There is more brush now than there has ever been in the past they have had to change where they go. This is real. I just left and there is no snow on the ground in fairbanks. It was 30 degrees when i left. That has a real impact as well. When it ices over they have a harder time getting to their food. I hope to see that this body recognizes that. Thank you mr. Alexander. Thank you. Senator lee. Thank you very much. I want to add my support for the opening up of a coastal plain region. This proposal makes sense on a number of levels, from an Economic Perspective opening up this small small remote area will provide billions of dollars in federal revenues alone over the next few decades which could be used to chip away at our staggering budget deficits that we are guessing. And new development will be for alaska, a state struggling for high unemployment and for its own budget shortfalls. Opening up the coastal plane makes sense. Energy development meets some of the most rigorous in the entire world. This is especially true in alaska. Responsible Energy Production occurred without undue harm including polar bear habitats. Developers can access hundreds of miles of oil perhaps the reason is because it is widely supported by the people of alaska and particularly those who live in that part of refuj. Im a strong believer that local input should play a role in Land Management issues. Coming from the state of utah i fully understand the frustrations of alaskans whose lives and livelihoods are subject almost constantly to the whims and wishes of well connected interest groups, regulators in washington d. C. So in your testimony you articulated these frustrations very clearly and very pal passionately that we should take into account, the importance of incorporating local knowledge in major land decisions including decisions like the ones that we are discussing today. Can you talk to us about the sentiment of people immediately effected by the land on decisions like these. Yes. I would have to say that also what brought about the technological advances was the participation and rules and conditions and stipulations they put in place to ensure that this is done right. And living in the Arctic National wildlife is troublesome in the sense that we have limited access to our lands, to the mountains during the summer season. We cannot travel over the tundra without harming because it is wetland. Throughout most of the year it is frozen to go to the areas we need to find what we are looking for. So you experienced the land differe differently, you a different familiarity with it than washington d. C. Would have. I want to thank you for being here. We had a chance to visit the north slope to see a number of the developments that have occurred there in the bay area and to visit the refuge as well. I was struck by the connection with the navajo people. That really surprised me. In listening to everyone here today what struck me was the way you talked about this place and how different it was from the way my colleagues talked about this place. Our people think of this place as the heart. You probably think thats not a good idea, right . Thats not a good idea. So when we talk about the refuge and we talk about the land it is tied to our language and understanding of the world and you know, we are connected to them and we recognize that. I hear this talk about development all of the time. We need to develop this. We need to develop that. We are not sitting here asking. We are saying we need hospitals. We need schools. We need all of these things. We are not saying give us money. We are saying let us live. We already recognize the wealth that we have as people and theres nothing that you can give us. We recognize its something that can be taken away from us. So when we talk about the land, when we talk about the caribou it is in reference to them. I keep hearing the locals, lets hear what the locals have to say. You know what the locals are . They are caribou. Thats why we are here. And then to the south and east are mountains and this is the place where the caribou flow like a river and this is the spring and if you loose the spring you lose the whole river dont you . Absolutely. You will only harm part of the herd or maybe they will move over a little bit. There is not that option with them. We are talking about the destruction of the herd and irreparable damage, to people that have been living there tens of thousands of years. Im not making up numbers. There is a place thats oldest known human camp side. Thank you. Thank you. Senator cassidy. Thank you all for being here. Im from louisiana. Believe it or not even though your average temperature one of the reasons i think this is such a positive thing is there are so many folks in our state that didnt go to college who make good incomes because they are able to work in the oil and gas industry and which is economically beneficial. I can also apply what we do in louisiana to some of the stuff that we see here. Everybody discusses responsible oil and gas and i can say that in the gulf of mexico that technology has progressed so that you can dynamically drill going from a Central Point far out and then tieing back therefore limiting the pad, if you will. So it is similar to whats here. I look at that because if you look at what senator sullivan gave us it took a 65 acre gravel pad in 1970 to do 3 square miles of drilling. And now for future extended reach drilling it will take a 12 acre gravel pad to do 125 square miles. It is very similar to what we are currently doing in the gulf of mexico. Once you have the rig you go far out and then tie back in a way which minimizes impact. So i will say that. I understand theres currently a project in alaska that has a grilling well of 35,000 feet and so its not just the gulf of mexico it is also in alaska. We actually have everything we are discussing. Since the drilling has begun not far from section 102 how has development effected the area and how have these advances that we have spoken of, if you will, modify that impact . The technological capacity as you just described is working on the north slope. The ability to reduce the footprint, the ability to reach out is taking place as we speak. There has been no impact on the 1002 area simply because that is the issue before us today to allow that potential to be tapped. There have been comments have been spills and other negative consequences of a massive decades Long Development on the north slope producing billions of barrels of oil. What i can say to that is that technology has again allowed us to be aggressively responsive, that the Regulatory Regime has changed, will continue to evolve and the technology has our ability to respond to difficulty has grown. The ability to maintain the habitat literally the eco systems has been aggressively managed and issued responded to and that is of course part of the emphasis of our testimony today is to say that