Alaska Senator And Obama Official Clash Over ANWR

[Markinsa]

Alaska Senator And Obama Official Clash Over ANWR

 

In January, President Obama announced an intention to designate 1.4 million acres of ANWR as protected wilderness.

 

James Beattie May 8, 2015 at 11:29am

 

WATCH VIDEO

 

In a committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, had a tense exchange with Dan Ashe, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

 

As The Daily Caller noted, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is in the process of holding hearings on nine Republican bills, including one that would put the microscope on the Endangered Species Act.

 

In January, President Obama announced an intention to designate 1.4 million acres of ANWR as protected wilderness. “For more than three decades, some voices have clamored to drill for oil in the coastal plain, a move that could irreparably damage this ecological treasure and harm the Alaska Native communities who still depend on the caribou for subsistence,” The White House said in a statement.

 

Even though only Congress can make such a designation, the U.S. Department of the Interior can impose restrictions on oil and gas development, The Los Angeles Times pointed out at the time. The Caller gives further background:

 

The 1002 Area of ANWR is the 1.5 million acre of land that is east of Prudhoe Bay that, in 1980, was reserved for future oil and gas drilling through a law known as Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).

 

However, this could only happen if Congress approved. In previous years, it was impossible for Republican presidents to gain approval from often Democratic Congresses that would block the proposal.

 

“Do you think there’s any other branch of the federal government that has the power to either develop the 1002 area for either oil and gas or make it a wilderness besides this body of Congress?” Sullivan asked Ashe at Wednesday’s hearing. Ashe responded in the negative.

 

So how can the president of the United States say he’s going to submit a bill to make the 1002 area wilderness, which is fine. He has the right to do this.

 

It’s got to be approved here. It won’t go anywhere, but in the meantime say ‘I’m going to manage the 1002 area for wilderness anyway.’ That’s what he said on Air Force One to big fanfare.

Sullivan, who has only been serving in the Senate since January, pressed Ashe further: “How can [Obama] manage the 1002 area as wilderness, when you don’t have the authority to do that? Can you explain that to me?”

 

Ashe, for his part, defended himself and his agency, asserting that it is “managing the 1002 area as we are managing it today for what we call minimal management.”

 

But the junior senator from Alaska refused to hold back, contending that no administration before the Obama administration treated the 1002 section of ANWR as wilderness, leading to several hypothetical scenarios.

 

“If there is a president in 2017 and he’s a Republican and he submits legislation to develop the 1002 area for oil and gas development. It doesn’t go anywhere. It’s a tough issue. Can that president — say it’s President Cruz, or President Rubio, or President Paul — can that president say, ‘I’m going to manage to 1002 area for oil and gas development?’” Sullivan heatedly asked Ashe.

 

“We would have to change our conservation plan. We have gone through the lawful administrative process in developing a comprehensive plan,” Ashe replied. That lead to the following exchange between the two officials:

 

Sullivan: Not if you’re designating 1002 as wilderness without Congressional approval.

 

Ashe: We have a comprehensive conservation plan for the management of the refuge which has been developed through a public process.

 

Sullivan: Can a president in 2017 manage the 1002 area for oil and gas even through a comprehensive management plan?

 

Ashe: No

 

Sullivan: Can a president now manage the 1002 area for wilderness?

 

Ashe:  The president is not…

 

Sullivan: The answer has to be ‘no’ if you said ‘no’ to the other question.

 

 

[one2one]

i used to work on the north slope

 

caribou would sleep underneath the elevated production facilities --they don't care about drilling or anything :