Alaska State Legislature
News from the House Majority

Jerry Ritter, House Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801
Phone: (907) 465-3804
web site: http://www.akrepublicans.org
Actuality line: 1-800-478-6540

House Leaders Call for North Slope Leasing

Majority Asks Babbitt to Lease NPR-A

For Immediate Release: March 11, 1998 Contact: Rep. Joe Green at (907) 465-4931.

Juneau -- The members of the House Majority have asked Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to offer all the land in a section of the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPR-A) for oil and gas leasing.

In a letter to Secretary Babbitt, members noted that technological and operational advances over the last twenty years will allow oil companies to protect the habitat and wildlife in the area.

"NPR-A was created as an oil reserve," said Representative Joe Green (R-Anchorage). There is no question the whole thing should be leased. This isn't the Oklahoma Land Rush. Operators in this area are held to the highest standards in the world. They will have to follow very strict rules to protect the wildlife and their habitat," Green said.

In December 1997 the Secretary of the Interior published a draft environmental impact statement for leasing in the northwest corner of the NPR-A and asked for public comment. That public comment period ends March 12.

"In the early 1980s, with Congressional authorization, Interior held four lease sales in the NPR-A. The upshot of the process was that only one lease was ever drilled," said Green. "Now, with new technology and the development of the Alpine Field, just across the Colville River, the industry is prepared to re-focus on this very promising area," said Green.

Green is also sponsor of House Joint Resolution 12, which urges Secretary Babbitt to re-establish a leasing program in the NPR-A. HJR 12 passed the Legislature last year.

"The Majority's support for leasing in the NPR-A is right in line with our commitment to the people of Alaska to create jobs," Green said. "The fact of the matter is, this kind of field activity is labor intensive; it puts people to work."

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Note: Letter attached
Broadcasters note: Actuality is available at 1-800-478-6540.
= Joe Green, 98 K