Ehrlich on Washington column, April 28, 2002

с 1 407 York Rood, Suit* 304 LutKorvill*, Morylond 21093 NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 315 Cannon Hous* Office Building Woihinglon, D.C 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Week of April 28, 2002 Another Missed Opportunity to Protect our Steel Community I recently joined Maryland’s local Teamsters Union at the Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point plant to back congressional action that accomplishes two very important goals: 1) permitting oil exploration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in an environmentally sensitive way; and 2) dedicating a portion of oil revenues toward protecting steelworker retiree pension benefits. As many of you know, ANWR is a desolate, 1 9 million-acre wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska. Its 1.5 million-acre coastal plain area is currently the most promising oil and gas production prospect in the United States, holding an estimated 13 billion barrels of oil. Oil exploration in ANWR is expected to create 750,000 new jobs across the United States, including Maryland, where steelworkers would manufacture materials critical to production. Last year, I supported an environment-friendly measure that permits oil exploration in ANWR. Specifically, I voted to limit all exploratory drilling activities in ANWR to just 2,000 acres (out of 19 million acres) on the northern coastal plain. This area takes up less than 4 square miles and, to put it in perspective, is the equivalent of three square inches of a football field. Last August I personally inspected the proposed site and I spoke with the indigenous Inuit Indian tribes, who overwhelmingly support oil exploration and the job creation it will bring to their Eskimo communities. The Teamsters Union and the Republican Caucus agree that drilling in an environmentally sensitive way in ANWR creates and sustains American jobs while reducing our heavy dependence on foreign oil cartels. Indeed, the ANWR proposal in the U.S. Senate was even more attractive than the proposal the House considered. The Senate proposal dedicated the revenues generated by oil to addressing so- called legacy costs -- the promised health care and pension benefits — of retired steelworkers. As