[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 15, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S749-S751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. Begich):
  S. 351. A bill to authorize the exploration, leasing, development, 
and production of oil and gas in and from the western portion of the 
Coastal Plain of the State of Alaska without surface occupancy, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce two separate 
bills, S. 351 and S. 352, to open a small portion of the Arctic coastal 
plain, in my home State of Alaska, to oil and gas development. I am 
introducing these bills because new production in northern Alaska is 
vital not only to my State's future, but also to our Nation's energy 
and economic security.
  It has been known for more than 3 decades that the 1.5 million acres 
of the Arctic coastal plain that lie inside the Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge present the best prospect in North America for a major 
oil and gas discovery. The U.S. Geological Survey continues to estimate 
that this part of the coastal plain--which represents just 3 percent of 
the coastal plain in all of northern Alaska--has a mean likelihood of 
containing 10.4 billion barrels of oil and 8.6 trillion cubic feet of 
natural gas, as well as a reasonable chance of economically producing 
16 billion barrels of oil. Even the relatively recent major finds in 
North Dakota's Bakken field pale in comparison, as ANWR is likely to 
hold over four times more oil than any other on-shore energy deposit in 
North America.
  In the 1990s, opponents dismissed ANWR's potential and argued that 
the nearby National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska was forecast to contain 
almost as much oil. Just last fall, however, the U.S. Geological Survey 
significantly reduced its oil estimates in the 23-million-acre reserve. 
Instead of containing somewhere between the 6.7 to 15 billion barrels 
forecast in 2002, the USGS now forecasts a mean of 896 million 
barrels--a dramatic downward revision.
  I still believe oil production must be allowed to proceed in NPRA and 
that development of satellite fields west of Nusqiut must be allowed to 
occur, since I suspect its forecast is now too conservative. My office 
is working to hold this Administration to its word on NPRA by allowing 
leaseholders to access the CD5 development which the EPA and Corps of 
Engineers has now stalled. But the reduced forecast for northwest 
Alaska also means that opening a small area due east, along the coastal 
plain, is now more vital than ever for America's economic and national 
security interests.
  America today receives over 10 percent of its daily domestic oil 
production from fields in Arctic Alaska. You heard correctly, 
production already occurs in Arctic Alaska, and for more than 30 years, 
we have successfully balanced resource development with environmental 
protection. Alaskans have proven, over and over again, that those 
endeavors are not mutually exclusive.
  Today, however, we face a tipping point. Alaska's North Slope 
production has declined for years and, with new development blocked at 
every turn, it is now forecast to decline to levels that are 
threatening the continued operation of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline 
System. A closure of TAPS would shut down all northern Alaska oil 
production. This would devastate Alaska's economy, drag global oil 
prices even higher, and deepen our energy dependence on unstable 
petrostates throughout the world.
  Anyone who takes the long view on energy policy recognizes that no 
matter what energy policy our Nation pursues, we will use substantial 
amounts of oil well into the future. The more of that oil we produce 
here, at home, the better off our economy, our trade deficit, our 
employment levels, and the world's environment will be. Even the 
President's handpicked oil spill commission advocates that the U.S. 
take the lead on environmental and safety standards for oil development 
in areas like the Arctic and Gulf of Mexico, but we cannot honestly 
expect to take a leadership role if we are viewed as foolishly leaving 
our resources in the ground. We are still more than 50 percent 
dependent on foreign nations for our supply of oil, and no combination 
of alternative technologies and conservation can appreciably diminish 
that number in the near future.
  The Energy Information Administration, in its recent preliminary 2011 
Energy Forecast, predicts that U.S. crude production may increase by 
roughly 10 percent by 2019 because of enhanced oil recovery, increased 
shale oil production, and higher oil prices, which make marginal 
production more attractive. That will hardly be enough to break our 
import dependence, but even more alarming is the forecast that U.S. 
domestic production will decline less than a decade from now unless 
these new areas are opened for development. To help meet future demand 
both here in America and throughout the rest of the world--and to help 
avoid a tremendous price spike in the event of a supply disruption--we 
need to take steps today to ensure new production is brought online as 
soon as possible.
  In fact, we already face a supply disruption--a shortage of our own 
making. Not one permit for deepwater exploration has been granted since 
the Deepwater Horizon disaster last April, even though the moratorium 
was officially ended in October. Depending on how long this de facto 
moratorium lasts, our Nation could ultimately be deprived of millions 
of barrels of oil each day. Make no mistake: we are facing a serious 
downturn in offshore oil production from the Outer Continental Shelf, 
and that has made production in ANWR even more important for consumers.
  ANWR development will also provide huge benefits for the U.S. 
