What is NRDCs View of the Proposed New Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline?
Geologic formations already drilled within onshore state-owned lands in the Prudhoe Bay region contain at least 35 trillion feet of natural gas, equivalent to about one-fifth of all U.S proved reserves (or slightly less than two years worth of nationwide consumption at current levels). A pipeline route linking these reserves to the U.S. and Canadian gas transmission system, using existing Alaska rights-of-way, was approved almost twenty years ago under the auspices of the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System. The new pipeline would run parallel to Alaska’s principal oil pipeline and the Alaska Highway. NRDC does not oppose construction of this system, provided that the earlier environmental reviews are updated in accordance with applicable federal and state statutes and regulations. NRDC opposes unorthodox legislative efforts (initiated late in 2003), without hearings, to subsidize an alternative to this pipeline involving Alaska-based LNG infrastructure; these and other public sub
