Commerce secretary touts drilling in ANWR
Published Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez called for more oil exploration in Alaska while visiting Fairbanks on Wednesday.
In an early morning speech to the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Gutierrez touted drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as one of the solutions to bringing down the record-high cost of oil.
“We know that reliance on foreign oil is one of our most serious national security concerns, and we need to address it,” he said.
As much as 10 billion barrels of oil could be under the refuge, and drilling is supported by the Bush administration and Alaska’s congressional delegation. However, the approval needed for such a project would be difficult to get in Congress, where anti-drilling Democrats hold a majority in both the House and the Senate. In addition, all three major presidential candidates — Democrat and Republican —still in the race oppose ANWR drilling.
“It’s a difficult environment to get exploration projects like this through, but I think we need to stay on it, because we believe it’s the right thing,” Gutierrez said. “If $105 oil hasn’t convinced us, I hope we don’t need higher prices to develop our own sources of oil.”
Sen. Ted Stevens, who is traveling with Gutierrez, said he is confident ANWR legislation could get passed in a session held after November’s presidential election.
“ANWR will occur when the public finally wakes up and demands these people stop just kowtowing to this small group of extreme environmentalists,” he said.
Born in Cuba, Gutierrez’s family fled the country shortly after Fidel Castro took power in 1959. He has served as commerce secretary since 2005, when he was nominated for the position by President Bush after nearly three decades of working for the Kellogg Co. He started as a delivery truck driver at Kellogg and rose through the ranks to become CEO of the cereal giant.
Hundreds of people came out to see Gutierrez speak at the chamber meeting and at an event on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus hosted by Students Who Enjoy Economic Thinking. As he took questions from the audience, the broader economy seemed to be on everyone’s mind just as much as the the economic growth of the state.
“We know our economy today is facing strong headwinds, growth is slower, and we’re concerned about the impact these headwinds will have on Americans,” Gutierrez said.
The secretary referred to current economic trends repeatedly as being in a “downturn” or in the midst of a “correction” but refrained from saying the economy was in a recession — commonly defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.
“There are a lot of people who are obsessed with coming up with labels and definitions and discussing semantics; we’d rather discuss what we’re going to do,” he said.
Gutierrez defended the economic stimulus checks that will put as much as $600 in the pockets of individuals this summer when an audience member at the chamber meeting asked what will happen if many Americans save the money or use it to pay down debt. He said that such a possibility had been planned for with the proposal and that the money should still create short-term growth regardless of whether some people stash it away.
“We have timed it in a way where it’s designed to get us through the difficult parts of this year where our economy will need the help, and after the stimulus package, the interest rates should be lowered,” he said. “The fundamentals of our economy are very strong.”
Despite his mixed view of the national economy, Gutierrez was positive about Alaska’s prospects because of the large amount of natural resources in the state. He also stated the necessity of Congress approving a free-trade agreement with South Korea to further improve the economy of the 49th state.
“We shouldn’t be debating whether we want to be involved in world trade,” he said. “We should be leading the world toward world trade because the rest of the world isn’t standing still.”
Community Discussion
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The idea of marketing the Alaska hydrocarbons at historic high prices is already obsolete.
I'm gonna mount one of these gizmos on the back of my pickuptruck and drive to work while burning the neighbors dirty baby diapers for fuel..
..and I'll pass the smog test too.
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We need a tax incentive regime to reward higher production. Without it, they'll never see the need for more fields.
Mr. Secretary,
Opening ANWR is not going to solve bringing down the record-high cost of oil to us Alaskans. We have had billions of gallons of oil pass through the pipeline over the last 30 some years with two refineries located 12 miles from Fairbanks, yet we are paying almost $4.00 a gallon for #2 heating oil. Yes, the State of Alaska will bring in billions of dollars and the oil companies will probably double their quarter earnings from $10 Billion to $20 Billion but we will still be paying outrageous prices for our own oil.
The only fair and easy solution to our high heating costs in the Interior and the out-lying areas is for the State of Alaska to sell the royalty oil at cost, where we in the Interior can enjoy the same benefits as those in Anchorage and south-central where the State has subsidized the low cost of their natural gas. Why is nothing being done for us to also profit from the natural resources of the State of Alaska?
