Issue Position: Energy

Issue Position

As the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski is one of the foremost experts on energy policy in Congress. While a strong supporter and sponsor of energy efficiency efforts and the development of alternative energy technology, she believes equally in the importance of developing the nation's conventional energy resources in order to prevent increases in energy price, protect the nation's energy security, reduce the trade deficit and prevent the export of U.S. jobs overseas.

Sen. Murkowski is a proponent of a national energy policy that produces as much domestic energy -- of all types -- as safely as possible. While a strong economy will continue to use many millions of barrels of oil each day for many decades to come, Sen. Murkowski knows that it is better both for the economy and the environment that we meet as much of our energy needs as possible with domestic production. While oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear power drive the engine of our economy today and are therefore critical to sustaining our nation's high standard of living, investment in renewable and alternative forms of energy are equally important to the country's energy future.

Sen. Murkowski has thrown her support behind research to come up with better, cleaner ways to use the nation's existing coal reserves. She's supported research to unlock the power of methane hydrates and continued investment in a wide range of renewable energy resources, including wind, geothermal, conventional hydroelectric and ocean hydrokinetic energy, solar, biomass and landfill gas energy.

In order to make the huge investments needed to ensure the United States remains at the forefront of developing new energy technologies, the nation's, and especially Alaska's, untapped oil and gas reserves must be accessed and brought to market. The hundreds of billions of dollars in federal revenues this would produce -- with no added tax burden on American families -- could be used to pay down the deficit and reinvest in new energy technologies.

Along these lines, Sen. Murkowski has introduced legislation to tap the estimated 10.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR); promote development of the energy resources found on America's outer continental shelf by expanding federal revenue sharing with coastal states; promote construction of a natural gas pipeline connecting Alaska's North Slope with Lower 48 energy markets; and promote the research and development of renewable energy.

Sen. Murkowski's approach to energy policy was shaped by her upbringing in Alaska, where oil and gas production form the backbone of the state's economy. Petroleum development in Alaska accounts for more than 42,000 jobs -- a third of the state's employment and a third of its gross state product. Investment in Alaska's North Slope accounts for 60 percent of the state's private investment and generates nearly 90 percent of the state's general fund revenues. Oil and gas production have put $141 billion in the state's treasury in the past four decades and created the $35 billion Alaska Permanent Fund, which has paid each Alaskan some $38,000 in dividends in today's dollars since its creation in 1982.

But beyond petroleum, Alaska is rich in alternative energy opportunities, including harnessing the power of its rushing rivers, ocean tides and howling winds. Sen. Murkowski has repeatedly said that Alaska should be a national leader in the production of energy from renewable sources -- just as it does from conventional oil and gas -- and has championed legislation to expand the use of hydropower, biomass, geothermal and wind across the state.

While energy resources are abundant, the cost of energy in Alaska is exorbitant. In some areas of the state, residents are spending nearly 50 percent of their income on energy -- more than 10 times the national average. Such high prices mean that finding ways to reduce energy costs is one of the most important challenges facing the federal government.

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