Cathy Giessel – Federal overreach isn’t just a catchy talking point. It has real consequences that I see and experience every day in Alaska.
Alaska has been the victim of countless actions by the Obama Administration to unilaterally close off areas in Alaska to energy development. In the past two months, President Obama has used his executive authority to close areas in Bristol Bay, the Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea from energy leasing – all without congressional oversight or thorough consultation with Alaskan officials.
Then, on a Sunday morning last month we awoke to the news the president would attempt to permanently close the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to energy development. While Congress thankfully has pledged not to follow this misguided directive, the administration will continue to manage ANWR as wilderness, moving the possibility of development of the area’s 10 billion barrels of oil even further into the future.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) was built with our country’s energy security in mind. Today, it carries nearly half a million barrels of crude oil daily through an 800-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska, where it is shipped to refineries and consumers on the West Coast. However, the pipeline could carry much more – it once carried 2 million barrels a day – and Alaska has enough oil reserves to produce more energy for our Lower 48 neighbors.
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