President Bush States Support for ANWR
President Bush stated yesterday his support for environmentally responsible oil development in ANWR. In speaking to the Detroit Economic Club President Bush discussed his views on America’s energy policy saying, …“And I think we ought to allow for exploration in environmentally responsible ways in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
The President has listed opening the Coastal Plain of ANWR in his National Energy Policy for four years now. However in those 4 years Congress has failed to pass any new National Energy Bill including a pro-ANWR provision. The President commented, “For the sake of this economy, and for the sake of national security, Congress needs to pass an energy plan and get it to my desk as soon as possible, so we can become less reliant on foreign sources of energy.”
Further more the President stated, “a pro-growth strategy must ensure affordable, reliable supplies of energy. It is hard to be in a growing economy if you're not sure whether or not you got energy, if you're not sure whether or not there's cost certainty when it comes to energy. As you found out here in Detroit, and others found out across our nation during the blackout that hit this city two summers ago, a disruption in energy supplies can cause, and will cause, serious problems in our economy. And so that's why I sent Congress a comprehensive energy strategy almost four years ago. And as I said in the State of the Union the other night, four years of debate is enough. We don't need debate. We need action when it comes to an energy plan.”
It is expected that legislation for responsible oil and gas development of ANWR’s Coastal Plain will be discussed by Senator Pete Dominici, Chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, soon. Similar actions are planned by Representative Pombo, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
President Bush has submitted a budget to Congress this year that includes ANWR Coastal Plain development in it. ANWR is one of the only energy policies that will actually produce revenue for the government and does not cost revenue. The budget assumes that ANWR leasing in 2007 would generate $2.4 billion in revenue. Half of that money could go to the State of Alaska. On Monday (February 7th) Interior Secretary Gale Norton stated about the ANWR Coastal Plain, “The potential daily production from this area is larger than the current daily onshore oil production of any other state”. With ANWR now officially part of the President’s budget, it is hoped that the issue will have an easier time in passing the Senate which has traditionally been the more difficult of the two legislative bodies for ANWR to overcome.