Editing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (section)

=== Oil crisis and authorization act ===
{{main|1973 oil crisis|Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act}}

On October 17, 1973, the [[Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries]] announced an [[1973 oil crisis|oil embargo]] against the United States in retaliation for its support of [[Israel]] during the [[Yom Kippur War]]. Because the United States imported approximately 35 percent of its oil from foreign sources,<ref>Mead, p. 161</ref> the embargo had a major effect. The price of gasoline shot upward, gasoline shortages were common, and rationing was considered. Most Americans began demanding a solution to the problem, and President Richard Nixon began lobbying for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline as at least a part of the answer.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Nixon supported the pipeline project even before the oil crisis. On September 10, 1973, he released a message stating that the pipeline was his priority for the remainder of the Congressional session that year.<ref>Coates, p. 248</ref> On November 8, after the embargo had been in place for three weeks, he reaffirmed that statement. Members of Congress, under pressure from their constituents, created the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act]], which removed all legal barriers from construction of the pipeline, provided financial incentives, and granted a right-of-way for its construction. The act was drafted, rushed through committee, and approved by the House on November 12, 1973, by a vote of 361–14–60. The next day, the Senate passed it, 80–5–15.<ref>Coates, p. 249</ref> Nixon signed it into law on November 16, and a federal right-of-way for the pipeline and transportation highway was granted on January 3, 1974.<ref>Facts, p. 76</ref> The deal was signed by the oil companies on January 23, allowing work to start.<ref>Mead, p. 204</ref>