For the 11th time since 1995, the Alaska Legislature is preparing to urge the U.S. Congress to allow oil and gas drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
On Tuesday morning, Rep. Dean Westlake, D-Kotzebue and chairman of the Alaska House’s Arctic committee, introduced House Joint Resolution 5, which asks Congress to allow ANWR drilling.
Westlake represents House District 40, which covers the North Slope — including ANWR.
“My people want to work. They absolutely want to work. I wouldn’t be offering that resolution if I didn’t think development … could be done in an environmentally responsible way,” Westlake said during the hearing.
Resolutions lack the authority of bills. Joint resolutions, passed by the House and Senate, are expressions of intent or desire, nothing more. They’re typically directed at institutions or authorities beyond the control of the Legislature, such as Congress, the federal government or the president.
While the ANWR resolution is primarily a ceremonial protest, this year’s move has a different flavor.
President Donald Trump has proven himself an insurgent on many issues, and Republicans have majorities in both the House and Senate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is chairwoman of the powerful Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Those tributaries could flow into a river surging toward ANWR drilling.
Speaking Tuesday, Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, said he’d like to hand a completed resolution to Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan when they visit the Legislature in February.
“It would be, I think, most appropriate, that we would be able to give them this document passed by the bodies,” he said.
In the Alaska Legislature, no issue has had support as consistent as ANWR drilling.
The last Legislature that failed to pass an ANWR resolution was the 18th, which met in 1993 and 1994. The 25th Legislature almost broke the streak, but the Senate, meeting in special session in August 2008, passed a resolution before its term expired. The House didn’t pass one that year.
While Arctic drilling might be a divisive issue elsewhere, it isn’t in Alaska: Each resolution has passed by wide margins, and this year’s is expected to be no different.
In 2015, no one voted against the resolution.
Most years, there have been only one or two objectors. Former Rep. Sharon Cissna, D-Anchorage, was the most consistent objector, and was frequently joined by former Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, and in the Senate by former Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau.
With Alaska facing a revenue shortfall and rising unemployment, ANWR is seen as a partial solution to the state’s woes.
“I’m excited about this resolution. I’m hopeful that the 1002 area can be opened, and it can be done safely,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage.
A public hearing is expected Tuesday.
