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Alaska Wild Update #189 - Sep 26, 2002 QUOTE OF THE WEEK "I
think there is strong opposition [in the Senate] to opening [the Arctic HEADLINES ENERGY CONFEREES DISCUSSING ARCTIC PROVISIONS ALASKA
DELEGATION LEGISLATIVE ASSAULT
Late Wednesday night (September 25), Energy Conference Chair Billy Tauzin (R-LA) announced that the Conferees would be discussing the Arctic drilling provisions of the House Energy bill the following morning. On Thursday September 26th, the Energy conferees met and did exactly that. The September 26th meeting (like most of the them) was on the House Side. Chairman Tauzin began by offering the House's offer regarding the Arctic. After the House conferees discussed the amendment, there was a recorded vote that was strictly party lines (10-7). The Senators present then discussed the Arctic. The Senate will respond to the House offer next Tuesday, October 1st at 3:00 on the Senate side. Debate was pretty much the same broken record. Senator Murkowski (R-AK) blamed the environmental community for not being able to accept any drilling. Murkowski went so far as to ask Senator Lieberman (D-CT) if there was any compromise acceptable to the environmentalists. Lieberman responded that he couldn't speak for the environmental community, but he had not seen any acceptable approach so far in the debate. Lieberman insisted that arctic drilling was a "non-starter" in the Senate and that any effort to include it would doom the conference report's chances of passage through the Senate. Senator Bingaman (D-NM) spoke and showed a graph of the tiny dent ANWR oil would have. Earlier on, there had been rumors from Tauzin that there may be a compromise in the works to trade the Senate climate change provisions with the House language for drilling. These rumors were put to rest by Senator Craig (R-ID) who said that there was not any relationship between Arctic drilling and Climate change. The
following Senators are on the Conference Committee and will be voting
on Max
Baucus (D-MT) Jeff
Bingaman (D-NM) John
Breaux (D-LA) Ernest
Hollings (D-SC) James
Jeffords (I-VT) John
Kerry (D-MA) Joseph
Lieberman (D-CT) Harry
Reid (D-NV) John
D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV)
ALASKA DELEGATION LEGISLATIVE ASSAULT As is usual, the Alaska delegation has several legislative assaults on Alaska lands moving through the Congress. The Cape Fox bill in the Senate and two of the Young bills have already passed through committee. S 2222 Cape Fox Land Entitlement Adjustment Act of 2002 introduced by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R - AK), would allow Cape Fox and Sealaska corporations to exchange an undetermined area of logged and roaded lands for 13,000 acres of pristine, high value, public National Forest land in the Tongass. The bill would require exchanges of private timberlands near Ketchikan for public lands (a roadless area) in Berner’s Bay. Cape Fox will profit from the deal by allowing the dumping of gold mine tailings from the Kensington gold mine on the Berner’s Bay lands. Rosa Miller, Tribal Leader of the Auk Kwaan, the original settlers of Juneau, expressed outrage at this bill’s introduction. The Auk Kwaan recognizes Berner’s Bay as an integral part of their traditional territory. These ancestral lands contain village sites, burial grounds, and the sacred Spirit Mountain. HR 3148 Amendment to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act introduced by Rep. Don Young (R - AK), would give Vietnam veterans who are Alaska Natives the right to select and gain title to their choice of 160 acres of federal land anywhere in Alaska. It would allow Alaska Natives that served in Vietnam anytime from 1964 – 1975, and any heirs of deceased veterans to select from public lands in National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, Wilderness Areas, and the Chugach and Tongass National Forests. The bill could move up to 460,000 acres of public lands into private ownership. S. 1816 University of Alaska Land Act introduced by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R - AK), would give up to 275,000 acres of public, federal land in Alaska to the University of Alaska to be developed. It would allow the University to select public lands from the Chugach National Forest, the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, and many other pristine wildlands in Alaska. HR 4734 Alaska Federal Lands Management Demonstration Project ACT introduced by Rep. Don Young (R - AK), could result in private corporations managing Alaska’s National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and Wilderness Areas. NASTY
TONGASS RIDER WITHDRAWN Earlier in the summer, over 160,000 public comments were submitted for the Tongass wilderness plan, with the vast majority urging more wilderness protection in the Tongass. The US Forest Service had previously recommended no new protected areas in the Tongass. If Senator Murkowski had gotten his way, the Tongass provision of the Craig amendment not only would have prevented further public input after the Forest service released their recommendations, it would have prevented legal challenge in the courts. The Forest service could have ignored the 160,000 comments and would have been beyond the ability of citizens or public interest groups to challenge. Due
in part to intense public opposition, the most recent version of Senator
Larry Craig’s “fire” amendment no longer includes the
provision limiting further public input on wilderness protections for
the Tongass National Forest.
MYTH: Arctic oil would replace the million barrels of oil a day we get from Iraq. FACT: During June 2002, we imported only 167,000 barrels of oil each day from Iraq, which made up less than 2 percent of all the oil imported into this country in June, according to the Energy Information Administration. Aside from this, the fact remains that we cannot drill our way out of dependence on imported oil. All known US domestic reserves total just 3 percent of the world’s supply, but the United States accounts for 25 percent of the world’s oil consumption. We could easily save more than 1 million barrels of oil each day if fuel efficiency standards for cars were raised just 3 miles per gallon. That’s five times the amount of oil the Refuge is likely to yield. MYTH: The unions are bound and determined to make drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge happen. FACT: Polls show that the vast majority of working Americans oppose drilling in the Arctic Refuge. For example, a poll released in January 2001 by the Mellman Group found that “Union households believe alternative energy would create more jobs than drilling in the Refuge by 69 percent to 25 percent.” Moreover, the AFL-CIO’s largest member union – the Service Employees International – has come out against drilling in the Refuge and for a more balanced and innovative energy plan that creates more jobs and provides for real energy security. According to the Tellus Institute and other independent analyses, investing in energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy could create as many as 10 times the number of jobs associated with drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Arctic
Rally on Capitol Hill At
Monday's rally, Rep. Edward Markey and Sen. Ron Wyden, released a letter
from 100 House Democrats declaring the House's pro-drilling provision
"a legislative poison pill that will kill the entire energy bill."
Markey said they were sending a message to oil interests meeting "in
the night, in secret" that opponents would block a bill that opened
the Arctic Refuge. Another rally speaker Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife, said he "welcomed" news that Interior Secretary Norton had said she would recommend the president veto the energy bill if it came to his desk without a provision to open the Refuge. A spokesman for Senate Democratic conferees said Monday, "All the Senate Democratic conferees are committed to supporting a bill that can pass the Senate." Some senators have pledged to filibuster any energy bill that includes drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Update on the Walk to Washington The ongoing Walk to Washington is under full steam now! Tim Leach, who represents the Northeast leg of the Walk to DC, got underway in Saratoga Springs, NY, on September 14. Tim is currently on his way from St Johnsbury Vermont to Randolph, New Hampshire. Ken Madsen is currently making his way across the vast open spaces of South Dakota. Ken will be entering Marshall, Minnesota by October 1. To date, Ken and Tim have put on over 20 slide shows for the Arctic Refuge during the Walk to Washington. By
mid October, the Walk to DC will get it’s third leg, as Emily Ferry
begins her Southeastern Route in Kansas City Missouri. For more information
and a complete schedule of the Walk, please visit the
Caribou Commons web site.
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