Former governor urges resource development

WASILLA — Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry Devilbiss told a room full of mostly Valley Republicans Monday at Evangelo’s Restaurant that he admired then-Sen. Frank Murkowski so much back in the day he even named a steer after him.

“And he was the most economically astute governor we’ve ever had,” Devilbiss said before Murkowski took the podium. “Hopefully, we can learn something and apply something to make good on our promise that Mat-Su Borough is open for business.”

Murkowski told Devilbiss he was sorry the steer didn’t make it, but “as long as you and I have, we’re fine.”

All bull aside, Murkowski got immediately to the point of why he wanted to address a group of people who were gathered by Alaska Republican Party Vice Chairman Steve Colligan of Wasilla.

Murkowski, who later joked about having to drive from Anchorage because a former governor sold his jet, told the group of about 60 people that he needed their help in the campaign to lower the state’s tax on oil production and open up the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, as well as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for exploration.

Compared to other oil-producing states such as Texas, North Dakota and Louisiana, Alaska’s oil severance tax rate of 25 percent of gross equivalent is more than double or even five times as high as the others, he said.

And when comparing the international marginal tax rate for $100 per barrel in the Gulf of Mexico, United Kingdom, Alberta, Australia, Brazil and Norway, Alaska has the highest at about 82 percent to Alberta’s 55 percent and the U.S. in the Gulf of Mexico at 43 percent.

“I believe it is necessary now to change ACES to make us more competitive with other oil producers in the world,” Murkowski urged, pointing out that the Environmental Appeals Board, which looks at exploration cases, is supposed to be impartial but is comprised of professionals who are all EPA employees. “This could easily be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Murkowski said he spent 22 years fighting to get ANWR opened up for drilling, only to have the bill vetoed by President Bill Clinton.

Even more disturbing to Murkowski is the practice of designating an area as “wild lands.”

“What we’re forgetting is we made a deal with Congress that they can’t designate any more wilderness in Alaska,” he said, adding that there already are more than 82 million acres of Alaska’s 365 million total acres designated “wilderness” under the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

He pointed to the controversy over the proposed Pebble Mine.

“Under the current management of environmental laws, they never would have been given a mining permit if there was any calculable danger to Bristol Bay salmon,” he said. “No other state has been so mistreated when it comes to environmental regulations. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I’m calling on the delegates, the governor and the Legislature to act now in federal court to try to rectify some of those situations.”

Murkowski suggested making concerted efforts now while conservatives have more seats on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“You’ve gotta have the best lawyers you can buy. The state has a few bucks for that,” he said.

After he reiterated the need to lower taxes on oil production in order to bring oil companies back to Alaska, he responded to a few questions from the audience.

One man wondered if there’s a way to convince tourists to get behind the need to allow more resource development. Murkowski’s wife, Nancy, told him that they’re up against Forest Service staff on cruise ships telling tourists how horrible logging is for the state by bad-mouthing areas that have been clear cut.

“It’s a professional PR job,” Murkowski said.

Speaking of PR, Colligan said the Sierra Club has been helping fund radio ads against the proposed Usibelli Coal Mine at Wishbone Hill in Sutton.

“This is a very timely discussion in our community,” Colligan said of anti-development movements. “It’s getting to be a real big problem.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.