Page 19: of Marine News Magazine (March 2017)

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to appease environmentalists and anti- self has repeatedly spoken in support

Randall Luthi is President of fossil fuel activists thousands of miles of offshore energy. NOIA looks for- the National Ocean Industries away from daily life in Alaska. ward to working with the new admin-

Association (NOIA).

While the U.S. sits on the sidelines istration and with Congress to devel- of the Arctic, energy demand will op a truly balanced energy policy that continue to increase in the coming creates a path forward for offshore decades, both here in the U.S. and growth and development and puts all around the world. Some estimates ex- our energy options back on the table. pect the global middle class to double within the next 15 years. This means more people will want to cool their homes, fuel their cars, charge their phones and power modern appliances.

By 2040, global energy demand could surge by 41 percent. With an estimat- ed 26 billion barrels of oil and 131 tril- lion cubic feet of natural gas offshore

Alaska, the resources in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas could ful? ll a vital role in the world’s energy future.

Fortunately, few federal policies are permanent, and regarding ex- ecutive actions, history has shown that one president can undo another president’s actions. In 2008, President

George W. Bush used a simple presi- dential memorandum to remove pre- vious Section 12(a) withdrawals. In addition, Congress has the authority to pass legislation explicitly allowing the President to reverse or revise Sec- tion 12(a) withdrawals. Either way, it will take time, energy and dedication to undo Obama’s harmful withdraw- als, especially as the extreme environ- mental community has vowed to ? ght any reversal of President Obama’s uni- lateral decision at every step.

The same goes for undoing the myriad of harmful Obama adminis- tration regulatory actions imposed on the offshore oil and gas industry; there is no quick ? x. However, even faced with these challenges, the outlook for our industry in 2017 is much brighter than it was in 2016. Both the Trump administration and the new Congress appear to understand the bene? ts of an all-of-the-above approach to ener- gy policy, and President Trump him- www.marinelink.com MN 19