Arctic Coalition Launches Effort in Support of Energy Development

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A coalition of groups supportive of responsible resource development in Alaska and off its coast have launched a new broadcast, print, and digital advertising campaign calling on the Obama administration to keep intact the Arctic leasing areas currently contained in the Department of Interior’s draft proposed plan. The draft program, revealed in March, allows for the possibility of lease sales to be held for federally controlled tracts in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. However, activist groups continue to wage an aggressive campaign to have those areas removed from the final schedule.

The Arctic Coalition, a group of 20 organizations representing Alaskan native communities, labor unions, higher education groups, industry, and others is launching the new campaign in direct response to activists’ efforts, using the advertising campaign platform to articulate the essential role that oil and gas development plays in the Arctic and the importance of ensuring that it is included in the final leasing program.

Jeff Eshelman, senior vice president for operations and public affairs at the Independent Petroleum Association of America and a member of the coalition, said, “Earlier this month the Wilderness Society became the latest to argue that industry’s ‘exit’ from the Arctic is proof that including the region in the offshore leasing program would be costly and unnecessary. Quite aside from the skewed logic of arguing that companies will never again be interested
in developing the Arctic based on today’s commodity price, the idea that we’re not interested in the Arctic simply isn’t true. Today, industry retains over 40 offshore leases in the Arctic and continues to invest millions of dollars into
research [on] oil spill response and preparedness and other areas. This campaign is further proof that industry is fully committed to responsible offshore development in the region.”

Kara Moriatry, president and CEO of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, echoed Eshelman’s comments. “The breadth of Alaskan organizations that have come together, 16 in total, demonstrates the importance of this issue to our state. Despite repeated claims to the contrary by environmental groups, Alaskans overwhelmingly support oil and gas development in the Arctic offshore. Without the lease sale option, there is simply no prospect of future investment in the infrastructure which we need. I can’t stress this enough—taking lease sales off the table now sends a clear message that the federal government is hanging a ‘closed for business’ sign on our state, at a time
when we are already facing huge budgetary challenges. The administration must think about what impact this will have on Alaska.”

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