Pipelines from British Columbia Tar Sands.............."Fracking" for Natural Gas in Wyoming and the Marcelllus shales region of the Northeast and once again calls for "DRILL BABY DRILL" in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge..............WRONG, WRONG, WRONG ON ALL COUNTS!

Proposals to Drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Considered

On 21 September 2011 the House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing titled "ANWR: Jobs, Energy, and Deficit Reduction, " to discuss the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's (ANWR) potential to raise revenue and create jobs in order to pay down the national deficit. Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) has brought up drilling in ANWR to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, charged with finding $1.5 trillion in savings in Fiscal Year 2012.

The committee heard from witnesses which included  Alaska Governor Sean Parnell, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mark Begich (D-AK), Congressman Don Young (R-AK), a member of the Kaktovik city council, a labor union representative, an ice road trucker, a representative from the Republicans for Environmental Protection, and the President of the League of Conservation Voters. Much of the testimony focused on the economic benefits of drilling and the accessibility of the oil. Chairman Hastings argued that less than 500,000 acres would need to be disturbed to access the oil, and that it could produce up to $300 billion in new federal revenues over its production life. Representative Rush Hold (D-NJ) countered by saying that the total disturbance, including the infrastructure, would affect more land and its inhabitants, including caribou (Rangifer tarandus), polar bears (Ursus maritimus), grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis), gray wolves (Canis lupus), migratory birds species, and many others. According to an Energy Information Administration study, ANWR could supply up to 1.45 million barrels a day—around 7.5% of the nation's daily consumption of roughly 19.1 million barrels a day.

The actual number of jobs created by the proposed project was not reported in the hearing, but many witnesses believed livelihoods could be furthered with the release of ANWR section 1002 to oil production. However, the chance of this proposal moving forward in the Senate is not high, especially in light of a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) report of preliminary findings which recommend that the coastal plain section of ANWR be designated as wilderness. In its draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan the FWS indicates ANWR  "holds symbolic and existence values for many people who find satisfaction in just knowing the area exists and will be passed on to future generations." Comments on the draft must be submitted by 15 November 2011 via email to: ArcticRefugeCCP@fws.gov This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , via written mail to: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arctic NWR – Sharon Seim, 101 12th Ave, Rm 236, Fairbanks, AK 99701, or via fax to: (907) 456-0428.

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-MA) has requested a second hearing on this issue which would include more minority witnesses and provide an opportunity for Members to offer their ideas on ways to reduce the federal deficit. Markey has previously introduced legislation to raise money by closing tax loopholes and reducing perks such as royalty-free drilling on public lands offshore. According to E&E News, Markey touted that "Democratic proposals to ensure oil companies pay their fair share would generate nearly $60 billion over the next 10 years." 

Sources: E&E Publishing LLC (E&E Daily, Greenwire, E&E News PM), U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Hearing Documents