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Energy consultant says Alaska should wait to pursue ANWR Hood, Stevens, Katz, Murkowski disagree; say the time has never been better Kay Cashman PNA Publisher
Energy consultant Thomas Petrie believes the best strategy to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is to wait until after the next presidential election — and after development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska has progressed to the point it can be used as an argument for “low impact small-footprint” Arctic development. Teamster official Jerry Hood, U.S. Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski, special counsel John Katz adamantly disagree with Petrie on both counts.
“I do believe over the next three, four or five years we will see further progress on what’s already being found and evaluated in NPR-A. … And if that’s the case, this will become the showcase and … the selling point” for opening the coastal plain, Petrie, co-founder and chairman of Petrie Parkman & Co., told Meet Alaska 2003 attendees in Anchorage Jan. 24.
Petrie said U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle was still talking about locking up the coastal plain in exchange for his party’s support for gasline incentives — a compromise Petrie said could be avoided by not seeking to open ANWR in 2003.
In Petrie’s opinion, “the opening of ANWR should be a secondary priority at this particular time” to getting legislation passed for a North Slope gas pipeline, which he refers to as a “critical project.”
Teamster chief thinks ANWR will get green light from Congress Jerry Hood, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Union Local 959 in Alaska, special assistant on energy to Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in Washington, D.C., and a member of Arctic Power’s executive board, says Petrie is flat wrong.
In respect to waiting to use NPR-A development as an argument for “doing it right in the Arctic,” Hood pointed out that low-impact development on the North Slope has not been a persuasive argument to date.
“The environmentalists are never going to support ANWR, no matter how carefully development is done. … Early in the debate last year they were saying you need to go to NPR-A, don’t touch ANWR. But the minute they knew ANWR was not going to pass, there was a rally on the Capitol grounds by the environmental groups saying make NPR-A a wilderness area, close it to development,” Hood told Petroleum News Alaska Jan. 30.
“We are dealing with some extremely intolerant people. We will never have enough reserves, enough refuges for them,” he said.
And Petrie’s assertion that 2004 or beyond is a better time to push to open ANWR is “incorrect,” Hood said. “I think we have a majority for ANWR in both houses of Congress today. The vehicle that will probably be used, budget reconciliation, doesn’t require 60 votes in the Senate; just 50 votes plus the vice president. It isn’t subject to a filibuster. I personally think it is going to succeed.”
Hood said there are hurtles facing both the North Slope gas pipeline project incentives and opening the coastal plain of ANWR but he thinks “chances are pretty good both will pass.
“If the gasline proves economically feasible, the country needs that gas. The proposed incentives are just that — not a subsidy. There is very little risk to the American taxpayer that they are going to have to pay for this gasline. Our gas won’t complete unfairly with gas from other states. If we can successfully make those arguments, I think we will get by the objections to gasline incentives,” he said.
When asked if he sensed any softening of the Bush administration’s support for opening ANWR, Hood, who has spent a lot of time in Washington recently, said, “I have had discussions with the administration this year and they’ve not indicated any change. I think they’re still solidly behind it.
“A budget reconciliation vehicle was used in 1995 to pass ANWR through Congress. Clinton vetoed it. A final strategy has not been decided on yet for this year, but we now have a president who is supportive of ANWR, so this year we’ve got the best chance we’ve had since 1995 to get it passed,” he said.
Stevens, Murkowski say Petrie is wrong After hearing about Petrie’s speech at Meet Alaska 2003, Sen. Ted Stevens’ legislative director George Lowe and Press Secretary Melanie Alvord contacted PNA with a response. “Sen. Stevens said we’re clearly going to try to move the Alaska energy picture into the forefront — that includes both ANWR and the gas pipeline. I don’t know what Mr. Petrie’s background is or where he gets his information, but what he’s saying is certainly not anything we are hearing here,” Alvord said.
“There is an excellent chance ANWR is going to happen in both the House and the Senate this year,” an aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski told PNA Jan. 28. “Sen. Stevens told Sen. Murkowski of Petrie’s comments and she was concerned. Petrie’s view is not widespread. Tom Daschle might want a trade. … I am sure that would make the environmental groups happy. But no one else feels that ANWR will be dropped this year. And there’s no danger of a choice between the gasline and ANWR.”
Katz says ANWR, gasline dynamics different John Katz, long-time director of state-federal relations in Washington, D.C., and special counsel to the governor, also disagreed with Petrie’s assessment.
“We think that the prospects for ANWR are better than at any time since 1995. The president remains strongly supportive and so does the congressional leadership,” Katz told PNA from his Washington, D.C., office.
“The dynamics concerning ANWR and the dynamics involving the gas pipeline are completely different. Whether the gasline effort is ultimately successful will depend on whether the incentive package is included in the final legislation. … Some members of Congress have opposed the incentive package on the grounds that they favor a market driven solution for the gasline. ANWR, on the other hand, involves very different dynamics. … Arguing for one in Washington, D.C., does not jeopardize the other,” Katz said.
“There are real events in the outside world that bring a focus to our need for increased domestic production,” he said. “The chemistry of the political leadership in Washington, D.C., mixed in with the current world geopolitical situation has created the best opportunity that we have had since 1995 for opening the coastal plain.”
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