1 no, there is no better public understanding it seems of the differences 



2 between exploration and development and production. 



3 But, if you talk to the fisheries representatives or you hear what 



4 they have to say at the public hearings, yes, there is, there is. They 



5 know there is a distinction between the two and I think they know the 



6 parameters in which they can work with the federal government or 



7 whatever, at both stages. 



8 They know when the comments are due, for example, on whatever 



9 lease sale is being proposed or the 5-year program or anything like 



10 that. 



11 They are perhaps better organized, even if it's organized in 



12 opposition. Maybe it's not even opposition, maybe it's just very, '^ery 



13 critical support. We may be moving in that sort of direction with some 



14 of the fisherman, anyway. 



15 I think sophistication actually is a good word, because the people 



16 who have taken the time to study the program and know what the 



17 differences between exploration and development, are able to generate 



18 the sorts of comments that the governor can use and certainly the sorts 



19 of comments that you can use. 



20 As far as Greenpeace goes, I don't know if they just have chosen 



21 to gloss over what the differences are for their own political reasons 



22 or whether they just don't understand, whether they are just so 



23 suspicious of the program, that they really don't see any difference 



24 between the exploration phase and the development phase, because it's 



25 all going to lead to the same thing, environmental degradation, at least 



26 in their particular perception. 



27 DR. TEAL: Speaking for a conservation organization that isn't 



28 quite as far out as Greenpeace, there's a very real recognition of the 



29 difference between production and exploration phases. 



30 But, as Pat just said, the fact that under the present leasing 



31 program there is no break between the two, if you lease an area and you 



32 do exploration and you find something, then production and development 



33 will follow. 



150 



