Interior’s Proposed Offshore Leasing Plan Will Place New Restrictions on Exploration of Alaska’s Waters
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today criticized the Obama administration for its continued campaign to shut down oil and natural gas activity in Alaska.
“This administration is determined to shut down oil and gas production in Alaska’s federal areas – and this offshore plan is yet another example of their short-sighted thinking,” said Murkowski, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “The president’s indefinite withdrawal of broad areas of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas is the same unilateral approach this administration is taking in placing restrictions on the vast energy resources in ANWR and the NPR-A.”
Murkowski’s comments come on the heels of the release of the Interior Department’s new five-year offshore oil and natural gas leasing plan, which bans exploration in large portions of Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort seas.
Interior’s draft plan does include three proposed leases sales in Alaska’s federal waters – one each in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, and one in Cook Inlet – but Murkowski said there is no guarantee those sales will ever be held.
“This administration is once again promising Alaskans that it will allow exploration sometime in the future – but not right now,” Murkowski said. “I think we all know what promises from this administration are worth. They promised Alaska multiple lease sales under the current five-year plan, but so far there have been none, as sales continue to be postponed even past when the president will no longer be in office. Promises will not fill the trans-Alaska pipeline.”
The draft 2017-2022 plan also includes a proposal to open a portion of the Atlantic to leasing off the coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia.
“The proposed lease sales we’re talking about right now aren’t scheduled until after President Obama is out of office,” Murkowski said. “Forgive me for remaining skeptical about this administration’s commitment to our energy security. I look forward to working with the next administration to ensure that Americans have access to abundant and affordable energy.”
