Every year, a resolution is introduced to codify state support of exploitation in the coastal plain, but given recent events, this year's resolution is a bit different. Its entire title urges "the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to honor the recent lease sales and proceed with permitting in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; urging the President of the United States to defend the 2020 Record of Decision approving the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; opposing designation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a National Monument; and urging the Alaska delegation in Congress to uphold sec. 20001 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017."
We expect the resolution to pass, but it's still important our elected leaders hear from their constituents. To call in and testify:
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If calling from anywhere other than Anchorage or Juneau, call 844-586-9085. If calling from an Anchorage prefix, call 563-9085 and, from a Juneau prefix, call 586-9085. Please try to call 5-10 minutes before the scheduled start time (1pm). Make sure you state the bill (HJR12) you would like to testify on and the committee (House Resources). Your name will be called and you will be connected when it's your turn. Expect a 2-3 minute limit.
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If you are not able to call in at that time, you can email the House Resources committee or committee members directly and your representative (find your representative at the bottom of the page linked above) and the committee.
The most important thing to make clear is that you are an Alaskan, and you oppose HJR 12.
Here are a few more talking points you could include:
- HJR12 ignores the multitude of voices opposed to extraction on the Arctic Refuge coastal plain. Among those voices are Gwich’in and Iñupiat land protectors. The Gwich’in have a sacred relationship with the Porcupine Caribou herd, who rely on the coastal plain for survival. Many Alaskans, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, oppose extraction in the Arctic Refuge, and all voices should be considered.
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No major oil companies participated in the January 6, 2021 lease sale in the Arctic Refuge. Every big oil corporation knew this was a fiscal and reputational risk, so they didn’t show up and the state of Alaska, via AIDEA, stepped in. AIDEA bid on the majority of the lease tracts, costing the state over $9.1 mill in lease bids plus $3.7 mill in annual rental fees (50% will be returned to the state). With Presidential opposition to development, ongoing litigation due to problems with the federal Environmental Impact Statement process, limited to no industry interest, and annual costs to the state in the millions of dollars, passing HJR12 makes no sense.
- Arctic oil extraction would contribute to the climate crisis by adding carbon pollution to the Earth’s atmosphere. This is simply not a risk we can afford to take based on the existing climate crisis, which is affecting Alaska and the Arctic at disproportionate rates. This resolution comes at a time when Alaska should be focusing on clean energy solutions and economic diversification, not beginning new extraction projects. It’s time to get serious about our collective responsibilities to address the climate crisis. It makes little economic or environmental sense for the state to promote and invest public funds in the quest to find new sources of oil and gas, when it’s obvious that a large percentage of existing oil and gas reserves should not be produced.
Speak from the heart and from your experience.
All our voices are needed.