we can deal both with the need for the development, the production resource, to manage the future of the Renewable Resources let me just mention because im about to run out of seconds, just to emphasize your point from picture about your way to do responsible drilling senator sullivan gave this out. It shows ice pads being used for this rig and when it thaws you see no roads, no pads because they are ice pads and ice road and they all melt away. The only thing left is an 8 by 8 foot well house that remains but nothing else seen. Yall have done a very nice job of preserving the eco system without trace except for an 8 by 8 foot well house. That is exactly right. The amount of time i yield back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you gentlemen for the conversation today. I would like to start with mr. Shethan. You have extensive background in conservation. I was director of the past five years. Can i ask you this, my understanding of the 1980 law and purpose of the refuge states four things, to conserve fish and wildlife populations in their natural diversity, to fulfill obligations of the United States with respect to fish and wildlife and their habitats, to provide in a manner consistent with one and two and to ensure Water Quality and necessary water quantity within the refuge. Are those still true today . Yes, absolutely. So then can you explain to me how if we are to open up to oil and gas drilling how thats compatible with those purposes . Thank you, senator. As part of the 1980 that you referenced it certainly established criteria and thats still being fulfilled. When you talk about compatibility, in the 1997 wildlife refuge act each should be managed as well as the specific purpose for which that was established and at the time that was established section 1002 and 1003 created an avenue for exploratory work and drilling down in the future under section 1003. So at this point the department of interior and the president and secretary are committed to honoring the desires of the state, honoring the desires of need for Energy Independence and still fulfilling the law which provided opportunity under that law to perform these types of angttiveties. So theres no compatibility standard . You feel its in the law that you have the authority to come in and listen to the locals . This is what they want so this is what they going to do, is that correct . Certainly we strive to make every action compatible as best we can. As has been mentioned multiple times today it is an area. About a billion and a half of that are in the 1002 area. If this body of congress intends to elect for the development in that area well work to ensure come pat ability with other exists uses. So is your position today that u. S. Fish and wildlife doesnt youre going to really do whatever we youre not advocating one way or the other . No. Im saying that the come pate blt of that refuge will be for which that was established. Is it different than i just identified previously . It is those poor elements but also the potential exploration and development of other uses as we heard from multiple members. Zb ok okay. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. You know, we have been instructed to raise a billion dollars in this economy as part of fiscal year 18 budget do you have an understanding of that at all . I have a general understanding. I have seen the materials and i have seen the analysis. It seems very clear that with the Prospective Development and the already existing analysis of the size of the reserve or reserves that very significant revenue can accrue to the federal and state governments. Do you think it will be a billion dollars . Well, i believe it will be many multiples of that number, yes. Based on the numbers that you have seen . Yes. Okay. I appreciate that. I notice my time is up. Thank you senator. I was with senator in the spring and had an opportunity to visit the Pipeline System. It is my understanding that on the pipeline peaked in the late 80s and has declined to about 20 of the pipeline capacity. Could you explain why it is so important to maximize on that pipeline . The pipeline is at 25 of its capacity. The need to continue to utilize it and is full capacity is clear when we look at the National Security interest of our nation, when we look at the revenue needs of our state, when we look at the revenue needs of our nation. And the impact on the economy of our state, the impact on the economy of our nation are each very clear. The opportunity to allow our nation and our state to have revenue not just to meet the full range of existing budgetary needs but to be responsive to a changing climate particularly in our state is very real and must be addressed and if not by our nation then by our state our National Security interest is vulnerable. We are in an area where modest capacity of Destructive Force that we can be a target. We know that a changing arctic is changing the security interests of each of the nations involved. Those are open questions as we speak. We also support and believe with that kind of National Security interest that the full range of interests that allow us to live reasonable responsible good lives create a society for our state are significantly tied in with the pipeline and ability to deliver petroleum to our nation and to our world. I agree. Thats the same assessment that i had. I wanted to follow up, given to close proximity to the Pipeline System and other development, do you believe there are opportunities to conduct mitigation projects that could improve habitat wildlife . Yes. It has a robust Resource Management program, the state of alaska and fish and Wildlife Management and our department of Environmental Conservation will work as hard as we can in order to maintain and where opportunities present to grow the full range of fish and wildlife and other Natural Resources on those lands. Do you have anything you might want to add to that in terms of opportunities to improve existing wildlife habit habitat . Thank you, senator. Certainly there is work that is going on throughout those areas now for mitigation but theres also a lot of Research Going on up there. We are trying to avoid challenges that could exist so that if we do have this type of work done down the road that its done responsibly and its best that can be with the wildlife resources. Thank you i have some what technical questions. I dont see any witnesses that can strictly address them. Youll get the question and hopefully well be able to get this. First question is, as i understand this proposed legislation which we havent seen yet but that the house bill talks about a 2,000 acre limitation. Is that a con tig youous or is that 12 acres here and 10 over there . Do you know what that 2000 acres means . Ill have to defer that question. I cant respond to that. It was presented to me as the size of dallas airport. I think what it means is its scattered all over the