HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

56

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PROTECT WILDLIFE AND WILDERNESS BY OPPOSING OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AND ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF AND SUPPORTING CLEAN, RENEWABLE ENERGY ALTERNATIVES.

 

 


            WHEREAS, the United States Congress established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) to conserve Alaska's natural diversity of fish and wildlife populations and their habitats, to provide for subsistence uses, to ensure water quality and necessary quantity within the Refuge, and to fulfill international treaty obligations; and

     WHEREAS, the coastal plain of the Refuge, where oil drilling is proposed, is home to large concentrations of wildlife in the Refuge, including one hundred thirty-five species of migratory birds, and also polar bears, musk oxen, and the migratory porcupine caribou herd, which returns to the Refuge coastal plain during calving and post-calving season; and

     WHEREAS, oil development proposed in the Refuge coastal plain is predicted by scientists to reduce the porcupine caribou herd, a vital resource of this fragile ecosystem already impacted by climate change; and

     WHEREAS, the Outer Continental Shelf (Shelf) is a shallow segment of land just beyond the beaches of the continental United States that slopes for many miles before dropping steeply to the seabed and extends to the seaward extent of the state and federal jurisdictions; and

 

     WHEREAS, in these coastal areas, from the icy Alaskan waters to the coral reefs off the Florida Keys, thousands of plant and animal species thrive; and

 

     WHEREAS, in response to damaging drilling practices and oil spills in the fragile ecosystem of the Shelf, in the early 1980s the United States Congress established a moratorium on oil and gas exploration and development on the Shelf; and

 

     WHEREAS, in ensuing years, actions by Congress and executive administrations have eroded the protections provided by the moratorium by allowing limited leasing of Shelf areas for oil and gas exploration and development, and authorizing an inventory of all Shelf areas for potential fossil fuel exploration and development; and

            WHEREAS, according to a National Academy of Sciences study commissioned by Congress, oil and gas development in Northern Alaska has already affected the land, wildlife, and subsistence lifestyles for this region, and new Shelf oil and gas leasing and development in bowhead whale migration areas pose even graver risks due to the difficulties in cleaning up oil spills among ice packs; and

     WHEREAS, oil development in the Refuge and on the Shelf perpetuates an unsustainable national energy policy contributing to global warming, which can raise sea levels and increase storm frequency and intensity; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the United States Congress is respectfully urged to oppose oil and gas exploration and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf and to support clean, renewable energy alternatives; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, the President, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

Report Title: 

Energy, Outer Continental Shelf, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge