|
Arctic Power: To fund or not to fund Lawmakers ponder organization’s request that Congressional leaders use group’s research to make case for ANWR drilling Rose Ragsdale Petroleum News Contributing Writer
While Alaska lawmakers debate whether the state should appropriate funds for Arctic Power this year, top congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., are busy citing research gathered by the advocacy group to bolster their arguments in favor of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
The Alaska House of Representatives passed a resolution Jan. 28, urging Congress to open ANWR’s coastal plain to oil and gas exploration and production, but the show of solidarity may not extend to supporting Arctic Power, Alaska’s chief lobbyist for opening ANWR for the past decade.
The grassroots group is seeking at least $1.1 million in funding from the state this year. But some lawmakers are questioning whether they should approve the funding request.
“They’re apprehensive about giving more money to Arctic Power at this time,” Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai and chairman of the Senate Resources Committee, told the Anchorage Daily News recently.
Arctic Power is an organization supported by business and resource development interests and guided by a statewide board of directors. Alaska has invested nearly $9 million in the organization’s programs since 1992.
Wagoner said the Legislature likely would sit on a bill requesting the funding until state lawmakers received more news from Washington, D.C. House Oil & Gas favors funding But all five members present at a House Oil and Gas Committee hearing Feb. 1 voted in favor of House Bill 35, which authorizes $1.3 million in funding for Arctic Power and related programs. Two committee members were absent, including Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, who has opposed oil drilling in ANWR.
“Arctic Power may not have been as effective as they could have been in the past, but with Kevin Hand as executive director and Gail Phillips and Al Adams as co-chairs, we believe they have the horsepower now to really make a difference,” said Oil and Gas Committee Chairman Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla.
Kohring said he has asked for a hearing in the House Finance Committee, which he believes will support the bill. “We’ve still got a long way to go, but we think we have the best shot we’ve had in a long time of getting ANWR open to drilling,” he said Feb. 2. Polls show growing support for drilling in ANWR 1002 area In Washington, D.C., Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., and Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., have joined Alaska’s congressional delegation in citing Arctic Power’s research to promote ANWR drilling among their colleagues.
Pombo, who chairs the House Resources Committee, cited results of two national polls Feb. 1 that show public opinion favoring resource development in the 1.5 million acre coastal plain of the refuge near the Arctic Ocean is on the rise.
More than half of Americans surveyed believe dependence on foreign oil is a direct threat to our national security and approved opening ANWR for oil exploration, according to a Luntz Research Group survey conducted on behalf of Arctic Power.
“The vast majority of Americans understand that our dependence on Middle East sources of oil is a direct threat to our national security,” Pombo said. “They support the deployment of 21st century technology here at home, in energy-rich places like ANWR, to lessen the pressure of our dependence by becoming more self-sufficient.”
In addition, the congressman cited an earlier independent poll conducted by Harris Interactive that found a strong majority of Americans believe the nation is in an energy crisis. “Nearly 60 percent of respondents supported “energy reform to allow companies to drill for oil in certain areas such as ... ANWR,” Pombo noted. Letters reflect Arctic Power’s influence Pombo also defended efforts to open up ANWR in a recent letter to members of the House of Representatives.
Separately, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, drafted a similar letter to House members.
Both congressmen said energy production and exploration in ANWR would take place on just 2,000 acres of its 1.5 million acre coastal plan, which amounts to a tiny fraction of Alaska’s protected lands.
Plus, there’s no shortage of “special places” in Alaska or America, Pombo said, noting that Alaska holds 16 national wildlife refuges, 13 national parks and 25 wild, scenic or recreational rivers.
His comments come as Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Domenici prepares to insert an ANWR resolution into the budget-reconciliation process and just a week after U.S. Energy Secretary nominee Samuel Bodman, who described himself as an “energetic advocate” for opening Alaska to drilling, also noted the “very small” area that would be needed for oil development.
In his letter, Young also said 75 percent of Alaskans consistently support oil drilling in ANWR, development that would provide numerous benefits for the nation including $2.15 billion in immediate payments to the federal government, regardless of whether energy is ever discovered; and “an answer to your constituents when they ask what you are doing to help with the high cost of gasoline, diesel or home heating oil.”
“As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I know that for the foreseeable future, America’s economy will run on conventional energy, including oil,” Young said. “It also pays the taxes that build the bridges, roads and airports so important to our quality of life. Secure, affordable and reliable energy like that available from ANWR is thus, an energy and a transportation issue.”
“Congressman Young uses Arctic Power’s research because he believes the group provides a valuable and needed service with the work they do,” Young Chief of Staff Michael Anderson said Feb. 1. “Somebody has to get out front and educate the public about ANWR.” Pro-ANWR group’s reality check is needed “(Arctic Power) provides factual information about what oil drilling would mean and a reality check” that counters the misinformation from the other side, Anderson said.
Sen. Ted Steven, R-Alaska, who works every day on ANWR, says Arctic Power has a purpose but not necessarily on Capitol Hill, according to his spokeswoman Courtney Schikora Boone.
“The senator believes that ANWR doesn’t need anymore lobbyists in Congress because its members are so polarized on the issue,” Boone said Feb. 2. What’s needed is a grassroots campaign — winning the support of people outside of the Congress who can influence its members, she said.
Boone also said Stevens will not tell the Alaska Legislature whether or not to fund Arctic Power this year. He is scheduled to address the Legislature later in February, and the topic of ANWR is sure to come up, she said.
Anderson said Young also will defer any decision about Arctic Power’s funding to Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski.
Arctic Power is currently updating its numbers on the potential impact of oil drilling in ANWR in light of recent higher oil prices, a spokeswoman in the group’s Washington, D.C., office said. Feb. 1. Working with the University of Maryland, Arctic Power expects to complete the work in mid-February, she added.
The Arctic Power/Luntz survey examined respondents’ attitudes upon learning that the U.S. imports more than 55 percent of its oil. Nearly 70 percent of Americans were more “angered” by the United States’ dependence on OPEC oil than by the actual cost of gasoline at the pump. Respondents were told that of ANWR’s 19.6 million acres, less than 2,000 acres would be used for actual development — a statement not included in the Zogby/Wilderness Society poll. More than 60 percent said they were more likely to support production upon learning the facts.
The Luntz Poll found that 84 percent of Americans believe we need to develop our domestic energy resources and 67 percent support the “exploration, development and production” of oil and natural gas in ANWR.
The Harris poll examined various domestic issues in anticipation of President Bush’s State of the Union address, including drilling in ANWR.
Pombo also said environmental special interest groups have distorted the facts about ANWR energy production to raise money and advance political agendas.
The Committee on Resources is expected to vote Feb. 9 to revive a broad energy bill that would allow oil drilling in ANWR.
| 