Inouye, Akaka defend drilling in Arctic refuge

By Susan Roth
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Though they received a great deal of mail and many telephone calls urging them to vote against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka said they believed that a balance between drilling for oil and environmental preservation was possible.

They also cited the support of Alaska Natives for the plan, which would create jobs. The close personal friendships they have with Alaska's Republican senators, who favored drilling, also figured into their votes.

Both of Hawai'i's senators voted in favor of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, in keeping with their previously stated positions but with the minority of the Senate.

The measure to allow further debate on the bill garnered only 46 votes, far short of the 60 needed to stop a filibuster by Democratic leaders. Hawai'i's senators were two of five Democrats who joined Republicans to vote in favor of drilling. Eight Republicans joined most Democrats to kill the bill.

In a statement on the Senate floor as the debate began a week ago, Inouye recalled that when the Alaskan natural gas pipeline was first proposed, opponents predicted that it would destroy the local caribou herd, but instead the herd grew tenfold. He also noted that only one Alaska Native nation opposed the plan to drill in the refuge while the Federation of Alaska Natives, representing all the others, favored it.

Most recently, Inouye said, he was persuaded by the Iraqi threat to stop oil production and the need to develop American oil reserves.

"As long as the present condition continues, we will be hostage to oil," he said. "We may find ourselves, once again, going out into the desert to fight for oil, risking and sacrificing American lives. And as chairman of the Defense Appropriations Committee, I am not in favor of that."

Akaka echoed Inouye's arguments about the growth of the caribou herd near the Alaskan pipeline and the support of most Alaska Natives for drilling. He pointed out that the native people in that area have benefited — with good jobs, paved roads, heated water and sewer lines and vastly improved schools.

"I want to help support the Inupiat Eskimo people in their economic and cultural development," Akaka said yesterday. "... When I visited the area, I saw firsthand how energy production and wildlife preservation can co-exist," Akaka added. "Modern technology can help to reduce some of the damages that environmentalists claim might occur."

Akaka admitted that his close friendship with Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska and the Senate's chief proponent of the drilling plan, was a factor in his vote. He visited the refuge area with Murkowski last year. But he said his other reasons figured more strongly in his decision.