ANWR: ‘A Tremendous Opportunity For Both Alaska And Our Country’

SEN. MURKOWSKI: This Legislation ‘Will Put Us On A Path Toward Greater Prosperity’

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): “This legislation is a tremendous opportunity for both Alaska and our country… The legislation I released tonight will put us on a path toward greater prosperity by creating jobs, keeping energy affordable for families and businesses, generating new wealth, and strengthening our security—while reducing the federal deficit not just by $1 billion over ten years, but tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars over the decades to come.” (Sen. Murkowski, Press Release, 11/8/2017)

• SEN. MURKOWSKI: “We should also understand: if we open the 1002 Area, the economic benefits will be substantial, our national security will be strengthened, and the environmental impacts will be minimal. For starters, we will create thousands of new jobs, and those jobs will pay the types of wages that support families and put our kids through college. We will also generate substantial revenues for every level of government—tens of billions of dollars over the life of the fields.” (U.S. Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Hearing, 11/2/2017)

• SEN. MURKOWSKI: ‘We will not harm the caribou… We will not harm the polar bears’ “Now, development in the Arctic has always raised concerns about wildlife and the environment, and appropriately so. But I would remind everyone here this morning: because Alaskans have been so careful with development, fears of impacts to our wildlife and our land have repeatedly proven wrong. … We always talk about the caribou. The Central Arctic caribou herd, which lives year-round in and around Prudhoe Bay, increased from 3,000 animals in 1969, to 5,000 when development began in earnest in 1974, and was at about 22,000 animals just this last year. It’s now more than seven times larger than when development began. … We will not harm the caribou who move through the area. We will not harm the polar bears, whose dens can be protected; the snow geese, whose nesting areas can be safeguarded; or any of the other birds and wildlife that visit the Coastal Plain in the summer.” (U.S. Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Hearing, 11/2/2017)

SEN. DAN SULLIVAN (R-AK): “I’d like to thank Senator Murkowski for her leadership on this very important issue for Alaska and for our country. … I have no doubt that this legislation, which would lead to producing more energy responsibly by opening up the small section of the 1002 area in ANWR, will help make the United States the world’s energy super power again, will dramatically increase our country’s national security and lead to American jobs and productive diplomacy around the globe.” (Sen. Murkowski, Press Release, 11/8/2017)

SEN. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “The recent budget resolution gave the Committee instructions to generate a billion dollars of new revenue for the federal government. The Committee has now unveiled legislation to do just that by further developing the oil and gas potential in Alaska in an environmentally responsible way. The good work of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee can produce important benefits to both the people of Alaska and to our entire country. I would like to commend Chairman Murkowski for her efforts to support our nation’s energy security.” (Sen. McConnell, Floor Remarks, 11/9/2017)

‘Potential Oil And Gas Development… Requires An Act Of Congress’

“Congressional Republicans have long pushed to allow energy exploration in a 1.5 million-acre section of the Alaskan refuge, known as the ‘1002 area,’ where billions of barrels of oil lie beneath the coastal plain. The 19.6-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was created under former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960. In 1980, Congress provided additional protections to the refuge but set aside the 1002 area for future drilling if lawmakers approved it. Democrats have managed to block those efforts over fears that drilling would harm … animals like polar bears, caribou, and arctic foxes.” (“Lisa Murkowski Offers Bill Aiming To Raise $1 Billion By Opening Arctic Wildlife Refuge To Drilling,” Washington Examiner, 11/9/2017)

• “In 1980, with the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Congress expanded ANWR but opted not to give wilderness status to the 1002 Area, setting it aside for potential oil and gas development. Granting leases for that purpose, however, requires an act of Congress.” (“Lisa Murkowski Introduces Bill To Open Arctic Wildlife Refuge To Oil Drilling,” Huffington Post, 11/9/2017)

• “Since the 1980's, the congressional delegation from Alaska… has sought to open a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling. … Folded into the budget bill being considered by the Senate this week is a provision endorsed by Murkowski meant to open a piece of the 19-million-acre refuge to energy development.” (“The Energy 202,” The Washington Post’s ‘PowerPost’, 10/20/2017)

• “Alaska's senior senator is the second generation of the Murkowski family to try to bring energy development to ANWR. For decades, her father, Frank Murkowski, represented Alaska in the Senate and pushed similar language. In 1995, with GOP majorities in both the House and Senate for the first time in four decades, Republicans passed a budget with pro-drilling language — only to be vetoed by President Clinton. Soon after Lisa Murkowski took over her father's seat in 2002, the Arctic refuge debate was revived when Republicans again controlled both chambers of Congress. But in 2005, when Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) attached an ANWR provision to a defense bill, [Democrats] successfully filibustered it.” (“The Energy 202,” The Washington Post’s ‘PowerPost’, 10/20/2017)