Energy
Floor Speech
ENERGY -- (Senate - July 29, 2008)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, again, I express the concern that we as Republicans are labeled as the party that only chooses to drill, drill, drill our way out of high energy prices. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are viewed as the party that is saying no to any domestic production, no to providing for more energy independence when it comes to what we can do for ourselves, and whose answer is only: Stop the speculation; the answer is only renewables.
I come from a producing State. Alaska has been doing a fine job over the past 30 years, providing oil to the rest of the country and providing it in quantities that truly make a difference. We want to be able to continue to provide it. But we recognize that drilling is not the only answer. It is not the only thing that is going to get this country to a position where we are not going to be held hostage by the geopolitical events in Nigeria, in Venezuela, in Iran.
We have to be doing more. The answer is a little bit of everything. It is to find more and use less. When we are talking about finding more, we have to be realistic about where we can find more and it should not be in Saudi Arabia's backyard. It should not be in Venezuela. What we can do here we should be doing here.
When we say we need to have an energy policy in this country that encourages production and encourages investment for production and discourages consumption, that is what we need to be working toward, Republicans and Democrats alike, not just this finger pointing, saying all you want to do is drill and us, on this other side, saying all you want to do is nothing. We are not answering the problems our constituents are facing back home right now. We are not delivering to them what they need, which is answers.
I want to talk a little bit about the situation in my State. The chairman of the Energy Committee, for whom I have such respect, has indicated that in the proposal he is advancing he is looking to do more when it comes to offshore exploration and development in Alaska. As I said, we are a State that supports production. We support development in the northern country. But we also recognize that oftentimes things are out of our control when it comes to the ability to produce.
I requested from the Department of Interior, the Minerals Management Offices, MMS, the summary status of what is happening with the litigation that is blocking us from doing any meaningful production when it comes to offshore Alaska, Alaska OCS. There is a total of six litigation cases that are filed against MMS affecting the Alaska OCS. I can provide the details, certainly, but I think what I would like to highlight is--whether it is the 5-year leasing program lawsuit that has been filed by the Center for Biologic Diversity, the Chukchi Sea sale 193 lawsuit, the Beaufort Sea sale 202 lawsuit; the Shell exploration plan lawsuit--Shell's operations have been held up for two seasons now because the ninth circuit has not moved on a decision there--we have a Beaufort and Chukchi Sea seismic survey lawsuit. Other MMS litigation is an FOIA lawsuit related to the Chukchi Sea sale, the Fish and Wildlife Service incidental take regulations, Beaufort Sea as well as Chukchi Sea notices of intent to sue for violations of endangered species as they relate to polar bear, fin and humpback whales, and eiders--my point is we do have opportunities up north. We do have a resource that is incredible. We recognize it. Again, we would like the ability to be producers for the Nation. It is not just the challenges we face dealing with an Arctic environment. So much of what happens that causes delays so that we do not see increased production domestically in this country is due to the litigation.
I want to speak a little bit about not necessarily the challenges but the opportunities that we have in the northern environment specifically to produce, and the opportunities that are brought to us because of the technology. Some in this body have suggested that drilling is not the way out and drilling indicates we are guilty of an old way of thinking about energy issues. I think it is probably more accurate to say those who oppose the production of conventional oil and gas in this country as part of a balanced energy policy that includes renewables and includes conservation are the ones who are guilty of old, outdated thinking. It is clear that those who oppose increased domestic production are utterly resistant to the technological changes that have occurred both onshore and offshore in gas production in the past 40 years in this country.
Some people say we are mired in the past. I think that is because they refuse to either learn about or to accept the changes in technology that allow for oil and gas to be produced without harm to the environment, wildlife, or to the land. We recognize there can be accidents. We know that firsthand in Alaska. We live daily with that. In fact, I spoke with a fisherman in Cordova--that whole community is still living daily with a terrible accident that happened in our State some 20 years ago. We know an oil barge can hit an oil tanker, as we have seen in Mississippi. But so can pollutants be accidentally released while companies make photovoltaic cells; or chemicals used to make batteries for hybrid and electric cars can accidentally spill and harm the environment. An offshore wind turbine foundation might harm fisheries habitats. A windmill on shore might kill birds. Methane gas might explode. An accident can happen. But why not look at the real impacts of modern technology and the real risks that modern technology involve?
I will use my example of what is happening up north with oil exploration. During the past 31 years, the Prudhoe Bay oil field has produced 15 billion barrels of oil. This is about one-fifth of all the oil that this country has produced over the last three decades. During that 31-year time period I can tell you the technology has vastly improved. When Prudhoe opened, wells were drilled over the top of the oil deposits themselves. The wells were about every several hundred yards. Today, hundreds of wells can be drilled from a single well pad and they do this through the technique of directional drilling. That allows the companies to drive wells from one tiny gravel pad that can reach oil deposits under the surface up to an area 8 miles in diameter. That leaves more than a 100-square-mile area of habitat undisturbed between these well pads. These well pads have decreased in size by 88 percent during the life of the Prudhoe Bay field.
In addition to directional drilling, we have the 3-D and even 4-D seismic testing. This pinpoints the location of the wells, technology that doesn't harm any animals in the process.
Once the companies find the areas they want to explore, they build ice roads to move drilling equipment to the site, roads that melt in the spring leaving no trace, no sign of human activities come summer. I stood on this floor. I told you how it works. It is like a Zamboni going across the tundra. In addition, we place mats--they call them duramats--on the ground to protect the fragile tundra to make sure the wheel tracks are nowhere to be seen when the spring arrives in the Arctic.
The new technology goes on. New detection systems on pipelines can sniff out the hydrocarbon molecules and actually shut down a pipeline before drops of oil can reach the environment. It includes requirements that all equipment when they are stopped--up north in Prudhoe, all those areas there--all equipment, whether it is the truck or the rig, when they are stopped they actually place what are called diapers, absorbent pads, under the engine to catch any drops of oil before they touch the ground. More oil probably leaks on the driveways here in Washington, DC than ever reaches the environment of Alaska's North Slope.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has used 10 minutes.
Ms. MURKOWSKI. I want to sum up very briefly. I am talking about onshore, but I can tell you, as it relates to OCS development, we are seeing those same levels of technology. Well valves are dependable. We have not had a well blow out since the Santa Barbara accident in 1969. We recognize that our technology allows us to do more than 30 years we could ever have dreamed about. Let's allow us to use our ingenuity to produce so we have the resource we need as a country. Let us use our ingenuity to take this resource and to develop the renewables and the alternatives that are the future of this country. Let's use our ingenuity to be more creative when it comes to conservation and efficiencies. The ingenuity we use with our production of oil and gas is something that should not be disputed but should be encouraged.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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