bill?

Talerico: Absolutely. I think that’s really important. It sends a signal to everyone who is working on the project that if we can get it done and get more right of way secured, then we are very serious about it. The other one is a little more wide open. We can run anything we want through it, provided it’s done in the appropriate fashion. My interest is let’s just get it secured. It doesn’t have my name on it. So I’m glad that they brought that forward as well, too. I think that’s a really good sign that everybody is thinking about that. We are not in front of ourselves at all. It’s another necessary step to for us to continue to advance the project. If something goes haywire and it’s not that project, then it clears the way for us to do another project and the other project will be available at that time. If it moves along and comes over here and we can work on that, that’s what we’ll do. It’s critical to move forward on it. It helps the guys planning this thing: take another step forward and another step forward. We don’t want to lose any momentum.

Petroleum News: Not long after you were sworn in, the Obama administration handed down some decisions that would either limit offshore drilling, placing the 1002 area of ANWR off limits or placing restrictions on developing NPR-A. This prompted you to sponsor two resolutions speaking out against this. Talk a little bit about that.

Talerico: You know with ANWR, I’ve always felt like that promise we had with 1002 in ANWR has been completely ignored. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, it’s a real slap in the face to Alaska. My friend, who was born in ANWR, Rep. (Bennie) Nageak, who represents those folks up there, is very passionate about that.

I can understand why. I’m passionate about this too. I think it’s a broken promise. Although it’s a resolution from us, I just wanted to make sure our congressional delegation had something in hand where they can say you know what? The people of Alaska are not happy. They feel like this promise has been broken with your idea of moving that toward a wilderness designation.

We’ve been told repeatedly that land was set aside. We would be able to at least have the opportunity to do some exploration. It feels like we’ve been told, you know what, we’ve changed our minds and it’s hands off. Sometimes I think there is a big move afoot. I’ve been living in Alaska a long time. I’ve had the opportunity to travel around the state.

A lot of people don’t realize what we are talking about: less than 8 percent of a region that is bigger than most states. Rep. (Andy) Josephson told me he’s been there and said I think there is oil residue on top of the ground. I got a chance to talk to Andy about it. He said it’s obviously there. And Andy is very environmentally conscious. At the same time, he said, ‘Come on.’

A promise was made. We want the promise to be kept. It would make a big difference for us. The more that resource can be developed, the more we can operate our state. I don’t want us to always be a one-trick pony, but in the mean time, this is an infrastructure that has been in place. How long do we have to be continuously be told that well no, we don’t want you to do anything with ANWR when we were told years ago, oh yeah you can go in there.

It’s been important to me before I was a legislator and before I got into politics. I try to explain it to some of my relatives who don’t live in Alaska. I describe it as a postage stamp on a billboard. That’s the area we were told we could utilize. I told them to put a stamp on a billboard and tell me how obnoxious that really is. As a state government we have put in all of the proper and appropriate environmental controls to guard against having big spills.

We may have a spill now and then. We’ve advanced ourselves to a point where we watch this stuff very carefully. I think we monitor it very well and we are really careful about how we do things to protect the environment. Sometimes when you are out there working, things will go haywire, but we are good at response. It’s probably the hardest place in the world to respond to a problem, but we do it anyway. The people involved do it really well.

We are constantly being told by people who are thousands of miles away from here, even people who have never visited this place, on how it should be operated. I think Alaskans should have the ability to make a decision about this.

Petroleum News: What about the OCS development?

Talerico: I know there are a lot of concerns of people who live up in that area, but I think that can be done the right way as well. I’m all for us getting a share of that. I did have someone mention to me one time why do we deserve any of it. I think that’s our pipeline that runs down through the center of this state.

I think that’s our residents who maintain and monitor those things. It’s our Department of Environmental Conservation who helps respond to all of those things. We deserve a share of that. I think it’s a valuable asset for us. We want to be responsible and we want to do it right, and I think it can be done. I’m all for pushing ahead with that. I think it’s very appropriate that we do that.

I’m also interested with that angle drilling and doing it on shore. I’d like to see how far offshore we can do. It’s high tech and I’m very impressed with it. I think our potential is through the roof.

We have to do it as Alaskans. We have to be given the ability to do that. I’ll refer back to the folks in the Lower 48. They say oh you Alaskans always say you’re different. We are. Things are different up here. We deal with ice and permafrost. A lot of people don’t quite get a grasp of that.

Petroleum News: In April, the U.S. takes over as chair for the Arctic Council. What kind of role would you like for Alaska to have as far as a voice or a seat at the table?

Talerico: We have to be the lead. The only reason the United States is an Arctic nation is because of Alaska. We have the people who have the background and the local knowledge and experience to really talk the talk and walk the walk about the Arctic. I think it’s important that we are out front and on top of that all of the time. Rep. Herron has put a major effort into this. We have the perfect spokesman on the Arctic in Rep. Nageak. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s the coolest thing that we have a guy who was born in ANWR. I wonder how many elected officials in the United States were born above the Arctic Circle. We have folks who live in the Arctic and they are important to us, especially our young people. So we need to be leading that charge.