Political Quotes

“amendment No. 3069 incorporates all of the changes Senator Bingaman and I have worked out with the State of Alaska, the Alaska Legislature, the pipeline companies, the North Slope oil and gas producers, and northern Alaska petroleum explorers. One might imagine with the diversity of interests represented by this group of participants, there was not always unanimous agreement on each point. But at the end of the day, I believe what is contained in this substitute amendment is a fair compromise between often divergent points of view. I want to thank Senator Bingaman and his staff for all of the hard work they invested in working with me to craft this challenging amendment. Although Alaska North Slope gas has been available for over 30 years, development and commercialization has not been possible due to lack of local market and lack of transportation to commercial markets. The cost and risk associated with building a project of the magnitude we are speaking was just too daunting. All of you are aware of last year's efforts on the part of Exxon/ Mobil, Phillips, and British Petroleum to evaluate the commercial viability of transporting Alaska gas to markets in the lower 48. At the completion of their economic evaluation they determined that the project was ``not'' economically viable at this time. This negative economic determination set the stage for Congress's involvement in the Alaska gas debate.”