The more controversial a congressional issue is, the harder it is to separate fact from fiction. A good example is the debate over whether to allow drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain on Alaska's North Slope.
Last week, key committees in Congress voted to permit ANWR exploration (see related stories, p. 36). Development could occur in 10-15 years and affect about 12,000 of the 1.5 million acre area.
Playing to the press
Preceding the congressional committee votes were press conferences that only clouded the issues. First, the Interior Department released a study claiming drilling would harm the Coastal Plain ecosystem more than previously thought.Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) charged that Interior manufactured the report in 3 days to support its antidrilling stance.
Interior's key point was that development could harm the Porcupine River caribou herd, which often calves on the Coastal Plain. It said a 5% drop in calf survival could send the herd into decline.
The fact is the herd is at a healthy, record high of 160,000. Preservation of the species is not in danger.
Interior didn't want to discuss the fact that natives are allowed to kill all the caribou they can eat, totaling several thousand a year. That makes ANWR less of a wildlife refuge than a private hunting preserve for natives.
Last week the Wilderness Society held a press conference to publicly urge the Clinton administration to declare ANWR a national monument, off limits to drilling.
At that event, Rev. Robert Brooks, the Episcopal Church's director of government relations, urged a drilling ban to accommodate Gwich'in natives who harvest the caribou.
Oddly enough, this summer American Jewish groups testified for exploration because it would lessen U.S. dependence on oil from Middle East, often anti-Israeli, nations.
It makes you wonder which side of the issue God is on.
Back to the Gwich'ins. They live outside ANWR's Coastal Plain, and their attempts to block leasing have infuriated the Inupiat Eskimos who live on the Coastal Plain, also hunt caribou, and strongly favor drilling. So the Inupiats called their own news conference.
George Ahmaogak, North Slope borough mayor, told the press, "Before Prudhoe Bay was developed 25 years ago, we were in the same situation as the Gwich'ins. We had our fears (about the decline of the caribou) but we were proved wrong."
'Wishful' revenue
Disputes over revenues also clouded the committee markups.Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) questioned whether Alaska, which has agreed to split leasing revenues 50-50 with the federal government, later will renege and demand the 90-10 split promised in its statehood act.
And Interior Sec. Bruce Babbitt called the estimated $1.3 billion federal income from ANWR "wishful thinking" because it assumes a $38/bbl oil price in 2000 when $19 is more likely. But leasing proponents said something less than $1.3 billion is better than no revenue at all. Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
