gee..why are those whales in alaska dying?

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Bush Lifts Oil and Gas Drilling Ban for Alaska Bay

 

January 10, 2007 — By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- President Bush lifted a ban Tuesday on oil and gas drilling in

Alaska's Bristol Bay, an area known for its endangered whales and the world's

largest run of sockeye salmon.

 

The action clears the way for the Interior Department to open 5.6 million acres

of the fish-rich waters northwest of the Alaska Peninsula as part of its next

five-year leasing plan.

 

" There will be significant opportunities for study and public comment before any

oil and gas development could take place, " said Interior Secretary Dirk

Kempthorne. But he said the bay, as well as expanded drilling in the Gulf of

Mexico, " will enhance America's energy security. "

 

Interior's tentative plans call for Bristol Bay leases being made available in

2010 and 2012, pending the environmental reviews.

 

Kempthorne said Alaska state officials as well as some local and native groups

had asked that the ban be ended to spur the local fishing-dominated economy.

 

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who in 2003 got Congress to lift its moratorium on

drilling in the bay, called the president's decision " welcome news for people

who live and work " there.

 

Alaska's newly elected Republican governor, Sarah Palin, welcomed the

possibility of additional oil and gas production and promised " a very aggressive

role in making sure our fisheries are protected. "

 

There are believed to be 200 million barrels of oil and 5 trillion cubic feet of

natural gas beneath the bay's federal waters three miles to 200 miles from

shore. The Interior Department last year estimated energy development could

produce up to 11,500 jobs and new tax revenue for the state.

 

But the area also is known for its fisheries with huge annual catches of salmon,

cod, red king crab, halibut and huge schools of herring.

 

Concern over those fisheries prompted Congress to put the bay off limits to

drilling in 1990 after the massive Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill on the other

side of the peninsula in Cook Inlet. Later, then-President Clinton added his own

drilling ban, one that had been continued by Bush.

 

Talk of opening the fish-rich waters to oil and gas drilling has outraged

environmentalists and many of the area's fishermen.

 

" It's outrageous. It's a sad day for Bristol Bay, " Eric Siy, executive director

of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, said in a telephone interview,

responding to Bush's action.

 

" It's one of the largest and most valuable commercial fisheries in the world, "

said Siy. " And precisely where they intend to drill and site rigs is the

critical habitat, feeding grounds of the North Pacific Right Whale, one of the

most endangered on Earth. "

 

The areas proposed for leasing also overlaps the migratory route for all of the

wild salmon returning to Bristol Bay and the western Alaska river system,

environmentalists say.

 

But others welcome the economic potential ____ although with caution.

 

" The president has opened the door for us, " said Stanley Mack, a fisherman and

mayor of the Aleutians East Borough, but he added, " We're going to walk through

it very cautiously. "

 

The Aleutians East Borough's administrator, Bob Juettner, said developing the

offshore oil and gas presents " a wonderful opportunity " to bring jobs to area

and help the economy which has declined because of competition from foreign

fisheries and the growth of farm-raised salmon.

 

" But keep in mind our families have centered their lives around commercial and

subsistence fisheries for thousands of years, " he continued. " And we can't let

anything threaten our traditional way of life. "

 

Without strict safeguards, warned Juettner " we will withdraw our support. "

 

Environmentalists maintained that local support has in any case been overstated

and that many of the native groups, village leaders and fishing groups are on

record opposing oil and gas development in the bay.

 

Last month, more than 30 people representing a wide range of interests from the

national Sierra Club and World Wildlife Fund to local fishermen and native

Alaskans, wrote Bush, urging him to keep oil and gas rigs out of the bay.

 

Kempthorne promised " thorough environmental review " before any leases are

issued. Along with the newly opened areas in the Gulf, he said, " these actions

will enhance America's energy security by improving opportunities for domestic

energy production. "

 

Kempthorne also announced the department would raise the royalty rate for new

deep-water oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico to 16.7 percent. Most leases

now charge 12.5 percent. The move was seen as a response the growing pressure in

Congress to get oil companies to renegotiate flawed 1998-99 deep-water leases

that has allowed them to avoid royalty payments.

 

____________

 

Associated Press writer Steve Quinn in Juneau contributed to this story.

 

 

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, it's what we know for sure

that just ain't so.

- Mark Twain