President Touts ANWR Promise in Energy Remarks
Today President George Bush spoke to the Small Business Administration’s NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS WEEK CONFERENCE in Washington, D.C. His comments widely addressed the need for a comprehensive National Energy Plan which includes opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to responsible oil and gas exploration. He stated America needed to wean itself from foreign sources of oil as much as possible, and that the best way to do this was to increase domestic production particularly in ANWR. The President stated new drilling and production technology as proof that production can take place in ANWR without harming the wildlife or environment. He left it up to Congress, particularly the Senate to provide him with an Energy Bill that would include a provision for ANWR exploration to be delivered to his desk for signature by August. Senator Pete Dominici, Chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee commented afterwards that he will work toward that timeline and hoped to provide the legislation for Presidential signature.
"Advances in technology will also allow us to open up new areas to environmentally responsible exploration for oil and natural gas, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Applause.) Technology now makes it possible to reach ANWR's hydrocarbons by drilling on just 2,000 acres of the 19 million acres of land. That's just one-tenth of 1 percent of ANWR's total area. Because of the advances in technology, we can reach the oil deposits with almost no impact on land or local wildlife. (Applause.)Developing this tiny section of ANWR could eventually yield up to a million barrels of oil per day. That's a million barrels less that we've depended on from foreign sources of energy."
The full text of the Presidents speech reads below....
WASHINGTON, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of remarks by President Bush at the Small Business Administration's National Small Business Week Conference: