Conservation fund backers accuse oil lobbyist of 'lies....

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Conservation fund backers accuse oil lobbyist of 'lies and dirty tricks' to defeat Measure 5
By Patrick Springer, Grand forks Herald
Today at 9:00 p.m.

FARGO – North Dakotans for Clean Water, Wildlife & Parks accused an oil lobbying group of using “lies and dirty tricks” to try to defeat Measure 5 on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Conservation proponents singled out the American Petroleum Institute, a Washington, D.C., lobbying group that has pumped more than $1 million into the campaign to defeat Measure 5, which would set aside 5 percent of the state oil and gas extraction tax.

Budget officials project the measure, if passed, would allocate $259 million in the next two-year state budget, with almost $10 billion, in addition to a $1.6 billion budget surplus, available for other needs, said Steve Adair, chairman of the Measure 5 sponsoring committee.

“They are using the tried and true D.C. lobby tactic – scare people into a ‘no’ vote,” said Joe Herbst of Fargo, who has worked as a teacher and is getting his master’s to return to the classroom. “The fact is Measure 5 is not going to take funding away from the schools.”

Opponents of Measure 5, including the North Dakota Chamber and many agricultural groups, have unfairly portrayed the measure’s backers as out-of-state interests, supporters said. Ducks Unlimited, Adair’s organization, alone has more than 7,000 North Dakota members, a regional office in Bismarck, and has been supporting conservation projects in the state for half a century.

“We need to set the record straight,” Adair said. “This is enough.”

Meanwhile, a “toolkit” provided by the American Petroleum Institute to oil companies, urging them to have employees drum up pledges to vote “no” on Measure 5 and offering free lunches as an incentive. Questions can be directed to a Houston contact, Adair said.

“We find that appalling,” he said, in light of criticisms that Measure 5 is backed by out-of-state interests. Adair called the opponents’ efforts “lies and dirty tricks.”

A spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute defended its campaign against Measure 5, reasserting its arguments that money would be obligated under the proposed constitutional amendment.

“API’s member companies located in North Dakota share the concerns of the North Dakota Association of Builders, School Boards Association, Farmers Union, and many other North Dakota employers who view Measure 5 as a disservice to the state’s economy and its residents,” said Carlton Carroll the API.

“Enshrining inflexible spending into the state constitution would take $300 million off the table every two years for road building, human services, education and other priorities that are critical to the state’s long-term economic success.”

Rep. Ron Guggisberg, D-Fargo, said it is hypocritical for the oil industry lobby to sound the alarm about Measure 5’s budget impacts when oil companies were pushing for a 30 percent reduction in oil and gas taxes in the last legislative session.

“North Dakota has bent over backwards for the oil industry,” he said, adding that the state has spent millions of dollars on roads and other infrastructure.

Setting aside 5 percent of the existing oil and gas extraction tax “leaves 97 percent of oil taxes for other purposes,” Guggisberg said, including both production and extraction taxes.

Opponents also have claimed that Measure 5 would inevitably drive up farmland prices through land purchases and take land out of farming.

Any land purchases would go through a screening committee with agricultural representation, and ultimately must be approved by the governor.

“The land acquisition thing is totally baseless,” Adair said, adding large land purchases are “absolutely inconceivable. It’s not going to happen.”

Similarly, all spending by the conservation fund must be approved by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, comprised of the governor, agriculture commissioner and attorney general.

Spending cannot interfere with mineral extraction, litigation or lobbying. Funding must go toward flood control projects, restoration projects to protect clean water, wildlife habitat, parks, natural areas or recreation areas. Grants would be available to local governments, tribes, school districts, nonprofit organizations and state agencies, Measure 5 proponents said.

Contrary to opponents’ claims that 75 percent of the fund must be spent every year, the Industrial Commission could decide to “bank” money in a trust fund, similar to a savings account, Adair said.

On the other hand, a state version of the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to idle marginal land for habitat, easily could mean spending $100 million a year, he said. Farmers have complained in recent years that CRP payments can’t compete with cash crops.

The Measure 5 proponents challenged Stacy Linden, vice president and general counsel of the American Petroleum Institute, to come to North Dakota to debate the issues. Carroll’s statement did not indicate whether she would accept the invitation, conveyed in a letter sent Tuesday by Adair.