Senate One Step Closer To Allowing Drilling In Fragile Arctic Wildlife Refuge

When Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, it expanded the ANWR but opted not to give wilderness status to the 1002 Area, which was set aside for potential oil and gas development. Only Congress can grant leases for that purpose.

The Senate budget plan includes a provision that requires Murkowski’s committee to find $1 billion in additional revenue over the next decade to help pay for tax reform. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would generate slightly more than $1 billion in federal revenue over the next decade — a figure that has been widely disputed . 

The bill would allow for 2,000 acres of the coastal plain to be developed with wells and support facilities.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said future generations will look back on hearings like Wednesday’s and wonder “what world was the United States Senate living in” because it was pushing for more fossil fuel development “at a time of devastating damage done by climate change.” He pointed to the destruction caused by recent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast and in the Caribbean.

“You’re talking about raising a billion dollars here,” Sanders said. “I’m talking about the United States government spending hundreds of billions of dollars repairing damage, which, to a significant degree, not totally, had to do with climate change. And the scientists tell us the worst is yet to come.”

Environmental groups were quick to blast the committee’s vote. 

Alex Taurel, deputy legislative director of the League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement that Murkowski’s bill is “nothing more than a long-sought payout for Big Oil” and a proposal “built on phony revenue numbers, questionable demand and dangerous environmental waivers.”

Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Niel Lawrence, Alaska director for the Land and Wildlife Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, noted that the definition of “refuge” is “a place that provides shelter or protection.”

“Subjecting America’s last pure wildland its caribou and musk oxen, the coastal plain, and the Gwich’in way of life to the destruction of seismic testing and oil extraction is the very opposite of providing shelter and protection,” he said. 

The Gwich’in people rely on the caribou herd as a food source. Samuel Alexander, a tribal representative, said at a hearing earlier this month  that his people view drilling in the 1002 Area as an attack on their freedom and way of life.

This article has been updated with additional comments from the hearing and with reactions from environmentalists.