Contention has grown between Alaska and Washington state, revolving around oil development. Leadership in Washington state at all levels, the mayor of Seattle, Washington’s governor and legislative body, and their U.S. Senators, oppose for environmental climate reasons new oil development by their neighbor to the north. A Seattle Times article rattled the war tambourines on both sides over this critical Alaskan issue. A Joint Resolution passed by the Alaska Legislature this past session pointed to this contention, SJR18.
Rather than try to block offshore oil development in the Arctic, the resolution suggested Washington ought to “ … look first at closing the Boeing production facilities to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from commercial activity.”
“It must be nice to eat cheese and sip wine in Olympia while they talk about the Arctic,” said Alaska state Rep. Bob Herron, a Democrat from Bethel, during the floor debate. “But it does remind us of the paternalistic past when the state of Alaska was plundered by people from Washington and other areas … who covet our resources.”
The measure overwhelmingly passed both Alaska’s House and Senate, a reflection of the growing disconnect over fossil-fuel development between two states with deep and, at times, turbulent ties.
Several top Washington politicians, including Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, have been vocal critics of the offshore oil-development plans. Both Washington senators, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, have long opposed opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), on Alaska’s northern coastal plain, to drilling.
The widening gap between the two states was highlighted recently when Mayor Murray tried to block Shell Oil from basing its fleet at the Port of Seattle by announcing that it would violate a city permit. “It’s time to turn the page,” he said. “If it was up to me, there would be no place for offshore oil-drilling equipment in Seattle.”
In the Pacific Northwest, environmentalists have helped turn the region into a hub of opposition to oil trains, oil rigs and coal ports.
Reducing carbon emissions is a top priority of Gov. Jay Inslee and many of his Democratic colleagues. Inslee has been promoting alternative-energy development and pushing legislation that would cap carbon emissions in the state. He also wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell opposing further offshore Arctic oil and gas leases.
“Some in Alaska have said we are hypocritical to oppose additional approvals for Arctic drilling while we support Washington companies that contribute to carbon pollution,” said David Postman, a spokesman for Inslee. But that’s a false narrative. The governor is pushing stringent carbon limits on all Washington businesses and any entity that emits major carbon pollution.”
See SJR18
See Full Story at The Seattle Times
