Friday Night Alaska's Silent Majorty Spoke While An Eco-Freaky Minority Screamed and Complained!

Canada and Lower 48 Take Heart: You Can Do It Too!

(Don't leave the field to the rude, vocal minority; responsible voices can and will overcome when they finally get mobilized! See background here. Event photos below. -dh)

Comment: Your author was privileged to attend the Friday night BOEMRE event and see Alaska's powerful, silent majority wake up and offer its wisdom to Washington decision makers. We found it ironic that while the Sierra Club's community organizer had urged her allies to 'come early', they actually came late then rudely disrupted the meeting, claiming that they should be given a cut in the witness line because their opposition came early to sign up. (See ADN's AP story by Dan Joling, here.) Below we provide a report on Friday night's meeting from economist, Steve Pratt. While we hope readers will review our earlier Op Ed pieces from the Fairbanks News Miner and Alaska Standard, we found that our new Op Ed for the Alaska Journal of Commerce appeared this last weekend and hope you will consider reviewing its different approach. Here is our testimony and the testimony of an Alaska patriot, Will Chin (NGP Photo-l-above)…and that of Keith Silver (NGP Photo-Lower Left). We appreciated the Legislative floor speeches and Friday night testimony of Senator Cathy Giessel and Representative Craig Johnson. We were delighted to see freshman Representative Lance Pruitt, Assembly Member Chris Birch, Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan (NGP Photo with Tom Crafford looking on) and a host of diverse Alaskans involved in timber, mining, education, communications, oil and gas, retail, real estate, trucking, air transport, services, government, etc. We were a little shocked and surprised that every member of the Legislature — especially those headed for the Energy Council meeting in Washington this week — weren't there. After all, the BOEMRE meeting will have historical impact on the state. Of couse, a business trip and energy seminar in Washington may be of some value (And, as a former participant, believe me: I do appreciate the importance of Energy Council!). But the point is, why shouldn't every legislator who ever claimed he or she supported Alaska's economy not show up for an event that could forever determine the direction of Alaska's economy? Over the last two years, several Alaska Legislators have participated, some consistently and some once in a while, in federal hearings like this that will determine our future. However, it is significant to note that those who do participate typically represent only one political party. This is an extremely discouraging trend that we intend to explore in more detail as time passes. We were also surprised that scores of oil industry employees didn't testify as Alaska citizens. Maybe they confuse modesty with being 'AWOL' at a critically important event. All in all, however, we were delighted that such a large and diverse group of fellow Alaskans appeared to defend their state's economy and their children's future against federal overreach. All who testified are welcome to Send their testimony to us and we'll print it here. -dh (More event photos below.)

Steve Pratt (NGP Photo) Report:

On Feb 25th the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement was in Anchorage, Alaska to hold its final public input scoping hearing on the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for 2012 – 2017 offshore leasing. Leasing plans for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas were addressed. Testimony focused on the Arctic’s abundant resources, the economic and national security benefits of a balanced energy policy using domestic energy sources, and environmental risks and mitigation.

A standing room only crowd of polite but concerned citizens took time out of their Friday night to let the federal government know these issues impact real people. The vast majority of those testifying, over 90 percent, were in favor of moving forward with a responsible, robust leasing program while continuing to provide regulatory safeguards to the environment.

The hearings began with a message from the State of Alaska. Dan Sullivan, Alaska’s Commissioner of Natural Resources, told BOEMRE that the state, as a sovereign, can no longer tolerate the Obama Administration unjustifiably standing in the way of responsible resource and economic development in Alaska. A similar message had been delivered the day before by Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Speaker after speaker spoke of the harm to the country, the state, and American consumers that continued refusal to develop domestic arctic offshore energy resources will bring. A shutdown of the Trans Alaska Pipeline for lack of production from these areas in particular would be a devastating blow to American and Alaskan interests.

A few spoke against any leasing during the 2012-2017 period. Concerns cited included problems with the response to the recent Norway oil spill in icy arctic conditions, potential harm to subsistence resources like whales and fish, arguments that “the waters are deep” (in actuality, wells in this area will be in the hundreds of feet of water, not thousands), and stating that attempts to get regulatory agencies like the EPA to issue permits on a reasonable basis amount to “gutting” the agencies and removing any environmental safeguards.

The overall message to BOEMRE was a welcome one for Northern Gas Pipelines readers – “We expect you to act responsibly. We expect you to act in good conscience. We expect you to protect our energy supplies, economic prosperity, and the environment. These are not mutually exclusive. Please tell Washington we are counting on you to allow us to develop our resources for the benefit of all. Commercialization of these resources is the only way that our scientific understanding of the Arctic will be advanced on par with other nations that are moving full speed ahead.”

We Hope that Washington will Change.

Steve Pratt

Steve Pratt Enterprises

3115 Seawind Dr

Anchorage, Ak 99516

907.345.0032

907.440.4752

NGP's February 25, 2011 BOEMRE Hearing Photos:

Lance Pruitt