While energy production has increased across the country due to new technologies, that same trend hasn’t spread to Alaska. A new bill in the US House hopes to remedy that trend. KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.
The US House of Representatives passed HR 4899 on Thursday. Known as the Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America that Works Act of 2014, the bill aims to open up the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to exploitation. Matt Shuckerow, spokesman for Congressman Don Young, one of the bill’s main sponsors, says the land contains vast energy reserves.
“This is land and acreage that was set aside specifically for the exploration of our natural resources, and this is an area that has vast energy potential. Modest estimates say they have 2.7 billion barrels of oil and 114 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and unfortunately, what we’ve seen is an administration that has not allowed us access to this area.”
The land totals just under 24 million acres, and remains largely untouched beyond early exploratory surveys. Language inserted by Young into HR 4899 will require the sale of leases for NPR-A land. Other provisions include obliging the Department of the Interior to reauthorize its five year leasing plan, conduct additional lease sales in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, making all coastal states eligible to receive offshore revenue sharing from federal leases, and authorize $50 million to match Alaska governor Sean Parnell’s pledge to assess the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Shuckerow says the bill will improve economic opportunity through dependable access to energy.
“This legislation passed this week, will help with that process and just move forward in making sure that we are a secure nation when it comes to energy and that there are opportunities for all folks across the country.”
Having passed the House 229-185, the bill now goes to the Senate.