Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she will hold a March hearing on the Arctic, coming weeks before the United States assumes leadership of the eight-nation Arctic Council.
The Alaska Republican and chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee said the hearing will focus broadly on the Arctic, though energy issues will surface. Murkowski has prodded the Obama administration to smooth a path for offshore Arctic drilling, saying the U.S. is losing out to competitors such as Russia for the development of oil and gas resources.
“We are lagging behind when it comes to a level of preparedness for an evolving Arctic. An Arctic where there is more water, there’s more commerce — there’s just more stuff happening. And so how we’re planning to move on that is something I want to focus on,” she told reporters Tuesday in the Capitol.
Murkowski also said she is hosting the designated members from Russia, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark who serve on the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region on March 10.
The Obama administration, however, has its own plan for its leadership of the Arctic Council.
Secretary of State John Kerry has said climate change will be a major focus, as he has noted warming temperatures has caused sizable loss of Arctic ice caps. That has opened new shipping lanes and chances for energy development, but that also increases the chance for international conflict, the Defense Department has warned.
The Obama administration is working on regulations to manage Arctic offshore drilling, though Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said last week that it will be a while before they are completed.
In the meantime, the White House has taken steps in recent weeks to protect various swaths of the U.S. Arctic from energy development.
President Obama said he planned to protect 12 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and his administration’s draft five-year offshore drilling plan would take 9.8 million acres off the market. Both moves angered the all-Republican Alaska delegation, who said they would block production of oil and natural gas resources.
Murkowski said she hasn’t spoken to Jewell since those decisions. Murkowski said she was planning to meet with the Interior chief next week when Jewell visits Alaska.
