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REVISED 5/24/89
INTRODUCED BY: Warner
PROPOSED BY: Warner
RESOLUTION NO. 89 -58
DATE: May 18, 1989
2 MODIFYING RESOLUTION 88 -12, WHICH STATED THE COUNCIL'S
3 INTENT TO SUPPORT RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF OIL PRODUCTION
4 IN THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, iN ORDER
5 TO FURTHER EMPHASIZE THE COUNCIL'S ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
6 WHEREAS, every major development in Alaska since the gold rush has
7 bolstered the economy in Washington State, including the development of large -
8 scale commercial fishing along the Alaskan coast; and
9 WHEREAS, Washington received nearly $765 million in Prudhoe Bay
10 development income for hard goods purchased by oil companies in the state
11 between 1980 and 1986 alone, and more than 6,000 Puget Sound fishermen,
12 fishing in Alaska delivered 2.1 billion pounds of edible seafood valued in
13 1986 alone at $487 million wholesale, which represented 92 percent of the
14 seafood harvested by Washington fishermen, and Washington -owned processing
15 plants operating in Alaska employ over 4,000 Washington residents; and
16 WHEREAS, the United States imports nearly ten million barrels of oil
17 daily, over one -third of our supply, and the consumption of,oil, foreign and
18 total, has increased in the last three years, and the United States is a net
19 importer of seafood, in 1984 buying $3.7 billion worth of edible product and
20 exported $482 million, and Washington ranks first in the nation in the seafood
21 exporting business; and
22 WHEREAS, protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and
23 preservation of Alaskan water quality would secure America's food supply,
24 responsible development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would benefit
25 America's energy security, and both would benefit the nation's balance of
26 trade, and the economy of Washington State and the Pacific Northwest; and
27 WHEREAS, the oil resource in ANWR is potentially valuable, but finite,
28 and its benefit is temporary; the fishing resource if valuable, and properly
29 managed is of indefinite duration and benefit; and
30 WHEREAS, the recent oil spill in Alaska demonstrates the potential for
-�1 disastrous impacts on the environment when huge quantities of oil are
AMWR.RES, Revised 5/24/89, Page 2
1 extracted from the earth and transported, subject as such activities
2 inevitably are to human error, equipment failure, and inadequate planning; and
3 WHEREAS, the continued and ever - increasing consumption of oil is
4 contributing to air pollution, apparently to changes in the global climate, to
5 economic insecurity, and to adverse trade balances; and
6
WHEREAS, measures to encourage oil conservation have not been vigorously
7
pursued by the federal
or state government, and indeed have been relaxed (for
8
example: The price of
gasoline (adjusted for inflation) is low compared to
9
the price twenty years
ago; Corporate Automobile Fleet Economy (CAFE)
10
requirements have been
relaxed by the federal government; and tax incentives
11
for alternative energy
research, development and investment have been
12
curtailed); and
13
WHEREAS, Whatcom
County Council develops policy goals for the political
14
and economic growth of
Whatcom County and finds that safeguarding the
15
environment and the fishing resource is in the long term best interest of the
16
citizens of Whatcom County, and maintaining a supply of oil for refining in
17
Northwest Washington is
also a legitimate interest;
18 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Whatcom County Council that
19 resolution 88 -12 be modified to reflect the following:
20 That the Whatcom County Council supports the development of oil
21 production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge provided that development is
22 part of a larger plan involving, but not limited to, the following:
23 A. Implementation of energy conservation programs at the
24 federal and state level, which might include such things as
25 increased gasoline taxes, taxing horsepower on automobiles,
26 tariffs on imported oil, increasing the CAFE standards, promotion
27 of public transit use, and continue encouragement of public
28 utilities to promote energy conservation programs; and
29 Q. Review of oil exploration, extraction, and transportation
30 methodology to ensure that such activities are minimally affected
31 by human error or equipment failure which might damage the
2 environment, and that, insofar as is reasonable, the best
AMWR.RES, Revised 5/24/89, Page 3
1 available new technology is required of all participants in such
2 activities; and
3 C. Development of emergency response programs to facilitate the
4 movement of people and equipment to areas affected by oil spills
5 or other accidents damaging the environment; and
6 D. Formation of funding sources to pay for emergency response
7 activity and for on -going programs to promote the development and
8 Implementation of energy technology protective of the environment,
9 and the continued growth of awareness of the importance of such
10 technology.
11 APPROVED this 15th day of June 1989.
12 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
3 ATTEST; WHATCOM COUNTY, WAaWINGTON
15 Ramona Reeves, Council Clerk Donald G. Ha sey, hairman