Maine delegation united in opposition to Arctic drilling

WASHINGTON – The battle over President George W. Bush’s energy plan is about to be joined by Congress when controversial legislation advocating his idea to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is introduced in the Senate on Monday.

Already the idea is drawing opposition from all members of the Maine delegation.

Sen. Frank H. Murkowski, R-Alaska, authored the bill and insisted that it is a balanced approach to national energy policy.

“I hope it will launch a nationwide debate about energy,” Murkowski said, adding that “most of the criticism is based on emotional arguments that ignore current technology.”

But the Maine congressional delegation said their arguments very much consider all relevant facts of the proposal.

“It’s neither good energy policy nor good environmental policy,” Sen. Susan Collins said. “The best estimates show only a 6-month oil supply in the Arctic refuge, and oil wouldn’t be available for 10 years,” she said.

Fellow Republican Sen. Olympia Snow added, “The refuge is a vast, totally pristine wilderness that supplies calving grounds for the Porcupine caribou herd, as well as nesting habitat for millions of birds” and should be left alone.

Bush is misleading the American people when he ties drilling in the refuge to the energy crisis in California, Democratic Rep. Tom Allen said. The fact is, he said, that only a very low percentage of California’s energy comes from oil.

Both Allen and Collins said that the only way to have a quick impact on the on-going energy crisis is to increase energy conservation. “We could save and reduce dependency on foreign oil by 50 percent if we raise energy-efficiency by 3 percent,” Collins said.

“We don’t need to drill in Alaska,” Democratic Rep. John Baldacci said. “We have capped wells nationwide that could be reopened.” All members of the Maine delegation agreed it would be more beneficial to offer tax incentives to individuals and businesses so they can reopen those wells.

Baldacci is also cosponsoring legislation banning oil exports.

Murkowski’s legislation also is drawing opposition from environmental groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the Arctic refuge.

The Natural Resource Defense Council, a national environmental group, warned that “America’s Arctic is a fragile wilderness that would be ruined by oil drilling.” The council instead suggested system benefits to promote energy efficiency, tax incentives and strengthened energy-efficiency standards for appliances and buildings, according to its national energy proposal released this month.

The environmental effects would be disastrous, said Karen Boylan, assistant regional director, external affairs, at the regional office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. “There is not enough water to build ice roads needed for construction,” Boylan said. “So they will need to build gravel roads, which will leave a tremendous footprint in the refuge.”

In addition, she said, wildlife would be affected. The existence of musk ox, polar bears, migratory birds and the Porcupine caribou will be seriously threatened because of the invasion in their habitat, she said.

Proponents of the drilling point to the central Arctic caribou herds as evidence that wildlife is not threatened but forget that there are plenty of other herds that would suffer, she said.

Oil drilling would also reduce the fish, wildlife and harvest supplies. “But the most important is that this area represents an intact ecosystem that has not been tramped by humans,” Boylan said. “Once you drill, it’s not wilderness anymore.”

Allen will reintroduce his legislation opposing drilling in Alaska. “So far we have 67 co-sponsors,” Allen said, “and I am positive we will have more by Monday,” when he plans to introduce his measure.

He said he supports tax incentives and other efforts to conserve energy, such as changing rooftops from black to white and using solar energy and wind as energy resources.

Snowe, together with other members of the bipartisan Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, also supports the development of renewable energy sources like solar, wind, biomass and geothermal.

The Snowe-sponsored National Oil Heat Research Alliance Act, enacted last year, authorizes a program to enhance training, research and development, energy conservation and efficiency and consumer education.

Collins said she is planning to reintroduce her legislation, which would create a presidential energy commission. The commission would include representatives from the industry, consumers and environmental groups and would study ways to reduce dependency on oil and rely instead on alternative sources.

Because of the controversy about his bill, Murkowski is planning to take senators up to the refuge, hoping, he said, “that by first-hand observation public officials will replace myth and fear with hard facts.”

But Collins has already said a trip to Alaska was not her priority and would not change her mind about the issue anyway. And although Snowe has not decided on the trip, she said it would not influence her opinion, either.