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Frank Murkowski News

25 Aug 2003

Beaufort Sea Sale 186 Set for September

The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service has issued the Final Notice of Sale for Beaufort Sea OCS Lease Sale 186. The final notice describes the sale area and requirements for protecting the environment. The lease sale is scheduled for September 24, 2003. The Department will offer the entire sale area for lease with the exception of two deferral areas recommended by Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski. MMS will defer 26 blocks off Barrow and 28 blocks offshore Kaktovik used for subsistence whaling by these communities. The sale area extends from the Canadian border on the east to near Barrow on the west, and includes approximately 1,794 whole or partial blocks that encompass about 9.4 million acres offshore Alaska’s northern coast in the Beaufort Sea.

18 Jan 2007

President Lifts Ban on Bristol Bay Offshore Exploration and Drilling

The Bush administration recently announced that it has lifted a ban on offshore oil drilling in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The move is a shot in the arm for the Alaska oil and gas industry, which is hoping for approval to build a new natural gas pipeline. A recently elected oil-friendly governor, the pipeline project and now expanded offshore drilling possibilities mean increased demand for workers. On January 9, 2007, the Bush administration lifted a long-standing moratorium on oil exploration in a 5.6 million acre area in the North Aleutian Basin of Alaska's Bristol Bay region. New Alaska Governor Sarah Palin welcomed the news that the moratorium has been lifted.

27 Jun 2003

Cutter Home-Porting Ceremony Slated

The home-porting ceremony for the Coast Guard cutter Long Island is scheduled for June 28, at 10 a.m. followed by a reception. The ceremony and reception will occur outdoors at the head of the Coast Guard Pier, near Coast Guard Marine Safety Office's Public Works parking area on Fidalgo St. here. Keynote speakers for the ceremony include Honorable Sen. Ted Stevens and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska State Gov. Frank Murkowski, Admiral Thomas H. Collins, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard; Rear Adm. James W. Underwood, Commander, 17th Coast Guard District; and Valdez Mayor Bert Cottle. Cutter Long Island and the Marine Safety Office's maritime homeland security small boats, berthed at the Valdez Coast Guard Pier, will be open for public visitation from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

28 Jun 2001

Protestors Greet New Cruise Season

When the season's first cruise ship docked this spring, it was met by more than the usual welcoming celebration. Protestors greeted the 2,020-passenger Norwegian Sky with demands for stronger environmental controls on the booming cruise business and a goal of making Alaska the first state to regulate the often foreign-flagged vessels. As it sailed south to Ketchikan two days later, the Coast Guard charges, the Norwegian Cruise Line ship trailed a wake at least half a mile (1 km) long of waste with fecal coliform levels 3,500 times the federal standard for treated sewage. That, say critics of the Alaska cruise business, explains why the huge ships are wearing out their welcome here.

02 Aug 2001

House Approves Bush's Alaskan Oil Drilling Plan

The Bush administration's plan to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling was approved by the House of Representatives early on Thursday, but it faces a tougher fight in the Senate, which wants U.S. energy policy to focus on conservation. The key issue in the debate over a broad national energy policy is the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), home to polar bears, caribou and 160 kinds of migratory birds. While green groups and many Democrats view the remote and pristine refuge as an American Serengetti, drilling proponents contend oil and gas could be safely extracted from a tiny area. Republican-led House passed, on a 240 to 189 vote, a comprehensive energy bill that included drilling in ANWR.

06 Aug 1999

McCain Bill Promotes Cruise Ship Tourism Between U.S. Ports

Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced the U.S. Cruise Ship Tourism Development Act of 1999. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Frank Murkowski (R-AK) are original co-sponsors. "Allowing cruise ships to travel between U.S. ports will be a huge victory for port cities, the cruise ship industry, and create great traveling options for the public," McCain said. "The status quo is not serving anyone's interest. The bill, which also permits, under specific and limited circumstances, non-U.S. flag cruise vessels to temporarily operate in the U.S., would allow the Secretary of Transportation to issue permits to cruise ships already operating in other markets, to operate in the U.