Posted on: Thursday, March 17, 2005

Hawai'i senators help open Arctic to drilling

By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Hawai'i's senators aligned themselves with Republicans in the Senate yesterday in a historic 51-49 vote to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Democratic Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka were joined by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., in the coalition with 48 Republicans to override an attempt by other Democrats and moderate Republicans to remove a provision in next year's budget that would allow drilling in the refuge.

Inouye and Akaka said that they believe their votes represent the position of a majority of the native peoples in the region. Both senators have a history of voting to support the Inupiat Eskimos, some of whom want the refuge opened to oil and gas exploration and drilling, although environmental groups said that support has been waning.

Inouye has said that since Hawai'i is an oil-dependent state, it is imperative that new oil deposits be found and developed to ensure a steady access to meet the state's energy needs.

"It is my belief that with proper regulation and enforcement, the coastal plain's potentially vast crude oil resources can be explored in a way that is compatible with the interests of the Inupiat Eskimos and natural resources located within the area," Inouye said in a statement.

It's about 'a voice'

Akaka said his position is based less on oil than on the desires of the area's native people.

"To some of my colleagues, the debate about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is about energy. To others, it is about the environment. To me, the (refuge) is really about whether or not the indigenous people who are directly impacted have a voice in the use of their lands," he said on the Senate floor.

Hawai'i environmental groups expressed dismay at the vote.

"It's becoming ever more clear that George Bush and Dick Che-ney are acting like they are members of the board of Exxon Oil. The birthright for two native cultures is up for grabs, and for my two senators to vote for that to happen, I feel ashamed," said Steven Montgomery, a member of the board of the Conservation Council for Hawai'i.

The two native cultures are the Inupiat, who live in the region proposed for oil development, and the Gwich'in, who live elsewhere but fear the development will disrupt the migration patterns of the porcupine caribou herd, which is central to the Gwich'in culture. Representatives of both native peoples have been in Hawai'i in recent years to argue against oil development, and have developed coalitions with Hawai'i environmental groups.

Hawai'i filmmaker Michael Bailey has spent much of the past two years living in the Inupiat villages of Kaktovik and Nuiqsut. He said the fear now is that drilling on the refuge will lead to offshore oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean.

"Niuqsut is now surrounded by oil development, and those people are seeing every year their lifestyle being eroded. They can see what's happening. Now they're facing the destruction of the wildlife refuge, and that opens the door to drilling offshore, which has an impact on whales, polar bears, seals and other marine life," Bailey said.

Akaka did not see a last-minute advertising effort by environmental organizations aimed at changing his position, said Donalyn Dela Cruz, his spokeswoman.

'Line in the tundra'

One ad asked him to "help us draw a line in the tundra" on the refuge situation.

"Senator Akaka has always been opposed to such unsavory politics and now he's in a key position to do something about it," said the ad, sponsored by Hawai'i Supporters of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, the Conservation Council for Hawai'i and the Hawai'i Chapter of the Sierra Club.

"A lot of people have been lobbying different senators very hard," Dela Cruz said. "The senator said he was saddened by the rhetoric and media circus that surrounds this issue."

Akaka said he has remained firm in his position on the refuge for the past decade and he must remain true to his values.

"For me, this is an issue about economic self-determination. This is an issue about allowing those who have lived on the coastal plain and cared for the coastal plain for many, many generations, to do what they believe is right with their lands," he said.

Staff writer Jan TenBruggencate contributed to this report.