The State energy rebate check for $500 being talked about makes as much sense as Bush's economic stimulus check for $600 we are supposed to receive in May as we will be paying almost half it back in Federal taxes. Neither will solve our energy crisis and would rather see a real solution.
Wind and solar energy is not feasible in most of Alaska and have not heard of any solution so far that will bring our heating costs down.
When the president's top guy at commerce was asked about the Alaska Gas Pipeline on Thursday he looked like a deer caught in the headlights and had to Turn to Ted Stevens for help. Poor guy, you'd think he'd have been brought up to speed about how important the Alaska Gas pipeline is to our economic security, national security, our massive trade imbalance as well as that pesky energy crisis that is devastating many Alaska households.
Poor Ted clearly did not have a good handle on the subject and said the pipeline project is before the Alaska legislature. Not true. According to the Palin administration they are reviewing the pipeline proposal from TransCanada and evaluating the superior LNG option.
Sigh.
I doubt if many of us would live here without fossil fuels. Get a grip.
5050 - that is a bit of a picky detail. The legislature will likely review the proposal in a special session soon.
Why does this guy even care about oil drilling? He doesnt live here and he certainly doesnt live off the animals in ANWR as the Gwich'in do. HHHHMMMMMMMMMM i would like the fuel prices to drop though, they are putting a major dent in my paychecks man
With the cost of regular gas sky rocketing in bush alaska and limited available refinery for price reductions for regular gas and transporting cost also comes along with the everyday gas prices.
The Gas price you receive in fairbanks is good and would be like heaven without compliants, since our Gas price was also increase yesterday from $7.02 to $7.49 a gallon, the fuel transporters in Alaska should receive Tax Breaks from us instead of the oil and gas industrys,where their shareholders only benefits from our tax breaks.
The only way the Legislature will not review the proposal is if Gov. Palin does not present it to them. Otherwise they WILL review the proposal and their only option is a "Yea" or "Nay" vote. They may not amend it.
Listening to the whining above reminds that Alaskans are whiny, spoiled children. We want everything and we want to pay nothing. "We want eleventy bagillion dollars in new revenue after quadrupling our tax rates and we want the oil companies to keep spending billions in exploration efforts and we want to see energy prices stay high everywhere else in the world so we keep getting our government take to support bloated capital budgets but we only want to pay six cents at the pump. . .after all 'its our oil!'"
Distant Thunder: There's a bridge in Brooklyn that you also might want to buy into...
Alaska should sell our royalty oil and refined products at below-market prices to residents. It would help families, and by reducing the cost of transportation it would reduce the cost of groceries and building materials. it would help the whole economy.
We should drill ANWR, but keep ALL of the oil in the state. Don't allow any to leave. We'll have such a glut that prices will plummet just because we'll run out of room to store it! *LOL*
With all 3 possible presidential candidates opposing this drilling in ANWR, drilling will most likely not happen. The chance came with a right-wing president and Republican majority on Capitol hill-If it didn't happen then it certainly will not happen with our new and most likely Democratic President. McCain doesn't support drilling either. We are wasting our breath right now. After elections, this will be a topic for a brief moment. I wouldn't hold my breath if you wish to have any drilling in any pristine environments soon. Especially since Global Warming is evident and seems to be fact, even the President Bush has acknowledged it. Would the collective conscious of the U.S.A. (and world) allow the potential exploitation of a last Frontier? This would be plastered all over the universe! Bye bye ANWR, bye and bye. Too bad. Damn.
Oh dang, that's right, dubyah's got stealth bombers and he's not afraid to use them. Oh well, never mind.
kill all the wildlife! drill in anwr its the right thing to do.
Secretary Gutierrez:
Welcome to Alaska. Where we are few in number but speak right to the point. Opening ANWR coastal plain to oil and gas development isn't so much an Alaskan problem, as it is an American problem. The majority of Alaskans, Republican and Democrats, support ANWR development. Yes, we have concerns with environmental damage and have enacted some of the most stringent State laws to address those concerns.
