Federal drilling chief Michael Bromwich wants Gov. Sean Parnell to put his money where his mouth is (so to speak) when it comes to moving forward with offshore drilling in the Arctic.
Bromwich, who heads the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, will be in Anchorage next week to meet with his staff here and wants to meet with Parnell, too.
On May 2, Parnell and three other governors whose states have an interest in offshore oil drilling formed the Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition. The purpose, they told reporters in press releases and at
a conference in Texas, was to fight back against the federal government's "sweeping actions regarding offshore oil and gas activities with little consultation with the states." They asked governors of the remaining 46 states to join them in promoting, among other things, "constructive dialogue" among the states and with the federal government.
The next day, May 3, Bromwich sent a letter to the coalition acknowledging the new group and its stated intentions. "As always my door is open to you, both as individual governors of your states or as a coalition,
to discuss offshore energy issues," he wrote, adding: "I hope you will accept my invitation to meet with me in Washington -- as early as next week -- to discuss responsible energy development in the OCS."
And then … nothing. Bromwich says he never received a reply from Parnell or any of the other three coalition members -- Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
So on Wednesday, Bromwich sent Parnell and the others another letter. "The announced purpose of your Coalition is to advance constructive dialogue between the federal government and coastal state
governors on issues relating to energy production. I have not received any response to my invitation to meet to discuss these issues."
Bromwich says he'll be in Anchorage May 25-26 and in Houston June 6-7. "I would be happy to meet with you in either location to discuss issues of interest to the Coalition," he said.
Parnell spokeswoman Sharon Leighow has no comment -- yet. She hadn't seen the Bromwich letters so I emailed them to her. Now she says she will hold off commenting until the governor has seen them.
It wasn't too long ago -- September as a matter of fact -- that Parnell was complaining to reporters that he had wanted to meet with Bromwich's boss, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, when Salazar was up here. But the secretary dissed him and that led, in part, to a state lawsuit over whether there was really a drilling moratorium in the Arctic. There wasn't, a federal judge ultimately ruled there wasn't, and
the state spent more than $36,000 arguing about it in court.
Seems like a plane ticket from Juneau to Anchorage might be cheaper this time.
Contact Patti Epler at patti(at)alaskadispatch.com.