Hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee - Opening Statement of Sen. Sullivan, Hearing on the Potential for Oil and Gas Exploration and Development in the Non-Wilderness Portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, known as the "1002 Area" or Coastal Plain

Hearing

Thank you Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Cantwell and my colleagues for the opportunity to speak today on this very important issue to our country.

Now, many in this room have claimed to be protectors of Alaska's environment. With all due respect to my colleagues here today, there are three people in Congress who care more about Alaska's environment than anyone else in the entire body: Chairman Murkowski, Congressman Young, and me.

The fundamental disconnect in the discussion over the 1002 Area is that the debate has not kept up with Alaska's high environmental standards, and advancements in technology. With all due respect to the Ranking Member, a lot has changed here.

Responsibly developing the 1002 area of ANWR is truly a win-win-win for the United States. It will create jobs, grow the economy, increase energy security for Americans, and importantly, will also help protect the global environment and strengthen our national security.

It is these last two points I'd like to focus on this morning.

Alaska has the highest environmental standards regarding responsible Arctic resource development than any place in the world.

I was in charge of these standards as Alaska's Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, and I can tell you, whether it was what we call no impact exploration, or specific requirements related to our incredible species like polar bear or caribou, or mandating the best available technology, we have a 50 year record of responsible resource development in our state.

Let me give you one example -- no impact exploration. As the Chair noted, on the North Slope of Alaska, we only allow for exploration activities during the winter months. So companies are required to build ice roads across the tundra and ice pads where they put their equipment and drill rigs--you can see examples in the slides I have provided--and they leave before the end of the winter. The ice pads and roads melt and you literally have zero impact on the tundra. The only thing left is a small capped well. That's just one example of Alaska's high mandated standards.

As the chair noted, we have used these high standards in the past four years on the coastal plain within the same ecosystem as the 1002 area, with minimal impact on the environment and wildlife. You can see this field, and its proximity to the 1002 area on the second slide. It's called Point Thomson. Today it is producing energy with an incredibly small surface footprint right next to the 1002 area.

Madam Chair, there is a big issue that those in Congress who want to shut down resource development in Alaska never acknowledge. When you disallow investment in Alaska, which has the highest standards in the world, you don't end up protecting the environment, you just drive capital, investment, exploration and development activities to the jurisdictions in the world with little to no environmental standards -- countries like Nigeria, Venezuela, Iran and Russia, many of which are also our geopolitical foes.

This brings me to my second point. Producing more energy responsibly: oil, natural gas, renewables and making the United States the world's energy super power again will dramatically increase our country's national security.

I have 24 years of service as a Marine and also served as a U.S. Assistant Secretary of State whose portfolio included global energy issues. I've seen how energy can be used as a tool for good, productive diplomacy and for troublesome power-grabs by our nation's foes.

When we don't have to import energy from countries that don't like us, or better yet, when we can export American energy to our allies like Japan and Korea, or even a country like China, this helps our national security and foreign policy. I sit on the Armed Services Committee. For years we've heard from military and civilian leaders from our country -- Democrats and Republicans -- from Secretary Ash Carter to Secretary Mattis, and they have all emphasized this point. My friends on this committee--Senator King and Senator Hirono--who also sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, have heard these consistent comments from these military leaders.

But it's not just American officials who recognize this. The Russians know this as well. Madam Chairman, I'd like to submit for the record a recent New York Times article dated October 29, 2017 titled "Russia Uses Its Oil Giant Rosneft, as a Foreign Policy Tool."

The first sentence of the story reads:

"Russia is increasingly wielding oil as a geopolitical tool, spreading its influence around the world and challenging the interests of the United States."

Let me end with an anecdote of a meeting I was in just last year at the Halifax International Security Forum with Senator McCain. We were meeting with a senior level Russian dissident, and we asked him at the end of the meeting, what more can we do to help push back against the Putin regime?

He looked at us and said: the number one thing you can do is produce more American energy.

And opening the 1002 area using the highest environmental standards in the world, with the most advanced technology, will produce more American energy for the betterment of our country.

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