U.S. House Republicans use imaginary numbers to create imaginary ANWR income

House Republicans in Congress claim that scheduling four more oil and gas lease sales in ANWR, six lease sales in Cook Inlet and NPR-A lease sales at least every other year would create $1.5 billion “in savings and new revenue for the federal government.”

There is no reason to trust the numbers about Alaska income in this document. The footnote claims the number is “based on the total of preliminary scores provided” by the Congressional Budget Office.

In other words, it is complete guesswork. There are 12 footnotes citing preliminary scores about various energy and mining proposals.

The claims cooked up by the Republicans stem from boast that “revenues will be generated by unleashing American energy dominance, ensuring affordable energy and creating jobs across the country.”

But more oil and gas production in Alaska will never happen unless prices are high enough to produce big profits, a contradiction buried at the heart of the energy dominance scam.

What is more noteworthy is that the GOP is trying to ban court challenges of any government action and allow oil companies to get expedited treatment if they pay for environmental reviews. The plan is a radical one that deserves thorough analysis in Alaska.

Alaska Public Media had this coverage of the proposal Monday.

Here is the GOP resources proposal.

Here is the so-called markup memo.

Under “judicial preclusion,” the bill says that “no court shall have jurisdiction to review any action taken by the Secretary, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a State or municipal government administrative agency, or any other Federal agency” to grant or issue a lease.

The NPR-A leases are “to meet the energy needs of the nation and the world.”

Alaska would get half of the lease sale proceeds, but in a meaningless gesture, the authors claim that after 2035, the state of Alaska would start to get the 90 percent share guaranteed at statehood. This is in the proposed bill to allow Rep. Nick Begich the Third to claim a hollow victory on that score.

The proposal also says the federal authorizations on access for the Ambler Road “would not be subject to judicial review.”

Companies that pay fees for environmental reviews would get priority in federal environmental reviews, with a one-year deadline for completing an Environmental Impact Statement. The fees would be 125 percent of the cost of completing the analysis.

“There shall be no administrative or judicial review of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement for which a fee is paid under this section,” the bill says.

House Republicans hope to forbid the judicial branch of government from challenging any oil and gas lease in Alaska. The exception in paragraph two would allow the state or an oil company to “obtain a review of an Alaskaleged failure by the Secretary of the Interior to act in accordance with this Act by filing a written petition with a court of competent jurisdiction seeking an order.”

Earthjustice called it an “all-out attack” on Alaska public lands.

“The bill tries to allow the businesses who sponsor projects to pay for an expedited environmental review through a scheme that would exempt such projects from public scrutiny including judicial review,” the environmental group said.

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