The Nation : Governors Push for U.S. Energy Policy

The nation’s governors urged Congress to try anew to forge a long-term national energy policy, and said it should include tax and price incentives for the development of domestic resources, even in currently restricted wilderness and offshore areas. Alaska Gov. Steve Cowper, presenting recommendations of the National Governors’ Assn. after an 18-month study, said: “The nation simply may not be able to afford to permanently remove prospectively valuable (oil and gas) areas off its shores, in vast areas of the West and in the Arctic.” Cowper said the governors also recommended the export of Alaskan oil on a barrel-for-barrel trade basis with other nations. He said the governors want Congress to take a hard look at a variety of incentives for domestic oil and gas exploration and for coal, including standard investment tax credits on exploration and the deregulation of natural gas wellhead prices.