Treasury. Let us examine this with some simple math. ANWR's mean 
estimate of over 10 billion barrels, at approximately $100 per barrel, 
means that there is a trillion dollars worth of oil locked up beneath 
this small area in northern Alaska. That is a trillion taxable dollars 
and it is difficult to calculate or even fathom the corporate and 
payroll taxes that this would generate for our treasury. But we do know 
that there is hundreds of billions of dollars in pure federal royalties 
since my bill devotes 50 percent of the value to a Federal share, 
rather than the 10 percent which current law allows. This is because 
deficit reduction has to be a priority.
  As our Nation grapples with a $1 trillion budget deficit, $14 
trillion in national debt, and a lack of capital to incentivize 
renewable and alternative energy, it is folly for America to further 
delay new onshore oil development from Alaska. Production in ANWR will 
lower our unsustainable debt; improve our national security; reduce our 
trade deficit; create well-paying American jobs; and provide a long-
lasting source of funds that can help us

[[Page S750]]

develop the next generation of energy technologies. The question is no 
longer, ``should we drill in ANWR?'' Today, it has become, ``can we 
afford not to?''
  I understand that no matter what happens, some will remain opposed to 
development in this region. There are Senators who wish to not only 
prohibit oil and gas development onshore in the coastal plain--who wish 
to forever lock the area up into formal wilderness--but who also wish 
to impede oil and even natural gas development from vast portions of 
NPRA and from the offshore waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. 
This mindset ignores Alaska's economic realities, it ignores the 
nation's looming energy challenges, and it ignores the fact that Arctic 
oil production can proceed without significant environmental harm. Our 
development has coexisted productively with polar bears, and will not 
harm the Porcupine caribou herd or any other form of wildlife on the 
Arctic coast. The groups who oppose my legislation seem totally 
oblivious to strides made in directional, extended reach drilling, 
three- and four-D seismic testing, and new pipeline leak detection 
technology, all of which permit Alaskan energy development to proceed 
safely without harm to wildlife or the environment.
  Yes, this Nation needs to improve its inspection and regulation of 
the oil and gas industry to make sure that America's high environmental 
standards are followed on every well, every day. I offer a means to 
advance that. Because without domestic oil and gas production, America 
will import more oil and gas from troubled global regions. In exchange 
we will export our jobs and economic future, as well as simply 
exporting environmental risk and ultimately damage, since foreign oil 
and gas development regularly fails to meet the standards that American 
operators are held to and held accountable for.
  For all these reasons, I am reintroducing legislation to open the 
coastal plain of ANWR to full development. At the same time, I am 
focusing and narrowing and limiting that development so that just 2,000 
acres of the 1.5 million acre coastal plain can be physically disturbed 
by roads, pipelines, wells, buildings or other support facilities. At 
most, just one-tenth of one percent of the refuge's coastal plain would 
be physically disturbed. For comparison's sake, 2,000 acres is much 
smaller than our local Dulles Airport--compared to an area roughly 
three times the size of the State of Maryland. It is hardly a blip on 
the map.
  Limiting development to such a small area is important, however. It 
will help guarantee--beyond any shadow of doubt--the preservation in a 
natural state of more than sufficient habitat for caribou, muskoxen, 
polar bear, and Arctic bird life. My legislation also includes 
stringent environmental standards that will allow the designation of 
specific areas for full protection.
  The full opening bill, named the American Energy Independence and 
Security Act, AEIS, also includes guaranteed funding to mitigate any 
impacts in the region, and guarantees that the federal government will 
receive half of all revenues generated, with nearly half going for the 
first time in the history of ANWR legislation to directly reduce the 
Federal deficit. The bill allots other money to fund renewable and 
alternative energy development, wildlife programs and fishery habitat 
programs, energy conservation efforts, and money to subsidize the 
rising cost of energy for lower-income residents through funding of the 
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also called LIHEAP. Think 
about this--by producing more of our own oil, we can conserve more of 
our most spectacular lands, improve the standard of living for 
thousands of Americans, and, in one fell swoop, reduce our overall 
dependence on oil by creating new, cleaner alternatives.
  Despite these remarkable benefits, I understand that many of my 
colleagues will forever oppose all development in ANWR., That is why, 
in 2009, I worked with my fellow Senator from Alaska to introduce a new 
approach that would allow the coastal plain's resources to be accessed 
in an even more sensitive manner. Our legislation precludes any 
possibility of any disturbance to any creature on the coastal plain by 
requiring that all oil and gas in the refuge's coastal plain be 
siphoned from underneath the land, with no surface roads, wells, or 
pipelines to assist. Not a single structure would be erected on the 
surface of the refuge under our bill. There would be literally no 
chance of marring the beauty of the coastal plain--it would look and 
feel and be just as it is today both during and after full production.
  Today, and again in the spirit of bipartisan compromise, I am 
reintroducing, with Senator Begich, that legislation. The title is 
self-explanatory--we call it the No Surface Occupancy Western Arctic 
Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act--because it would allow oil 
and gas production only through extended reach directional drilling 
from outside of the refuge. The bill would also permit oil and gas to 
be tapped using subsurface technology that may someday allow for full 
development of the refuge with no sign of such activities visible to 
anyone or anything in the refuge.
