After saying Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was a pariah for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Joe Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia to engage with the Arab world.
I believe his priorities are out of touch with most Americans. Today, we continue to see escalating oil and gasoline prices and runaway inflation. Yet our president suggests his mission to Saudi Arabia was to contribute “intense diplomacy.” He further pledges to stay aggressive against Russia and out-compete China — yet not one word on the U.S. energy shortage.
America has responsible solutions to our energy crisis and inflation here in the U.S. — and in Alaska in particular.
The president should travel to Alaska instead of Saudi Arabia and inspect the prospects for producing more oil on the North Slope, specifically ANWR and NPR-A. He should visit the Willow project and other North Slope opportunities.
He should work with Alaska oil producers to evaluate the role of Alaska’s gas in addressing Europe’s needs. Supplanting Russia gas with Alaska gas makes environmental sense. Alaska gas is far more climate-friendly: Alaska’s North Slope gas is not flared into the atmosphere but is reinjected; and Alaska’s environmental and safety standards are more restrictive than Russian standards.
By failing to look to Alaska oil and gas, Biden seems more fearful of environmental groups than of doing an about-face with the Saudi prince. He should not be; environmental groups have no place else to go, and the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers shows that this war may go on for some time. Even when it is over, Europe will not want to return to dependence on Russian oil and gas.
The argument is made that the need for oil and gas is short term and is a fossil fuel detour on the road to the 2050 clean-energy transition. The July 1 edition of The Economist suggests that this problem could be addressed by the government providing financial support.
The Economist makes a good point. Environmental groups’ arguments for doing away with fossil fuels assumes that carbon-capture technology will not advance sufficiently in the next 25 years to significantly reduce carbon emissions. The pace of technology change in all sectors of our economy should be considered in a manner that supports U.S. and Alaska oil and gas development and jobs, and does not export jobs to Saudi Arabia and the Mideast or increase our growing balance of payments deficit.
In addition, Biden is withdrawing 1 million barrels of oil a day from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Oil is stored there for national security reasons and will have to be replaced at some point. It can and should be replaced with oil from the U.S., including Alaska.
Finally, using Alaska oil and gas would be consistent with then-President Barack Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy that Biden is on record as supporting when he was vice president. In July 2014, a presidential report described that strategy as follows:
“The all-of-the-above energy strategy supports these trends through environmentally responsible production of oil and natural gas. In addition, the administration has advanced the growth of energy sources with low- or zero-carbon emissions through programs that support wind, solar, other renewables and nuclear, and has also helped to reduce energy demand by promoting energy efficiency. The administration is also supporting an ambitious program of carbon capture, utilization and storage for coal and natural gas power plants for industrial facilities.”
So, what should Biden do instead of looking for relief from the Saudi prince? First, his administration should direct the Department of the Interior and Department of Justice to support the Alaska oil projects under attack from environmental groups.
Second, the president should invoke the Defense Production Act to apply the full resources — including financial resources — of the Defense Department to build the Alaska gas line to supply gas to Europe in the name of national security.
Third, the president should order the U.S. Geological Survey to explore the federally owned NPR-A and ANWR for oil and gas resources on an emergency basis, make the USGS results available to the oil and gas industry, and conduct lease sales based on the USGS findings.
Fourth, the president should direct the use of the Defense Production Act to further advance carbon-capture technology and support the energy strategy that our country needs.
The work begins at home, not with oil-rich Mideast nations that control the supply of oil in the world.
Frank H. Murkowski is a former governor (2002-2006) and former U.S. senator (1980-2002) from Alaska.
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