Re. Response to Chris Britt's Editorial Cartoon which appeared in the Illinois State Journal-Register on October 11. 2000.

I am the Alaska Senate President. I was born in Fairfield and raised in Carmi, Illinois. Your editorial cartoon of October 11 unfairly depicts development of Alaska's oil and gas resources as a partisan issue in the campaign for the White House and demands a response.

Alaska possesses the world's toughest environmental laws and regulations governing the exploration and production of oil and gas. No other oil-producing region provides such high standards for wildlife and environmental protection. I was one of the many state leaders who helped write these laws and I am actively involved in monitoring their success. Responsible development and preservation of the environment are not mutually exclusive goals as 20 years of Alaska production has proven.

Responsible oil development is a bipartisan priority in Alaska and should, I believe, be the cornerstone of a comprehensive plan to develop a long-term energy policy for the United States. Production and conservation components must both be included in any successful energy plan.

Since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) went online in 1977, Alaska has provided 25% of our nation's domestically produced oil. Production from existing oil fields, most notably Prudhoe Bay, is in decline. Alaska still has tremendous untapped oil and gas prospects on the North Slope, near Prudhoe Bay, in places such as the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Illinois' net consumption of petroleum products exceeds its production by a margin of 12-1. I would hope that a majority of the residents of my birth state understand the necessity for a stable, domestic source of energy. Increased domestic production means more favorable consumer prices, increased national security and the creation of jobs for Americans.

Our next President has the opportunity, mandate and even responsibility to decease our country's dependency on a foreign oil sources. The oil markets are volatile. Production in the Middle East is threatened by increased terrorist activities and social unrest. We need to increase domestic production. Alaska's ANWR Coastal Plain is this country's best hope for meeting this increasing demand.

Drue Pearce,

Alaska State Senate President

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