Seventy members of the House of Representatives and 15 senators have cosponsored bills to permanently ban oil exploration on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Coastal Plain in Alaska.
But Alaska's two Republican senators pledged that legislation will not pass.
FOR THE LOCKUP
Rep. Bruce Vento (D-Minn.) and Sen. William Roth (R-Del.) were main sponsors of the bills which are supported by the Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, National Resources Defense Council, and other groups.
Vento said, "For the past 14 years the Coastal Plain has been in a twilight zone, enjoying the status of wilderness without the full force and protection of the law.
"Opening the Coastal Plain is a top legislative priority for the oil and mineral industries and their advocates in the U.S. Congress."
Roth said, "The Alaskan wilderness area is not only a critical part of our earth's ecosystem, the last remaining region where the complete spectrum of arctic and subarctic ecosystems come together, but also is a vital part of our national consciousness. The fact is, there are parts of this earth where it is good that man can come only as a visitor."
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del), another sponsor, said ANWR exploration "is simply not worth the risk. The real damage would come from the hundreds of miles of pipelines that would have to be run across the tundra" to produce any oil that is found.
AGAINST THE LOCKUP
Alaska Sens. Frank Murkowski and Ted Stevens said there is no urgent campaign to open ANWR, but it should not be locked up either.
Stevens said environmentalists have reneged on the agreement behind the 1980 Alaskan Lands Act, which reserved ANWR for exploration if a later government study found oil potential.
He said any oil fields could be developed without environmental risk, and "My friends tell me (the oil potential) is larger than Prudhoe Bay field."
Murkowski pointed out that Prudhoe Bay has produced one fourth of the nation's oil the past 16-17 years.
"You might not like oil fields," Murkowski said, "but Prudhoe Bay is the finest oil field anywhere, bar none."
The senator said the energy committee, which he chairs, will hold hearings this year to inventory resources on all federal lands, and that examination logically may result in legislation to open ANWR for drilling.
Murkowski said, "The only reason this bill (to block leasing) was introduced was to raise money for those environmental groups who oppose ANWR exploration."
Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