place and if you add it all together its 2,000 acres. Second, do you know how many wells are contemplated in this development . Again, i think it depends on whats passed by the body of this congress. It seems to me we have to do calculations. It is always dangerous to turn me loose with a calculator, we are talking several thousand wells to produce 10 billion barrels over 10 years. Again, i think its an important question to assess the impact. Are we talking 10 wells, 100 wells or a thousand wells . Any idea how this is going to get out from all of these wells . How does it get any where . Well, again, i suspect that the most likely method of moving that would be via pipelines. Thats how most of that oil is moved now. We are not only talking about these 12 acre pads wibut now we are talking about pipelines and presumably roads to get to these various places. Any ideas on the cost of extraction, what we are talking about whether this is 50 barrel oil . Well, it is economically recoverable at 42 barrel. They say there would be a 12 profit blt factor, if you will or 12 margin on that. So thats the price point that was done in analysis in 2009 and certainly oil prices a little higher than that today. It is hard to say what they could be. I understand that youre a resource guy and youre not an oil and gas guy. It does bother me that youre telling us that this is an okay deal without knowing the answers to my questions. I dont see how you can say this looks fine unless you know how many wells and how many miles of pipeline, where they will be located. I mean i just we are being asked to make an assessment here, but i dont see how you can make that evalwaluation witt knowing the answers to the questions that i have raised. Thank you. Without having a full set of legislation, knowing what that direction is to us, it would be hard for myself or even oil and gas expert to answer all of those questions. But what i will say is that, you know, there are difficult choices to make here. I agree with that. I want to know what choices im making. I dont want to make choices where i dont understand what the impact will be. Yes. And what i will say today is that we support responsible development in whatever form or fashion it best occurred in. We know what technologies are available if and when this effort takes place which could be many years from now. I expect there will be we voevo technologies. I hope that well have the material and data necessary to answer the questions that i have raised. I dont see how we can make this decision without answering the question of how many wells are we talking about . How many miles of pipeline . We cant make that tradeoff without having that data. I respectfully request that we have an opportunity to explore that data before we are asked to mark up a bill. And i hope youre able to stick around for the second panel. Well have an opportunity to get into more of the specifics but again, recognizing that in terms of what may actually be produced. Again, it depends on a lot of variables that awe are going to make assumptions on. I looked down a list and didnt see anyone i thought would be responsive to those particular questions. My colleagues and i feel strongly we want to see something and understand it before we vote on it. It is hard to believe it will take place by next wednesday. We are certainly not voting on anything we dont have in front of us. And to understand the impact of the interior department. My colleague is saying he wants to understand what that impact is. Todays hearing is an opportunity for us to hear about the 1002 area, something that this committee hasnt had an opportunity to do so in about seven years now. Lets go to senator danes. Thank you. I know its a long flight from alaska to washington d. C. Thank you for making that journey. I must tell you as somebody who respects the voice of the states and voice of the people that live in those states, i am deeply struck fwi faby the fact we have had both u. S. Senators, their lone congressman, 90 kt of the Alaska Legislature and 7 support moving forward as we are proposing to do with drilling in the 1002. And i just think its a bit arrogant for folks that are a long ways away from alaska to be in some what dictating the future of what alaskans want to do. Your voice should count in this city and to this senator it does. Thank you for making the journey. In my home state like alaskans and those from colorado we have a blend of protecting the environment as well as responsibility developing financial resources. This is a senator who spent 70 miles backpacking the wilderness. Credit to my wife for carrying all of that weight too. She is tough. I cherish those kind of outdoor experiences. I cherish the ability to fly fish, to hunt, to backpack, to climb mountains. This is truly a both and situation. I saw that same blend, that passion for the outdoors, for the incredible landscapes when i had the opportunity to see the north scope in may, with the chairman of this committee. Alaska is an amazing place, truly beautiful. But i know the frustration that says we want to be able to define our future and not have washington d. C. Do it for us. As i stated earlier protecting the environment is a value. I have never hunted caribou but it would be on my bucket list. As the agency that manages your wildlife, do you believe that production in the 1002 area can have minimal impact on the local caribou herds . Thank you senator danes. My time was brought up about serving as a state director in utah where they are built great populations of deer, elk, moose and had energy development. You have seen it both in colorado and montana as has been pointed out. These can be done successfully. Do employees have concerns about doing this in a very careful manner . Certainly they do. We have wildlife challenges that we are challenged with every day. Not only fish and Wildlife Service but all of the states. Whether it is wind energy and all of the other opportunities that are there for developing energy, all of these have impacts on wildlife resources. Ill say this. If this Congress Directs us that way we use the best science, best technologies and other strategies such as timing that we have heard much about today and reduced footprint to make sure it has the least amount of impact on the native wildlife species. Alaska has over 56 million acres of wildlife. Some suitable for hiking, some for snow mobiling and others for mining, oil or Gas Exploration. Do you believe we are taking a balanced approach by opening up section 20 10 02 allowing alaska and all to from this land . Thank you senator. I was with the alaska federation. I was with the native community. The effort at balance was among the most important considerations in the development of the Alaska National interest Lands Conservation act which ultimately gained the approval of such conservation the secretary of interior from idaho. The range of conservation