ANWR Talking Points
House Republican Conference

• The President's National Energy Policy contains 105 recommendations for promoting dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future. More than half of these 105 recommendations are devoted to conservation, environmental protection and alternative energy.
• This is a COMPREHENSIVE energy plan, the first to be put forward in a generation. We need long-term solutions to solve our nation's energy problems. Americans do not want to go through wild fluctuations in energy prices and energy supplies. We need price stability at the gasoline pump and in our home energy bills.
• Alternative energy sources must be further developed. Fuel cells, new technologies for geothermal, solar and wind, all must be advanced. And as long as cars and trucks and tractors run on gasoline, we will need oil.
• The Administration's plan is bold and yet very mindful of the need to protect the environment. In the words of Vice President Cheney:

"We will insist on protecting and enhancing the environment, showing consideration for the air and natural lands and watersheds of our country. This will require overcoming what is for some a cherished myth - that energy production and the environment must always involve competing values. We can explore for energy, we can produce energy and use it, and we can do so with a decent regard for the natural environment."

• As I said earlier, this is a comprehensive energy plan, but opponents have spent a good deal of their time ... and money ... focusing on ANWR. I'd like to spend a few minutes on this subject.

• The original "ANWR" was established in 1960 during the Eisenhower Administration. Recall that Alaska had recently become a state and President Eisenhower wanted to set some of the new state aside for wildlife conservation. This lead to the creation of the Alaska National Wildlife Range, which set aside 9 million acres.
• Two decades later, President Carter and Congress took another look at Alaska and passed the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). ANILCA established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, more than doubling the original acreage to 19.6 million acres--the size of South Carolina.
• Somehow lost in all of the discussion today about ANWR, is the fact that Congress and President Carter - with the images of angry and frustrated drivers waiting in the long lines at gas stations still fairly fresh in their memories -- set aside the 1002 area for possible oil and gas exploration.
• Because the 1002 area is in the vicinity of Prudhoe Bay, and because of it's geologic characteristics - you can actually smell oil in the rocks - Congress and President Carter designated this area for study.
• The Department of the Interior studied the area for its oil and gas potential and studied the potential impact any development would have on wildlife. In 1987, Secretary Hodel submitted a final EIS recommending that Congress open the land to leasing.
• Keep in mind, of the more than 19 million acres in the entire refuge, if Congress opens up all of 1002, this will mean only 92 percent of ANWR will be permanently closed to oil and gas leasing. Eight percent of the land area will be eligible for exploration. The footprint of production activities would be only slightly more than one hundredth of 1 percent of the area of ANWR.
• Much of the concern about oil and gas development in the 1002 Area has focused on the Porcupine Caribou. During the winter, when such development would take place, the Porcupine Caribou are far to the south of the 1002 Area. The caribou move northward during the calving season in the spring. Seasonal limits have been placed on exploration, which will generally be limited to the period of November to May, when snow shields the tundra. These limits will protect the caribou as well as the breeding and spawning activities of other wildlife.

CARIBOU DID NOT CALVE IN 1002

• Let me add another point about caribou. When Congress was debating the development of Prudhoe Bay and construction of the Alaska, there were some pretty bleak predictions and statements about the destructive impact such development would have on the caribou. The fact is, oil and gas development have successfully coexisted with wildlife for the last 30 years.
• The Central Arctic Caribou Herd at Prudhoe Bay has grown from 3,000 in 1970 to 27,000 today. The population of Grizzly bears and Polar bears also has increased. There are NO endangered species. And this has all been done under technology that is 30 years old. We've come a long way since then. I urge you to keep these facts in mind when you hear similar predictions made about the 1002 area.

VIEWPOINTS OF LOCAL CITIZENS - Over 70% statewide support in polls. TALKED WITH RESIDENTS OF NATIVE VILLAGE OF KAKTOVIK.

CANT OPEN OWN LAND. ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES SUPPORTS

• In closing, let me say that the President and Spence, and I, and the entire Administration team recognize that for some of you, supporting ANWR is a difficult decision. I fully respect those concerns. I want to assure all of you, ANWR development, if it is approved, will take place under the most stringent environmental protection requirements EVER applied to Federal energy production.
• We have the technology and we have American ingenuity on our sides. If we are successful with ANWR, we will be producing more of our needed energy supplies right here at home. Our national security will be stronger. Our energy future will be more stable and predictable.
• I mentioned briefly the issues surrounding Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline. Thirty years ago members of Congress were under intense pressure from environmental groups and others to oppose these two proposals. Then, as now, it was a difficult choice. The bill to allow North Slope development passed on a 50-50 tie vote of the U.S. Senate, with the Vice President casting the tie-breaking vote.
• Thankfully, the men and women in Congress had the foresight to open up Prudhoe Bay and to build the pipeline. The environment has been protected, as industry and proponents said it would be, and the region has provided us with a fourth of our domestic oil.
• Looking down the road 20 or 30 years from today, after ANWR is approved, your successors will look back and applaud the wisdom you had to do the right thing. We will prove that American ingenuity can be harnessed to protect environmental values.