Opening ANWR to exploration is far less of a threat to the environment than opening Bristol Bay and the Chukchi Sea to OCS oil and gas development. Yet, this administration has been moving full speed ahead with the OCS development where the risk is greater than the benefit.
I am in full agreement with several of the previous comments that; for thirty years we have watched, as Alaskan oil has benefited the lower 48 States, while Interior and Rural Alaska have paid some of the highest prices for heating fuel and gas in the Nation, year after year.
And when you do the math of the puny annual PFD against the surcharges and cost of food, heating and building supplies for this region of Alaska; it is a no-brain-er. We have been giving away Alaskan's resources for the benefit of others who could care less about us. While State of Alaska has a big piggy bank, most individual Alaskans are suffering to make ends meet. The big piggy bank seems to be helping Wall Street Stock Brokers and Outside corporate executive's Christmas bonuses.
ALASKA OIL AND GAS FOR ALASKANS FIRST.
out_in_the_cold.....has hit the nail right square on the head,BULLSEYE!!!
ALASKA OIL AND GAS FOR ALASKANS FIRST...!!!
When I worked like a dog building TAPS I had high hopes that the whole territory of Alaska would forever enjoy the worlds best prices for gas and oil...
instead I suffered the reality of seeing The BigDipper State become invaded and occupied by The LoneStar State and get pushed into being a plantation for resource rape&run extraction...
in Houston TX, Alaska is known as the "north Texas oilfields".
It's a frustrating mindblower to experience 30years of depravity..
now I know what the average Iraqi's feel like,
sitting on top of a huge pool of oil, but using a donkey cart to go to the market because a psychotic colony of pirates on the other side of the world are forcing us to trade depleted uranium rad-waste for our hydrocarbons.
Mr. Gutirrez, as Commerce Secretary you should be fully aware of the glaring rip-off of fuel prices between the 150 mile gap of the Brooks Range...
fuel is FREE for the corporate insiders on the North Slope, but there's 40,000 square miles of great lands where TAPS smuggles out our hydrocarbons right throught the middle of our state, leaving 38,000 square miles paying the highest fuel prices in the nation.
National Media always says Hawaii pays the highest at $4/gal...
..try $10/gal in Anaktuvuk Pass, where you can pee into a creek that runs north through the middle of the biggest oilfield in the world.
I'd work to finance and build a large {AAC}aereated concrete building block manufacturing facility in Fairbanks if I could be guaranteed a fair-price for a gas-contract...
instead I'm seriously thinking about building my own rtp-gasline from the independent Gubik-field.
My own $3mil 3"gasline would make it possible to build elegant fireproof-rotproof homes for all the children of my tribe.
Have you ever had your children die in a midwinter house fire because the woodstove decided to blowup???
.....flash/rumble
"ALASKA OIL AND GAS FOR ALASKANS FIRST...!!!"
That statement may hold true for natural gas and oil from Prudhoe Bay. However, ANWR is federal land, so all Americans have a say in how it is managed.
Break away, make a new country, Alaska, The Country. Be sure to secure the borders!
Why should I subsidize you for your decision to live in the bush? Subsidies come from tax dollars no? I live in the city, and pay high property tax and property prices etc. I'm not asking for a handout because of that. You choose to live there, you pay for it! If you want socialism, go to Canada! Stevens has been so wishy washy on ANWR , one minute last week in Anchorage "it might never be opened" , a couple days later in Fairbanks, "November". If he did his job a few years ago and twisted Byrds arm when it needed twisting we would not be here today! The House has always passed it and its always been the lack of 60 votes in the Senate which is Steven's domain and responsibility and he has yet to deliver. Yes its a tough job, there is no doubt, but if you have the Senate, the House , the Presidency for 8 years and STILL can't do it, good grief! What, politically more could you ask for? The American Rupublican party system is as weak as a wet waffle.
We need that oil, fight like hell and get that place open! Oh, and by the way big oil, you can join in anytime, you can pull your heads out of the sand any day now! Pathetic! Simply PATHETIC!
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