interests and other interests across our nation and within alaska, it was a grand bargain that was dealing with immense millions of acres, 160 million acres of land in our state went into the federal classifications in our state. Within those classifications there were i am running out of time. Ill insert myself. Do you think we are taking a balance aid proecd approach . Absolutely. You mean when im responding im using your time . Wow. Sorry. Thank you. I am very very concerned about the direction of where this is going and one of the reasons i did not support the budget resolution is because of the provision that would assume a billion dollars coming from opening up and i appreciate the ranking members comments, opening comments and others that have expressed concerns, but when we talk about listening to people from alaska i certainly want to do that. I wish we had diversity that would be more helpful. I remember in 2010 i traveled with senator to attend a field hearing on the impact of Climate Change. We saw what was happening in terms of the snow melting. It was quite astounding to see the impacts of Climate Change on our arctic. On that trip i had an opportunity to visit bay and to meet with the native americans there in Far Southwest part of alaska, which has become a center of alternative Energy Investments which i was so impressed with, very tall, large wind turbines. I was particularly happy to find out some of the Component Parts were i felt an immediate connection with what the tribe was doing and how the vision of that in moving to types of energy that would be so much better for alaska in terms of whats happening in terms of the climate changing. I dont know if its fully happened yet but i know water was seeping up. The whole community was going to be moved because of the water that was going to be engulfed. As a result of the permafrost that was melting. This is deeply concerning to me we are not embracing alternative fuel that would benefit the equal kwalty of life for people in alaska. As we sit here today to discuss even with no evidence that drill in these areas will increase u. S. Energy security and real questions about whether it will help the federal budget at all, it feels like a political exercise as opposed to looking to the future as well as preserving this pristine area. I know you have spoken a little bit about this. Could you help me better understand real world consequences of allowing drilling and talk a little bit more about the important cultural and triable perspectives about what it would mean to allow for new drilling in these pristine lands . Thank you, senator. You know, when we think about the real world consequences of drilling it goes back to the protection of our way of life. Theres a story about how, you know, long ago we had to rely on the caribou and closeness of our relationship is such that we have been saying there is a little bit of caribou heart in us and a little bit of human heart in the caribou. I dont quite understand. We kept talking about economic development. I hear it a lot as an excuse to going in and drilling. Economic development, what does that actually mean . I think its not a recognition that it is a real thing. Its not a recognition. I find it hard to understand like why would somebody why would they want to work a 40 hour week job making money so they could turn around and go sbie organic food . How does it make sense to anybody . Why would you do that . I will go work harder so then i could buy food of lower quality, like how does that make sense . It doesnt make sense to me. We are perplexed when we are talking about progress. Is it like eating spam . I dont think so. When you want to talk status people taulk about going to hol foods and eating organic food. Thats status. Youre saying its important for our health to eat this healthy food. What is all of this drilling for, so that we can have money to do what . We already live within. We are not trying to change anything in that regard. I think you can learn a lot by seeing how we live. You can learn a lot. We are not chasing our tails up there. And so going back to the triable perspective, the triable perspective is that it is our duty to take care of the land and take care of the animals because they have taken care of us for thousands of years, thousands of years. You know, youre going to hear alaska native corporations representatives coming up and talking about development. I want to make it clear why i have the opportunity to do such. They are not tribes. They do not have a traditional language. Their purpose is profit. Our purpose is to protect our traditional way of life and to live that way of life in an honorable way. Our elders told us, when you go up there you do it in a good way. That good way is to be respectful. I have a peer up here. He is from the north slope. We respect their Food Security. When there is any issue of drilling an arctic ocean we know that because it will impact the whales. It will impact the sea life and they are worried about that. We dont want it. We stand beside them and we recognize that you have a right to Food Security and we stand beside you when you do such. Thank you. I realize my time is up. I will submit further questions for the record. Thank you. Senator gardener. Thank you to the witnesses for being here today and recognizing of the other questions. When Congress Moves forward as we are today if there is a lease plan developed for the 1002 area, environmental laws dont change. Theyre not waived. They remain the same as they are today. Is that correct . Thats correct. There would be a leasing plan developed with public input. Is that correct . Absolutely. There would be full environmental impacts. Environmental reviews. Is that correct . Absolutely. Analysis of how this would impact the environment. Is that correct . Yes. Does that change as a result of the 10002 process . No. There is nothing in that process that would allow for change in any of those environmental considerations or rules. Will this area be going into production the day after Congress Passes legislation . We would expect that, that probably lease sales, perhaps two, would occur four to five years from now with drilling being potentially as far out as seven to ten years. Seven to ten years. Litigation . Do you get sued or does this waive lawsuits . This doesnt waive lawsuits. We dont like lawsuits anymore than anyone else does. I guess what i am saying is that the process of Environmental Protection, environmental reviews, environmental analysis, doesnt change one iota. Correct . Yes. Thank you. Lieutenant governor, the governors Opening Statement talked and your written statement laid out of the founding history of alaska. Laws that led us to the current situation. Alaska was brought into the union as a state with the understanding it would be allowed to responsibly develop the Resources Available to it. Yes. The when the act was passed in 1980 