  While I was deeply disappointed that many in the environmental 
community did not embrace or even for a moment consider this proposal 
as a genuine attempt to end the quarter century fight over Alaskan 
energy development, I continue to believe that it is an acceptable, 
deeply sensitive way to pursue development in the Arctic. Given the new 
extended reach drilling technology being developed for use all over the 
world, including Alaska, it could be possible to start producing oil 
and gas from ANWR even faster under the subsurface bill than might be 
the case under the full leasing bill.
  Admittedly, while current technology will only permit wells to reach 
8 miles into refuge's boundary, that should still allow us to reach up 
to 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. 
As technology improves in the years ahead, so too will the volume of 
resources that we can safely recover.
  My no-surface occupancy bill will require that 3- or 4-dimensional 
seismic and other tests be conducted by mobile units on ice pads when 
no wildlife will be in the area. But the bill prevents any disturbance 
that can even be seen by migrating caribou. There is precedent for this 
proposal. Congress in 2007 approved a Wyoming wilderness lands bill S. 
2229, the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, which permits subsurface resource 
extraction, provided no surface occupancy occurs. There is also clear 
language in the original statute, the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act, which calls for seismic studies of the coastal plain.
  My ANWR subsurface legislation will guarantee that royalties from any 
oil and gas produced are split equally between the Federal and State 
treasuries, and provides for full environmental protections and project 
labor agreements for any development that results. The bill includes 
the same provisions for local adaptation aid as does my bill to fully 
open ANWR. Both guarantee that any Alaskan community impacted by 
development, especially residents of the North Slope Borough and the 
nearby Village of Kaktovik, will be fully protected.
  My subsurface proposal offers a way for America to gain the oil and 
natural gas that will be crucial until a new era of renewable energy 
can power our lights and propel our vehicles. It also ensures that none 
of the Arctic Porcupine caribou herd that migrates across the coastal 
plain between June and August will ever see, hear, or feel oil 
development. Combined with the environmental safeguards the Secretary 
of the Interior is allowed to establish, there is no danger that any of 
the few species that overwinter on the coastal plain will ever be 
impacted by seismic or other activities. Out of an abundance of 
caution, my legislation further protects subsistence resources and 
activities for Alaska Natives.
  I truly do not believe that limited surface coastal plain development 
will harm Alaska's environment or hurt its wildlife. But my subsurface 
bill offers us another way to develop ANWR--and even those who oppose 
surface development cannot honestly disagree with its approach. My 
subsurface bill would lower the odds of environmental harm from 
incredibly miniscule to zero. It would set a precedent for development 
that should be welcomed by the environmental community. And if it is 
not actively supported, it will be clear that some oppose ANWR solely 
on political and philosophical, rather than substantive, environmental 
grounds. Such

[[Page S751]]

opposition would undermine the case against the full opening of the 
coastal plain for energy development, because it will show that the 
opposition to ANWR is based on the sands of old fears, ignoring new 
technology and ignoring reality.
  For decades, Alaskans, whom polls show overwhelmingly support ANWR 
development, have been asking permission to explore and develop oil in 
the coastal plain. Finally, technology has advanced so that it is 
possible to develop oil and gas from the refuge with little or no 
impact on the area and its wildlife. We must seriously consider this 
option. Without this level of seriousness about our energy policy, 
there will be no chance for us to stabilize global energy markets and 
avoid paying extremely high prices for fuel in the future. Our lack of 
domestic production endangers our energy security and our strategic 
security, especially given that ANWR development could supply more than 
enough oil to fully meet our military oil needs on a daily basis.
  Last year, shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the 
President stated that ``part of the reason oil companies are drilling a 
mile beneath the surface of the ocean'' is ``because we're running out 
of places to drill on land and in shallow water.'' A better 
explanation, however, was offered by the columnist Charles Krauthammer, 
who said that ``We haven't run out of safer and more easily accessible 
sources of oil. We've been run off them . . .'' The truth is that we 
haven't run out of oil--onshore or offshore. We've simply tied our own 
hands by locking up our own lands.
  At this time of high unemployment and unsustainable debt, we need to 
pursue development opportunities more than ever. My ANWR bills offer us 
a chance to produce more of our own energy, for the good of the 
American people, in an environmentally-friendly way. With oil hovering 
near $100 a barrel, with so many of our fellow citizens out of work, 
and with our Nation still more than 50 percent dependent on foreign 
oil--we would be foolish to once again ignore our most promising 
prospect for new development.
  I hope this Congress will have the common sense to allow America to 
help itself by developing ANWR's substantial resources. This is 
critical to my state and the nation as a whole. And with this in mind, 
I will work to educate the members of this chamber about ANWR. I will 
show why such development should occur--why it must occur--and how it 
can benefit our Nation at a time when we so desperately need good 
economic news.
                                 ______