GOPs to shape new energy policy bill

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2002

The fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Indian Country development will be in Republican hands next year with the breakdown of talks over an energy policy bill.

Lawmakers who were hammering out the stalled legislation yesterday said their work was over. "Time ran out, but the need for an energy bill has not," outgoing Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), the lead Republican negotiator in the Senate, said.

The key dispute centered over oil and gas drilling in a portion of ANWR. The GOP-controlled House last summer authorized development in a 2,000-acre above ground "footprint" located in the refuge's 1.5-million acre northern coastal plain.

But Democrats in the Senate refused to budge from their anti-drilling stance. Led by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), these members of the joint House-Senate conference committee on the energy bill wouldn't agree to a compromise on the controversial issue.

That leaves the matter up to Bingaman's replacement as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), a pro-drilling supporter, takes over the panel next year when Congress resumes for its 108th session.

"The task ahead for me is something both new and exciting, and significant in terms of setting natural resource and land policy for the country," he said. "I want to find balanced, common-sense approaches to these issues."

The delay in the bill affects provisions devoted to Indian energy policy. Section 5, as it is known, enjoys bipartisan support and it authorizes the Department of Interior to approve development plans that allow tribes to exert greater control over their trust resources.

Since the section was pushed by Domenici and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), it is likely to remain intact under GOP rule. But Paul Moorehead, Campbell's chief aide on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, told tribal leaders at the National Congress of American Indians this week that other factors -- including the 2004 presidential election -- could delay legislation affecting Indian Country.

Energy policy did not play a major role in discussions at the NCAI session being held in San Diego. Today, tribal leaders will be updated on ANWR by Alaska Natives who have been on opposite sides of the argument.

Inupiat Eskimos who own surface and subsurface rights to 92,000 acres within ANWR's coastal plain stand to gain financially through development. They share ownership in a $1 billion corporation, Arctic Slope Regional Corp., and a smaller village entity.

Members of the Gwich'in Nation oppose development for fear of impacts on caribou. The tribe depends on the Porcupine Herd for cultural, economic and food subsistence.

Relevant Links:
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Willdife Service - http://arctic.fws.gov
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Pro-Development site - http://www.anwr.org