that expanded the Arctic National wildlife refuge by 9 million acres to create the previously the range and now the refuge. Is that correct. Yes. That doubled the size of the National Park and National Refuge system and tripled the federal land designated as wilderness. Is that correct. Yes. The same bill also specifically set aside the coastal plain or 10002 for the possibility of safety development. Yes. The studies conducted by the department of interior led them to recommend the oil and Gas Leasing Program for the area. Is that correct. Does the United States consume more oil today than it produces . Yes. So we still import oil today. Thats been talked about. Is it fair to say not all of the countries we import oil from share the same values as the United States . Absolutely. Production of Domestic Energy allows us greater leverage over the nations we import oil from. Does it make sense to tie the hands of our people when we could develop a resource to increase the National Security of the United States and the prosperity of your state . Does it make sense to tie your hands . It does not. Based on your experience and these answers, there is nothing new being new proposed by congress. Mr. Shaheen. Your experience in the state of utah in the wildlife work in particular, utah had i think 25 years in utah. Is that correct, as a convation specialist . Yes. Last five years prior to your appointment you were running the state of utahs division of wildlife resources. You oversaw significant increase in mule deer. Is that correct . Yes. Utah has a lot of energy development. Yes. How do you balance that . The key to balancing any of that work is to try to avoid and minimize footprints the best we can. Our biologists and team members there work with the Development Companies to look at siting locations and have tried to develop those areas in the most responsible way that they can to minimize impact to wildlife numbers, and i think that we have seen some good success with those efforts. So based on your professional experience, then, can we responsibly develop the resources congress has put in agreement with the state of alaska and minimize the impacts of wildlife and other parts of the ecosystem . I believe if thats developed there can be similar efforts to minimize the impacts to wildlife in the 1002 area. Thank you. My time has expired. Senator gardner. Next to senator franken. Thank you, madam chair. One argument that we often hear from my friends across the aisle is that we need to open more federal land to drilling. And in alaska. But if you look at the facts, its simply not true that the Big Oil Companies lack access to public lands, especially in alaska. Of the one more than one million acres of federal land under lease for oil and gas drilling in alaska, only about 17,000 are actually being drilled by the end of fiscal year 2016. 17,000 out of one million, maybe thats why the pipeline is only operating at 25 of capacity. And the Trump AdministrationJust Announced that it would lease another 10 million acres of the National Petroleum reserve in alaska. They announced this in december. Simply put, there is no shortage of federal oil and gas leases in alaska. Its not even close. And i dont know why it is necessary to open a pristine natural area like this refuge. Why why the refuge . Speaking to what senator kings questions that mr. Sheehan could not answer, i just think that, if my colleagues across the aisle think that drilling in this refuge is such a good idea, we should have we should have hearings. We should do this as regular order. And not do this on the quick and cheap because of a tax plan. Mr. Alexander, i would like to read you a quote from my good friend, late senator paul wellstone. Get your response. He fought for more than a decade to preserve the national the Arctic NationalWildlife Reserve and for the rights of the gwichin people. He said theyre fighting for their fundamental right to exist as an Indigenous People who are an integral part of the landscape of the unique ecology of this region. We cannot condemn the gwichin as a people. We must respect their right for survival. You have spoken eloquently to this. And i do have some other questions. But doesnt it seem strange to all of us, to me it does, anyway, that were talking about you as by the way, thank you for your service in our military. But were talking about changing the habitat and the way of life for these Indigenous Peoples to get a billion dollars worth of resources, a lot of which is to address Climate Change. Can you just talk to the irony here . Or your feelings on it. Thats absolutely correct, senator. Thank you for your words. It is absolutely astounding that we want to you know, in the army we used to call it the s f selflicking ice cream cone. Where we are drying to drill more oil, pump out more pollutants and address Climate Change and the impact that it has. That is insanity to me. Its insanity to gwichin people. We dont understand that. Perhaps my colleagues here can explain it, but i cant understand it. Lieutenant governor, i mean, you know that the impact of Climate Change on your state, your state is warming twice as fast as the rest of the country. Yes. This means coastal erosion and loss of sea ice and melting permafrost. I hear that part of the reason for drilling the in this area when there is going to be over 11 million other acres available to drill is for to address mitigation for Climate Change. Drilling for oil in the last pristine arctic ecosystem on the continent while Climate Change is having a disproportionate impact on the region seems to me kind of ironic. As you just made as youve made clear, Lieutenant Governor, Climate Change has deeply impacted your constituents. I think we need to curb emissions and provide support to communities to help them adapt to a Climate Change, but not by drilling in the habitat of the food source for an Indigenous People. Do you disagree that there is some irony here . Lieutenant governor, the senators time has expired, but i will allow you an opportunity to answer the question because it is an important one. I disagree. We need to continue to evolve our petroleumbased economy as we also seek to be responsive to our Climate Change reality. Nobody knows that better than we do. We live with it every single day. It will take decades for us to withdraw from reliance on a Petroleum Based economy. And for us in the meantime to rely on sources other than our own raises National Security issues, it raises economic issues, it raises issues that impact us in alaska very directly. The resources that the development of the arctic plain can bring to alaska will allow us to have fiscal resources to meet rapidly changing climate circumstances. Otherwise, we have no real ability to respond. The National Government must ultimately also respond. I do not believe there is an irony when the ecosystem that we are discussing is already in place to allow the most minimal Going Forward impact on the arctic coastal plain of any oil development. I do not think it is ironic that even madam chair, i think were going to have two votes at noon, and there are several colleagues who have been here and i would like them i know our Lieutenant Governor here has been over. I hope we can get a short summation so that we can move on. Sure. I disagree that it is ironic. I think it is a national interest. It is in alaskas interest. It is in it is in the worlds interest that we allow this kind of development to take place, that it has the most minimal impact that we can see and that it allows us to be responsive to a Climate Change future that we must address. