Alaska Gov. Murkowski Promotes Alaska’s Resources
The future of energy lies in the North, Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski told attendees Monday in his keynote speech during the opening of plenary of The Council of State Governments and CSG-WEST annual meetings. “The energy wealth in the world is in the Arctic and Alaska is the only state in the Arctic,” Murkowski said.
Alaska’s 10th Governor said more research and less emotion would allow more oil drilling in the federally owned Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska’s North Slope.
Congress has failed to allow drilling on some 2,000 square acres in the ANWR, which contains 19 million acres.
“That’s the size of Colorado,” Murkowski noted. He blames environmentalists who are not aware that Alaska has developed safe, environmentally sensitive Arctic drilling.
“Our growing reliance on imported oil, however, means that instead of getting more oil from Alaska, where our standards are the highest in the world, it is being produced somewhere else that has far less environmental oversight.”
Alaska also contains an estimated 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, an amount that would far exceed all the proven reserves for the rest of the nation.
“There is no federal law blocking access to the reserves. It’s just a matter of money and finding the right mix of players to take the financial risk of building a gas pipeline from the North Slope to market.”
Alaska has other natural resources that its governor wants to promote.
The two largest gold mine reserves in North America are in Alaska, according to Murkowski, and the largest zinc mine in the world is located in Northwest Alaska. “And we are host to more than 1 million tourists a year, most coming by cruise ship,” he said.
CSG Chair Sen. John Hottinger of Minnesota opened the plenary. The Junior ROTC of Diamond High School served as the color guard as Adele Morgan san National Anthem. The Rev. Inyong Sin delivered the invocation.
CSG-WEST Chair state Sen. Bart Davis of Idaho and Alaska Senate President Gene Therriault, chair of the Alaska Host State Committee, welcomed the CSG-WEST and CSG delegates.
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich also offered his fact-filled welcome, noting Anchorage is the largest cargo port in the United States and third largest in the world.