Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski just spent hours on a plane with
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and says she thinks the Obama administration is
coming around on oil development in Alaska.
Murkowski says she’s convinced the federal government is
close to approving permits for ConocoPhillips’ stalled drilling project in the
National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, often referred to as the CD-5 project.
Shell’s applications to drill in the Chukchi and Beaufort
seas next summer are “a little more complicated,” Murkowski says. But
she thinks those are likely to be approved soon as well.
Murkowski flew from Washington, D.C., to Greenland with
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The trio
attended the just-ended Arctic Council conference in Nuuk.
En route, Murkowski says, she discussed a number of Alaska resource
development issues with Salazar, including Shell, the CD-5 project, the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge and the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Lands policy.
She said she didn’t know when the CD-5 and Shell permits
might be issued, but Salazar himself is “very engaged,” she said.
“The focus they have placed on this gives me a level of
assurance that they are committed to finding a path forward,” Murkowski
said.
In recent months, Murkowski and Sen. Mark Begich and Rep.
Don Young have been urging the White House to move more quickly on Alaska oil
development, particularly in light of political unrest in the Middle East that
has caused gasoline prices to spike and underscored U.S. dependence on unstable
foreign oil supplies.
Murkowski met with President Obama earlier this year to
discuss how Alaska could play a larger role in domestic energy production.
On Friday, speaking to Alaska reporters about the Arctic
Council and other issues, Murkowski said she’s “seeing a change in
position” on the part of the federal government in its attitude toward
domestic drilling, in Alaska as well as other offshore areas.
“I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing,” she said.
Murkowski is the first U.S. senator to attend an Arctic
council meeting as a full participant and noted that the U.S. participation has
been elevated to unprecedented levels with Clinton’s and Salazar’s attendance.
In addition to agreeing to cooperate in search-and-rescue
operations with the seven other nations in the Arctic Council, the U.S. also agreed
to begin negotiations on joint oil spill preparedness and response
capabilities. Murkowski said she thinks it will take the
task force working on the issue two more years — until the next Arctic Council
meeting — to come up with a plan.
She conceded that the U.S. lacks adequate resources in the
Arctic for search-and-rescue as well as oil spill cleanup. Yet activity is
increasing and there is a need for everything from deepwater ports to icebreakers, she said.
“We’re going to have to commit to some resources in the
North,” Murkowski said, adding: “We are stepping up to our role as a
leader in the Arctic.”
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