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor. Senator hirono. Thank you, madam chair. This hearing is in the context of the republican tax and budget plan singling out this committee to come up with a billion dollars of revenue savings over the next decade. The committee has until november 13th to come up with this amount. So this hearing is all of a piece to support the republican budget and tax proposal that cuts 1. 5 trillion from medicare and medicaid and imposes massive reductions in funds for education and Affordable Housing among other things all to benefit huge corporations and the wealthy. So we therefore should resist the urge to compartmentalize what were doing in this committee as disconnected from a larger picture, the larger picture being the republican tax and budget plan. Here we are. The decades long debate over this refuge is a highly controversial issue thats come to represent a fight between protecting pristine ecosystems versus continuing our reliance on fossil fuels. We should not be considering whether to exploit National Treasures like the Arctic Refuge to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Instead, we should be discussing how to raise royalties from Companies Already drilling and mining on public lands so that taxpayers get a fair deal, reduce overly generous revenuesharing payments from offshore oil drilling and limit the ability of companies to flair natural gas so resources from public lands are not wasted. I want to ask mr. Sheehan a question. Does the Trump Administration support drilling in anwar . They do. So is that why that there is an august 11 memo from u. S. Wish and wildlife acting director instructing the agencys alaska regional director to update a rule that would that had to do with exploratory drilling between 1984 and 1986 and lifting these calendar of constraints so that more applications can be submitted to approve drilling . Thats where were heading, right . In spite of the fact that it is congress that gets to make the ultimate decision as to whether or not drilling is appropriate in anwar. Thank you, senator. First of all, the document you referred to and those surrounding documents are not any part of a rule thats been publicly released yet, but i will say this. If in fact this body of Congress Wants to contemplate the development of oil and gas in the 1002 area of the Arctic National wildlife refuge, it should be done with the best science, the most current science available, and that involves probably the most current level of exploration using the most modern technologies. That original research that was done was done in the early 1980s. Mr. Sheehan, do you think this committee can come up with all of that by november 13th . I dont believe that this in my opinion, this committee is asked to have all that Research Work done. I believe that, should the body of Congress Pass it, we want to make a best informed decision to our public of what and where and when that could look like and to industry, who may be interested in pursuing agree with that. Thats why i am really glad senator king raised some very specific questions to you which you could not answer. So it really has to do with, you know, mr. Lieutenant governor, you said that we should proceed in a way that has the most minimal impact. And of course, that is the crux of the debate as to what kind of impact drilling in anwar will have. So there are people on one side of the debate that says its going to have a terribly detrimental impact on the environment and as so eloquently put my mr. Alexander that it would impact their way of life. By the way, mr. Alexander, i am really glad you came and testified because i believe as a native peoples you share certain common perspectives as native hawaiians do. A spiritual, economic connection to the land. I think it is really important that your the gwichin tribe which covers a large part of the area were talking about as well as in canada, i am grateful for your testimony. Thats why the debate has continued, because there has been a huge discussion as to how minimal would the impact of drilling be, and there are those who believe it would not, indeed, be minimal. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you. Senator sanders. Thank you very much, madam chair. My guess is that historians in years to come will look back at hearings like this and they will ask what were they thinking about . What world were they living in . Didnt they see what was going on all around them . All over this planet today we are seeing nations including our own ravaged by the impact of Climate Change. And meanwhile, while Climate Change is doing horrendous damage to people all over the world, we have hearings like this to talk about more oil exploration, more dependency on fossil fuels, when the evidence is overwhelming that this country should lead the world in transforming our Energy System away from fossil fuel to Energy Efficiency and sustainable energies. It is especially surprising that in a beautiful state like alaska, which has been hit so hard by Climate Change that you are not leading the world, leading this country in telling us the damage that has been done and the need to move away from fossil fuel. Right now, according to nasa, the First Six Months of 2017 are almost a full degree hotter than any year since records started being kept in 1880. This is unbelievable. The duration and strength of hurricanes i just came back from puerto rico have increased by 50 . 2017 is already one of the worst wildfire seasons on record. