State and federal lawmakers from Alaska urged Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday not to focus on the development of renewable fuels to the exclusion of oil and natural gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), and said that the development of offshore oil and gas could be accomplished without harming land or threatening endangered species.

“Stopping safe, responsible domestic energy production of preferred fuels does not solve the issues associated with global warming and threatened or endangered specifies, but really it can make it worse,” said Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during a Department of Interior hearing in Anchorage. The hearing in Alaska’s largest city was the third of a four-city tour to gather information to be used in drafting a five-year leasing plan for the OCS. The final hearing will be held in San Francisco Thursday.

“Delaying the [development of the] OCS will lead to premature shutdown” of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System as well, which would mean the end of oil production from the North Slope, Palin said. She further noted that “access to the large gas potential in the OCS” is critical to the success of a gas pipeline from Alaska to the Lower 48 states.

“This is not a choice between producing energy and protecting the environment. I am confident that we can and we will do both,” agreed Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). “I’m confident that we can have all of our resources [traditional and renewable] for the benefit of our economy and our energy security without harming our environment, without harming our fisheries, without harming the land that is so essential,” she said.

“The potential for oil and gas produced offshore [Alaska] is great,” Murkowski said. The Chukchi Sea alone has the potential for 15 billion bbl of oil and 77 Tcf of natural gas, she noted.

“Let Alaska help meet that worthy goal” of President Obama’s to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign energy sources, Murkowski said. In addition to oil and gas, she noted that Alaska’s offshore has “rich opportunities” for harnessing wind, tidal and wave energy sources.

“I applaud the Obama administration for [its] focus on renewable energy resources and conservation, but oil and gas will continue to supply the majority of this nation’s energy for a long time. I believe most of it should come from secure, reliable domestic sources, especially Alaska,” said Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK).

Palin said a “dramatic increase in natural gas” and efforts to boost domestic oil production will be key to meeting the nation’s energy needs during a transition to green energy alternatives. “Keeping Alaska’s OCS lease sales [and] exploration and development programs on schedule, especially in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, is critically important to that effort.”

The Alaska offshore is second in fossil fuel potential to the entire Gulf of Mexico with mean technically recoverable oil reserves of 30 billion bbl and mean technically recoverable gas reserves of 221 Tcf, according to Palin.

In addition to pushing for greater development of OCS oil and gas, Palin and Begich called for a change in the current federal law to provide for sharing of OCS revenues with states that allow drilling off their coastlines. “Alaska is one of the only states that does not receive a portion of revenues generated in the OCS,” Palin said. A share of OCS revenues should accrue to coastal states, Begich agreed.

He also said he believes that communities should have a say in the development of energy resources off their shores.

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