Kathy Griffin is crude, and her brand of crude tends to get the attention. But there are other types of crude more important than her. One in particular comes in the form of 12 billion barrels underneath the ground in northeast Alaska. We've known about it for decades, but we've never been able to go and get it because of long-ago congressional action declaring the oil untouchable.
This is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where conventional wisdom says we can't go get the oil because the nearby herds of caribou will suffer if we do. That's complete rot, of course. With modern drilling technology the caribou can wander right up to the drilling site and they'll be perfectly fine. And we're only talking about a postage stamp of the 23-million acre reserve that would be needed to get the oil.
There is no reason on earth not to do this, but the Beltway is a bizarre place. We were close in the 'aughts to having the votes, but a few House Republicans were too intimidated by the media and environmentalists. So despite the Bush Administration pushing hard for it, it didn't happen.
Are we in for another try? It sure looks like it:
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued a directive aimed at spurring oil and natural gas development in Alaska, including a move to assess just how much crude might be lurking under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Zinke’s order, signed during a visit to Anchorage, also compels a rewrite of a 2013 plan that limited oil and natural gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The move responds to complaints from oil companies and state officials that the Obama administration was too restrictive, blocking drilling in promising areas while hampering their ability to build pipelines across the 23-million-acre reserve.
"This is land that was set up with the sole intention of oil and gas production; however, years of politics over policy put roughly half of the NPR-A off-limits," Zinke said in a statement announcing the move. "Using this land for its original intent will create good-paying jobs and revenue."
Unlike the petroleum reserve, which was specifically designated for energy development, Congress established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1980 to protect the 19-million-acre territory along Alaska’s northeast frontier. But ANWR’s estimated 12 billion barrels of crude has drawn interest from energy companies and their political allies, including Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican.
How nice of Lisa Murkowski to support a conservative idea for a change, when there's economic impact involved for her state. Better than nothing, I guess.
The Trump Administration has been wonderfully aggressive in moving wherever it can to unleash U.S. domestic energy resources. It's changing the global game, and putting OPEC and other petroleum-producing countirues into a new panic - not only because of the competition but also because their profits depend on the ability to limit production and keep prices artificially high. If the U.S. becomes a major player in the oil-production game and refuses to play ball with the cartel, the result will be much lower energy prices for Americans. It might also mean lower profits for oil companies, but that is not the priority of the U.S. government. Innovative companies can figure out how to make adjustments and make money without the help of international price-fixing.
But can this get done? The last time around, Senate Republicans who refused to support ANWR drilling included John McCain and Susan Collins. Shocker, right? And they're both still in the Senate. Assuming neither would change their votes, you've only got 50 in the Senate to do this. And unless the swamp creatures are willing to change their minds about the sacrosanctity of the Senate filibuster, the question is irrelevant because you need 60 votes anyway.
There were a handful of Democrats who supported ANWR drilling during the Bush years, but these days the Democrats would unanimously oppose a resolution wishing Betty White a happy birthday if Trump was in favor of it.
The political challenge aside, though, this is worth the effort. The ANWR oil is a potentially important piece of the effort to make America truly energy-independent - and even more so, a driver of the global market. If politicians are going to continue to oppose that, they should at least have to endure serious pressure for doing so. And people should understand just how absurd it is that we're not up there drilling for that oil. Maybe that pressure could be brought to bear so effectively that we could finally win this fight.
It's long overdue, and crucial to the nation.
Kathy Griffin is crude, and her brand of crude tends to get the attention. But there are other types of crude more important than her. One in particular comes in the form of 12 billion barrels underneath the ground in northeast Alaska. We've known about it for decades, but we've never been able to go and get it because of long-ago congressional action declaring the oil untouchable.
This is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where conventional wisdom says we can't go get the oil because the nearby herds of caribou will suffer if we do. That's complete rot, of course. With modern drilling technology the caribou can wander right up to the drilling site and they'll be perfectly fine. And we're only talking about a postage stamp of the 23-million acre reserve that would be needed to get the oil.
There is no reason on earth not to do this, but the Beltway is a bizarre place. We were close in the 'aughts to having the votes, but a few House Republicans were too intimidated by the media and environmentalists. So despite the Bush Administration pushing hard for it, it didn't happen.