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change tells us that the average global sea levels have already risen by about three millimeters annually since the early 1990s in coastal cities all over our country and the world are in danger of being flooded. And here we are talking about more dependency on fossil fuels. More destruction of the planet. What world are we living in . What are you going to say to your children and grandchildren . Mean while, there is a revolution taking place in sustainable energy. Were seeing the price of solar and wind plummeting. We are seeing massive corporate investments not in oil, not in gas, by the way, but in sustainable energy. Solar sector today employs more people than apple, google and facebook combined. So i have just maybe a simple question. I do understand, mr. Sheehan, that your boss, the president , told us during the campaign that Climate Change was a hoax. Right . It was a hoax. Briefly, mr. Sheehan, is Climate Change a hoax or is it real . No, senator sanders. Certainly i believe that Climate Change is real. I believe we can see it from areas from alaska to many other areas. But what i do believe is that, as we look at these alternative forms of energy that are coming online and you dont have to look far around the country to see new wind energy and solar operations popping up all over the place beings b, but they st represent a small part of the energy in this country. Thats right. Why is the Trump Administration not recognizing that reality and investing heavily in trying to move us in that direction rather than encouraging more oil and Gas Exploration . I think they are encouraging the other energy sources, but i think theyre also trying to be forward looking to say what do we need ten years from now . You think the Trump Administration is encouraging is investing, is urging us forward in wind and solar . Is that what youre saying for the record . I havent seen a backstepping in those particular sorts of energy mechanisms . Really . I think you should examine what your administration is doing. Let me ask the Lieutenant Governor. Very briefly. That at a time when your state, perhaps and its a beautiful state. My god, it is the last natural wilderness that we have. Dont you think that alaska should be leading our country in terms of transforming our Energy System away from the products that have caused the problems that are impacting your state . Absolutely. We feel it every single day. We know it. We have investment in alternative energy. We need to continue to do so. There were references to to wind power. If you look at at wind power and other alternative forms of energy, we are making those investments. We need to make more. But we also know that we cannot flip a switch and thats not a pun and turn off our reliance we will never flip that switch so long as we continue investing in oil and gas. Last question, madam chair, if i way. Let me ask mr. Alexander. Mr. Sanders you are out of time. We have one more and we have votes coming up at noon. Let him finish. We went three minutes over on two colleagues over here. Quick question. To summarize briefly the impact that this drilling will have on his peoples way of life. Senator sanders, we believe that drilling in Gwichyaa Zhee gwichin will devastate us as a people. It will absolutely devastate us as a people. You are talking about 80 of the diet of gwichin people being the porcupine caribou herd. Our connection to that is so strong that you are talking about just an absolute change in the way we live as people, and, you know, what about next generation. Will they ever even have the opportunity to learn how to hunt caribou and to respect it . I dont know. I am hoping that you here today will protect that. Thank you very much. Thank you, senator sanders. Senator manchin. I want to thank you all of you for being here. And you can see this is quite a divisive, if you will. The bottom line is we live in the real world. We dont live in a fantasy world. We cant pick and choose what we would rather have. Really, we are a country that depends on almost 20 billion barrels of oil a day. Thats the facts. We imported oil from 70 countries last year. Thats a fact. I come from the state of West Virginia. Its a state that believes, really, in an allin Energy Policy. Never hesitated once when the country needed the coal that made the steel and built the guns and ships and did everything for this country. Our people work and work hard. They will continue to. I thank Governor Walker i thank you for being here. Governor mallott, you are not the only democrat here who believes in an allin Energy Policy and respects and supports anwar and doing it in a responsible way. I also know that i voted against the budget because i thought the budget was a gimmick to get to a budget reconciliation which took all of us out of the process. Democrats cannot participate in the process right now for overall tax reform which the country needs. But with that being said, i also realized that, you know, we are going to there is going to it be more fossil used in the world than ever before. All we can do is find different technologies and different abilities to use it until we find a technology or a new industry that will provide a more cleaner energy, if its going to be a fusion or some other form in the near future. Right now the world is using more coal. Were using more oil. I look at the dependency that we have. When you start looking at the security of our nation, the more that we are less dependent on foreign oil, the better we are strategically and the stronger we are as a nation. Also, i noticed that the point thompson, last three years the coastal plain has been exploring and is in development. Thats been done in an environmentally sound way, a balance between the environment and the economy up there. Its within the same ecosystem as 1002. I understand, mr. Alexander and everyone, depending on which side you are on, there has got to be a balance to be had here. I dont know why we cant find that balance, why its always either one side or the other, why we are divided as a nation, why we are divided as a people. It always come down to what side are you on . People have asked me, whats your politics . I said you ought to ask me what my purpose of being in the political process. You should care less whether were democrats or republicans. I want a strong country. It can only be strong if were energy independent. If you want to set the Technology Standards of the rest of the world you better develop them right here. For the last eight years we never developed and spent anything in research to try to find ways of using oil and natural gas in a cleaner way. People say, i want outliall renewbles. I say, fine. Tell me what five hours of the day you wants your refrigerator or heat or aircondition to work. Thats what youre going to get. Mr. Sheehan. You related to that. If you could, briefly, mr. Mallott, speak on, do you believe there is a balance i dont think that you all would be representing the great state of alaska thinking you are encroaching and changing the lives of your citizens there, or have you just basically thrown caution to the wind . First let my say i am an indian. And when people ask me to be brief, i am doing my damnedest. But i we need balance. We need a future in which Renewable Energy sustains our children. It is an absolute high priority that alaska recognizes its responsibility for and will at every juncture possible take is alaska developing clean energy with renewables the way youre extracting basically the resources. Yes. We have a long way to go, but we have invested and continue