State moves to support OCS leasing

Arctic refuge drilling closer as Senate moves to open site
Shell Oil's Polar Pioneer Arctic Drilling Rig

State officials have filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Anchorage to intervene in litigation to allow for offshore oil and gas leasing in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.

The state’s objective is to make sure that Alaska has future development opportunities in the Arctic OCS, said Gov. Bill Walker.

“State agencies routinely balance environmental conservation and protection with responsible resource development and the Arctic OCS is no different,” he said. “This gives the state a unique stake in the outcome of this litigation and puts us in the best position to defend those interests.”

State officials contend that Alaska’s oil and gas resources can contribute significantly to meeting future domestic energy needs. Estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management indicate as much as 40 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil and more than 200 trillion cubic feet of conventional natural gas lie in the region. Production in the outer continental shelf would also help boost throughout in the trans-Alaska pipeline and increase state revenue and jobs, the state argues.

“If plaintiffs’ claims succeed, and the Arctic outer continental shelf is forever off-limits for oil and gas leasing, the state will ultimately lose money,” the state said in its motion to intervene.

An executive order signed by President Trump in late April reversed President Obama’s ban on offshore oil and gas leasing in the Arctic and directed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to allow for responsible development of other offshore areas.

Advertisement

Several national and Alaska environmental entities, along with the Alaska Native grassroots entity REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction of Indigenous Lands) are challenging Trump’s authority to do this. Their lawsuit argues that these federal waters “border sensitive federal lands and provide habitat to a rich array of unique wildlife species,” as well as “support thriving indigenous Alaska Native cultural and subsistence activities.”

They also contend that the region, which includes eight small communities, has little infrastructure to support industrial activities.

“We don’t believe that the president has legal authority to overturn the Obama administration’s decision to withdraw the majority of the Arctic Ocean from leasing,” said Lois Epstein, an engineer and Arctic program director for The Wilderness Society, one of the 10 challengers in the lawsuit brought against the Trump administration.

“It was a very good and smart decision by the previous administration to protect the majority of the Arctic Ocean,” she said. “They rightly recognized the importance of the marine resources there and they are important to Arctic communities’ way of life.”

Advertisement