Alaska editorial: State's future will rely on oil leases
Courts continue to validate the offshore oil and gas leases sold by the federal government in recent years, which is good and extremely important news for Alaska's economy.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed a lower court decision upholding the environmental review that allowed the federal government to sell 92 Beaufort Sea leases east of Barrow in 2007. The court said the Minerals Management Service took the required "hard look" at the environmental effects of the lease sale.
A decision in a separate lawsuit by a different appeals court earlier this year also upheld a broad offshore leasing program on all points but one. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed most of the objections, even though it halted the program until the federal government does a better job ranking the environmental sensitivity of the various lease areas.
These decisions are critical steps in the search for the oil that, like it or not, powers this state.
The trans-Alaska oil pipeline carries only one-quarter of the volume it carried in the late 1980s. In the face of that decline, the only thing saving our state budget - and therefore all the state's valued institutions, agencies and employees - is the high price of oil. Without that, Alaska would be in a world of hurt. It might enter that world anyway, depending on world economic trends.
Oil industry executives say the potential in areas off Alaska's coastline rivals other, already tapped parts of the North Slope. No one should expect another Prudhoe Bay, but enough oil could be discovered to stop Alaska's oil production decline.
The offshore oil industry has an excellent environmental record in other parts of the country. With firm oversight, it should be able to replicate that success off Alaska's shores.
The state's economic future in the decades ahead depends upon continuation of both firm oversight and exploration. Courts have confirmed once again that this oversight is being applied.