Because Colorado Makes Obama Look Good, That's Why

by: Colorado Pols

Thu Jan 26, 2012 at 08:22:30 AM MST

Obama came to Colorado to expand on some of the themes of his State of the Union speech Tuesday, notably his proposals to create energy independence.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama laid out a plan for what he calls an America Built to Last, emphasizing his desire to develop every available source of American energy. He said this includes production of oil and natural gas resources. "Today, American oil production is at the highest level in eight years and last year we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years," he said Tuesday night and again Thursday...

Obama used his Western swing to unveil what he called his Plan to Advance Safe Production of Oil and Gas Resources To Create Jobs, Enhance Energy Security, and Cut Pollution.

The plan includes the sale of new oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico. In his State of the Union Address, he directed the Department of Interior to finalize a national offshore energy plan that makes 75% of the country's potential offshore resources available for development by opening new areas for drilling in the Gulf and Alaska. On Thursday, he announced that the Department of Interior will hold a new lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico to make approximately 38 million acres available, with the goal of producing one billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas...

"So this morning I was in Nevada talking about how natural gas is an enormous energy source for the United States. We are the Saudi Arabia of... natural gas. We've just got to develop it, and if we do it effectively, then we're going to create jobs and it's going to power trucks that are cleaner and cheaper and factories that are cleaner and cheaper."

Part of a five-state swing following his State of the Union Address Tuesday night, Obama is looking to build broad support for his energy policies in a state that's already demonstrated that environmentalists and oil and gas companies can find common ground.

Gov. John Hickenlooper has heralded last year's new rules forcing oil and gas companies to disclose more of the chemicals in the fluids they use in hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", as proof of a solution-oriented pragmatism unique to Colorado.

Obama is likely to echo Hickenlooper's view on Thursday, while outlining a blueprint to maximize America's energy resources that borrows much from Hickenlooper's predecessor, Gov. Bill Ritter, who used his four years in office to build what he called a "New Energy Economy."

We'll be updating throughout the day with coverage of President Barack Obama's visit. Coming to Colorado to celebrate our demonstrable energy success stories will be a lot more fun for the President than he reportedly had down in Arizona with Gov. Jan Brewer, who was kind of frosty.

We're just nicer people in general.