WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today issued the following statement regarding the Obama administration’s release of the final record of decision for the land management plan of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).

“I continue to have the same reservations that I had before about the negative impact this plan will have on our national energy security and Alaska’s economy. I don’t support this plan and I don’t agree that a land management plan focused on conservation was appropriate for a petroleum reserve.

“Even the administration concedes the need to build a pipeline to ensure that the vast oil and gas resources in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas can reach the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system, but the language included in this plan fails to provide the certainty necessary to make sure such a pipeline can actually be built without being held up by endless environmental litigation.

“Despite the assurances of the administration, this plan puts in place roadblocks to the construction of an economically feasible pipeline project. The unintended consequences of this decision could have broad implications for our economy and energy security.”

Murkowski is the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee, the authorizing and appropriating committees with jurisdiction over the Interior Department.