to invest in alternative energy as a high priority. Mmhmm. And mr. Alexander, do you is there any way is there a balance to be found here that we can preserve the way of life of your wonderful people but also have Energy Independence if we can and use the resources that we have . Do you think thats possible . Thank you, senator. Have you made overtures towards that that you would try to find the balance and its been rejected . Why is the balance being put on the back of my people . If you look at the north slope, there are plenty of other places to drill, as has been mentioned earlier. Plenty other places. So thats the balance. You have npra you can drill in. We dont need to drill in the Arctic National wildlife refuge. Can i ask quickly as far as the Lieutenant Governor, have you looked at different areas to support trying to find that balance, protecting their rights . Absolutely. With a pipeline, the reality being threequarters empty with all of the existing areas of exploration and development and more coming on with recent discoveries, we still are a long way from being responsive to Current National energy needs and we need to continue to find the ability to achieve National Security, safety in energy and we need the excess to access to the coastal plain to achieve that. Those of us who come from extraction states have done the heavy lifting. West virginia has been heavy lifting for a long time. We continue and our way of life has been infringed upon also. We think we can do things better also but also find a balance. Were just asking for tolerance here, that we try to find alternatives that we can respect your people and your way of life and also to balance, have the energy we need to keep this country strong. I think thats our responsibility. There is nobody in West Virginia wants to drink dirty water or breathe dirty air. The same as alaska. If anyone thinks from the public leaders and all of you are supporting doing more as far as energy resource, Energy Production in the most scientific way or most advanced way as you possibly can. I know the foot prints as far as horizontal drilling. We reduced the foot print in virgini West Virginia. We i would urge all of you, man, try to find that pathway forward. Try to find that balance that you i think you can. Hope you can, anyway. Senator manchin, thank you. I appreciate the focus on balance. Thats what we try to do around here. I spent a lot of time last night reading everyones written testimony, and i was struck by a comment that you had included, Lieutenant Governor, in saying just these words. We have achieved this balance. It is time to permit the exploration and development. The state has demonstrated that wildlife and Environmental Protection to be achieved through 50 years of development and progress on the north slope. I think its important to remember that what we are seeking to do in the 1002 is not something that has not been done in the north slope. We have 40 years plus of a track record up there. 40 years of ensuring that the caribou continue to move through, that the polar bear are protected, that the snow geese are protected. That mitigation that we talk about has been addressed. At the same time, we have been leading not only the country but the world when it comes to our innovation and our pioneering. I talk about it a lot here in this committee. Much to be proud of there from alaskas perspective. I know that each of you, as you have provided testimony here today, have contributed to this conversation in a very important and a substantive way. Our votes have started. We have two of them. It would be my intention to thank this panel, thank you for your time. This is a long time to be sitting and fielding questions, so we appreciate that. We will take an atease and its my intention that we will resume the hearing at 12 30 with the second panel. So, again, thank you to each of you. The rest can all take a stretch break, and we will be back at 12 30. Welcome back, everyone. Sorry for the extra tenminute delay. But we have finished at least this part of the voting and hopefully well have the opportunity to get through this last panel with an opportunity for questions and conclude the hearing before we have another round of votes. So thats the hope here. This second panel is perhaps more of our technical panel. We have several witnesses present to help answer questions about modern development on the north slope and what it might look like in the future. Joining us today are mr. Aaron schut. The president and ceo of doion limited. Thank you for being here. You brought your son with you, a great Educational Opportunity for him. We appreciate you both being here. Lois epstein. She has been before the committee before. Welcome back. She is the Arctic Program director for the wilderness society. Following his epstein mr. Richard glen, also a frequent flier here to the energy committee. He is the executive Vice President for land and Natural Resources with the arctic slope regional cooperation. And its good to have you back, richard. Pat prisho, known to many alaskaens and here in washington, d. C. , the former special assistant for alaskaen affairs in the previous administration. Welcome back. Matt cronin. Biologist and Research Associate at the university of alaska fairbanks. Some of us know him as the caribou man but someone who is well versed in the biology of many of the issues that weve been discussing. Thank you all for traveling the distance to be here today. Thank you not only for your contributions before the hearing but also for the good work that you do in your respective areas. Aaron, if you would like to lead the panel off with your comments. Again, try to stick to five minutes if you can. Your full statement will be incorporated as part of the record, and then well have an opportunity for questions. Welcome. Thank you, madam chairwoman. Members of the committee. Its a great opportunity to be here to testify today. I am the president , chief executive officer of doin limited. I am a tribal member and shareholder. Its one of the 13 resources. In the southern portion of the Arctic National wildlife refuge lies in our region. We support the opening of the coastal plain to oil and Gas Development if it is shown to be consistent with the protection of the porcupine, caribou herd. The gwichin people, many of whom are shareholders and here today rely on them for survival. We encourage the United States government to offer the gwichin a role in comanagement of the herd. Today i want to focus my testimony on one of our wholly owned subsidiaries that corporatoperates on the north slope with eight of the most unique and advanced rigs in the industry. Theyre designed especially for the arctic. Weve led the industry in innovation and adoption of new technology over its 40 years of existence. We are proud of the leadership role as it fits within our corporate value of commitment to employee safety and sound