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Last chance for ANWR ANWR situation is ‘CODE RED,’ Herrera says, time to rally the fight Steve Sutherlin PNA Associate Editor
CODE RED is the current state of alert for passage of a provision to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, says Roger Herrera, Arctic Power’s Washington, D.C., coordinator.
Right now is probably the last chance to make a credible push for drilling in ANWR, Herrera told Arctic Power’s annual meeting in Anchorage Feb 14. Those sentiments were supported by other speakers.
This session will also be Herrera’s last push. He said he plans to retire from his post at Arctic Power, regardless of how the ANWR issue pans out in the current session of Congress.
With a Republican president, a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, and a Republican governor in Alaska, political forces are aligned in favor of opening the refuge to exploration, Herrera said. However, the unprecedented political advantage only means it is possible this year to pass legislation that would open the coastal plain to drilling.
Fifty votes needed It is not a done deal by any means, he said. Determined and clever opponents of exploration in ANWR, such as Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, lie waiting to spoil the efforts of drilling supporters, Herrera said.
“It’s hard to pass legislation, and easy to block it,” he said.
The Senate is divided about 50-50 on the ANWR issue. In the past session, the threat of filibuster by drilling opponents kept ANWR supporters at bay because 60 votes would have been needed to break the filibuster.
This spring the ANWR drilling outlook is more positive because of the opportunity to insert an ANWR drilling provision in a budget reconciliation bill, which cannot be filibustered, therefore a majority vote prevails. Only 50 votes are needed under this scenario to approve drilling, because the vice president, a supporter of ANWR development, casts the tie-breaking vote.
Last session, the House approved ANWR drilling with passage of its energy bill, H.R. 4, but a House and Senate conference committee failed to agree on a joint energy bill.
Herrera said the House would likely continue its support of exploring for energy in the refuge, thanks in part to continued vocal support on the issue from organized labor, and a pro-exploration stance on the part of House leadership. On a good day, 49 votes for ANWR, says Herrera “On a good day” in the Senate there are 49 votes in favor of exploring the coastal plain, Herrera said.
The ANWR issue has been “a splendid rallying point” for fund raising by environmental groups, and those groups are spending millions of dollars on a media campaign to derail efforts to find energy in the refuge, he said. Arctic Power has only a fraction of the opposition’s budget to counteract the anti-drilling messages.
Heartfelt letters of support for ANWR exploration addressed to members of Congress, particularly to Senators, are the best bet and most realistic strategy to counteract the anti-drilling media spending, Herrera said. Letters from Alaskans are needed, he said, and Alaskans can also ask relatives in other states to write their own senators on the issue.
Senators need to know that Alaskans support exploration in ANWR, and that development in the refuge will generate jobs all over the country.
“Lets go hell for leather on this,” Herrera said.
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