Obama proposal to expand protection for Arctic wildlife refuge sparks backlash

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The president is pushing for major new areas of protection in Alaska's Arctic Refuge, and getting set for a big battle in the decades-long debate over oil drilling and production there.

Currently, about seven million areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, often referred to as ANWR, are protected from oil and gas exploration. President Obama announced yesterday that he wants to expand that by 12 million more acres, including along the potentially oil-rich coast. It's the first of several moves aimed at holding back production.

Here's some of what the president said in a White House video about his decision to protect the area.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

For centuries, it supported many Alaskan native communities, but it's very fragile.

And that's why I'm very proud that my Department of Interior has put forward a comprehensive plan to make sure that we're protecting the refuge and that we're designating new areas, including coastal plains, for preservation.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The president's actions sparked immediate and sharp opposition from some Republicans, including Alaska Senator and Senate Energy Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski, who joins me now.

Senator, welcome.

So, first of all, why is this a bad idea?

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI, Chair, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Well, to effectively put off-limits forever the entire ANWR area, some 19 million acres, on top of what is already contained in the state of Alaska, we have — we have more than half of the wilderness in the entire United States in the state of Alaska.

So of all the wilderness and all the 49 other states out there, we have got more than all of the other states combined. So what the president is doing through this action is a process that would — could eventually lead to permanent wilderness status.

And, fortunately, this is something that the Congress is going to have to sign off on. I don't see any scenario where this Congress will allow for permanent designation of all of ANWR, including the 1002 area, the area that's been specifically designated by Congress to be reserved for oil and gas exploration.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Well, what — the president's argument is that this is a pristine area, that there are very rare species of animal life there, it's a fragile piece of land that needs to be protected.

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI:

Well, look at the map. Look at the map that we're talking about.

Again, this is an area that, in addition to the 1002 area, is the size of the state of South Carolina that he's saying that we need to take off into permanent wilderness status. This is an amazing part of the state, as all parts of the state are amazing.

When you have a state that's one-fifth the size of the entire rest of the country, you're going to have some amazing places, OK? I'm with you on that. But for him to take all of this area and say off-limits entirely, what we have been doing in the Prudhoe area for 40 years, accessing a resource, while still being sensitive to the environment, making sure that subsistence is still allowed for the native people who live off the land, this is the key here.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Is there any room for middle ground here?

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI:

You know what? This administration has not been negotiating with the state of Alaska.

I made the suggestion that they're willing to negotiate with Iran, but they won't — they won't work with Alaska. They won't — they won't work with us. Now, is there a middle ground? I have been trying. I have been bending over backwards to be that broker, where we can have a relationship to advance some of Alaska's interests.

But it doesn't seem it makes any difference what the resource is that Alaska wants to access, whether it's our forests in the southeast, whether it's our mineral developments, or whether it's our oil and gas up north. It seems like this administration has taken an all-of-the-above approach to energy policy, except in Alaska.

I don't know what to do, except to fight back. And I'm going to do it.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, we thank you.

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI:

Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

And now for the Obama administration's perspective, we are joined by the Cabinet officials who is implementing this policy. She is the secretary of the interior, Sally Jewell.

Secretary Jewell, welcome.

SALLY JEWELL, Secretary of the Interior: My pleasure.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

So, it's clear there's a firestorm the administration has set off.

What do you say to this alarm articulated by Senator Murkowski that this is — that the amount of land that is set aside, if you out it all together, 19 million acres, that it's just beyond reason?

SALLY JEWELL:

Well, let me say first that I appreciate and respect Senator Murkowski's advocacy for her state. She has been a tireless advocate for the state.And she's been helpful to me in understanding the perspective of Alaskans.

I will also say that I have made many personal trips to Alaskan. I worked through college on elements of the Alaska pipeline. I visited the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge personally back in 2013. And as spectacular…

JUDY WOODRUFF:

And these are some pictures I believe you actually took.

SALLY JEWELL:

They are, actually. I saw polar bears at the airport in Kaktovik, flew over some of the rivers in the 1002 area in the coastal plain, and then into the Brooks Range in the mountains, where we actually got off and hiked around and could see just what an incredible place this is.

It is a large area. It is one of the most special places on Earth. And we are blessed in the United States to have an area of this size that has been undisturbed by development. And that is something that I feel very proud of the president for stepping out to protect.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

But what I'm hearing her say is that it's one thing to set aside, what is, seven million, already, but now 19 million. And she's saying, yes, it's pristine, but the entire state is pristine. What's so special about this area?

SALLY JEWELL:

This land was set aside in 1960 as the Arctic National Wildlife Range.

Further protections and wilderness for seven million acres were granted in 1980. We have been operating on a plan that was based on a 1980s understanding of this refuge. We now understand the importance of the coastal plain in so much of the health of the ecosystem.

We now understand there are many animals that actually summer over in the Arctic that come down to other parts of the Lower 48. We understand so much more. This 1002 area has not been opened for oil and gas development because Congress didn't want it to be opened. And this codifies the administration's position.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

But it's — it's bigger than that. It's — we're not even showing the entire area here.

What about the other arguments she and others are making that this is really a blow to Alaska's ability to have any kind of economic development? I mean, she talks about it affecting generations of Alaskans to come, because of the fact they won't be able to develop their resources in oil and gas.

SALLY JEWELL:

Well, Judy, I believe that there are places that are the right places to develop, like the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

We're in the process of working with a business up there right now to support the permitting for the first development of the National Petroleum Reserve. We have been actively leasing in that area. We have done an area-wide study to understand where are the critical calving grounds for the caribou for subsistence, where are the areas that have highest oil and gas potential.

We're supporting that. And that already has infrastructure that will quickly enable it to be hooked up to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. So, we're certainly not blocking development of petroleum resources in Alaska. It's just that there are right places to develop, like the National Petroleum Reserve, and we believe that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is too special to develop.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

And, finally, quickly, her point that the administration is just not reaching out, not in a position to negotiate? She says — you heard her say, I have bent over backwards, and they're not — they're not meeting me to talk about this.

SALLY JEWELL:

Well, I have had multiple meetings with Senator Murkowski. I would like to have had more.

I have had three meetings with Governor Walker. The state of Alaska is feeling the effects of lower oil prices right now, and I think are feeling that pressure. But my door is always open to the senator. I have suggested to her that perhaps we could go to Alaska together. And I look forward to that opportunity and continuing to work with her.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, we thank you so much for joining us.

SALLY JEWELL:

Thanks, Judy.