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Bush Administration to Colorado: Buzz Off

by: ClubTwitty

Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 08:22:59 AM MDT


( - promoted by Colorado Pols)

Ignoring the position of most affected local governments, the State of Colorado, Senator Salazar, Reps. Udall and Salazar, and the nearly unanimous sentiment of citizens who participated in the BLM's planning process for Colorado's iconic Roan Plateau, the Bush Administration-on its much anticipated exit-has decided to open all the remaining unleased public lands for oil and gas drilling on and around the Roan this August.

For the Bush Administration, apparently, ignoring everything it has heard during the planning process is an example that it "worked for the past seven years with local officials, private citizens, state agencies, industry and environmental groups," according to an op-ed by C. Stephen Allard of the Department of Interior (who replaced convicted Bush Administration felon J. Stephen Griles).  

More after the fold-
ClubTwitty :: Bush Administration to Colorado: Buzz Off
"What we keep hearing, more or less, is to keep the plateau as it is" Glenwood BLM official

So said the BLM in 2002, but when that sentiment kept growing stronger and stronger-when Coloradans rallied to see this jewel protected-the Bush Administration decided instead to "work with" the majority of interests that want the Roan protected by... disregarding nearly everything they said.

In the second decision issued on the Roan Plateau plan (for the area's most sensitive lands, including its critical habitat for the endemic Colorado River Cutthroat Trout and other wildlife) the Bush Administration decided to ignore that too.  

Of the total comments received by the BLM during its most recent comment period on the Roan's 'Areas of Critical Environmental Concern' (or 'ACECs') over 99% urged that these lands not be opened to drilling and energy development. Response from Colorado also strongly favored protection (over 95%).

Instead, the BLM plan would allow development inside even these lands--in direct opposition to what it's own field staff recommended.  Waivers to all the stipulations meant to protect even these most special portions of the Roan can be granted by the BLM, according to the lease sale notice posted yesterday.

Of the latest dis delivered by the Bush Administration to the local inhabitants of its Picance Energy Colony, Carbondale Mayor Micheal Hassig commented (from the GJ Sentinel):

"It's clear that the Bush administration has only one agenda - to get these lands leased before they leave office,"

Garfield County Commissioner Tresi Houpt noted (from a Colorado Mountain Club release) that:

"We are developing energy in the Rocky Mountain region at a record-setting pace. We need to be careful about how we are doing this, and recognize when a remarkable area like the Roan Plateau, needs to be given special consideration. Unfortunately, the many, many Coloradans who have tried to communicate this to the BLM have been met with a stone wall."

Senator Salazar-also in a release-called the decision "unacceptable" and went on to note (from the Denver Post) that:

"I am deeply disappointed that the administration is proceeding with its plan to auction off the entire top of the Roan Plateau for oil and gas development, despite objections by the state of Colorado."

The Post goes on to note that the battle to save the Roan is far from over:

If the legislative route fails to slow drilling on the Roan, conservationists probably will sue, said Elise Jones, the executive director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition.

"This is one more example of the Bush administration ignoring the wishes of the state of Colorado," Jones said.

The August lease sale also includes over 13,000 acres of leases in Colorado's national forest roadless areas-in spite of the Bush Administration's promise to Governor Ritter that it would not authorize any activities that could harm these area's roadless qualities while the US Forest Service works on a rule-making for Colorado's forests.  
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Bush Administration to Colorado: Buzz Off | 41 comments
"Buzz off?"
More like.......

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd." -Bertrand Russell

well...
I decided to make it PG

"[A]ll Republicans/conservatives/tea parties have been proven wrong. Everybody knows this." BJWilson83, Republican/conservative/tea partier

"The fossil record utterly refutes evolution." BJWilson83, graduate student

[ Parent ]
This is the same way
he "listened" to his generals before invading Iraq.  The ones who didn't tell him what he wanted to hear saw their careers come to a screeching halt and the rest learned to protect their rears by telling him what he DID want to hear.  Ditto with intel.  

The Bush administration's idea of listening is letting people talk, if they must, then doing whatever they've already decided to do. For somebody who claims his mission is spreading democracy, he has always favored a completely dictatorial approach to governing at home.  

What were all those signing statements about besides blowing off the people's elected representatives in the legislature?  Why did he feel so free to ignore FISA, so free to ignore the entire constitution, for that matter?  Why should anyone be surprised that he's ignoring "the wishes of the state of Colorado"?  What else is new?  

When push comes to shove Bush has ALWAYS shown nothing but contempt for anything resembling democratic process. It's a little late to complain about the guy not having any regard for the wishes of the state of Colorado now.  Colorado went for him twice, after all.

[ Parent ]
Seriously
And for once I'm all for suing, legislation, whatever it takes. This is just awful, domestic energy is fine, lets just try and make it the sort that doesn't mortgage our (already tenuous) future for small bonuses today.
[ Parent ]
Good for Bush. Environmentalists have gone off the deep end
The country and world need more oil production, and the selfish environmentalists who've been trying to deprive the nation of needed energy production should buzz off.

We have $4 gas because of the Mark Udall's who've helped hard left, anti-American environmentalists make the U.S. dependent on foreign oil.

It's time we tell the Udalls and Salazars to put the interests of our country ahead of the petty petitions from the Sierra Club.

[ Parent ]
Hmmm, interesting
Mark Udall is responsible for $4 a gallon gas?

Wow, you guys are desperate.  Natural gas prices have spiked in CO due to too much development of natural gas, actually.  Drilling at an ever-increasing rate means that the gas is bottle-necked and thus to recapture their expenditures, oil and gas companies need to send it off to costlier markets--building ever more pipeline capacity, shipping it off to the Mid West, driving up local prices as well.  A more measured approach to developing our resources would allow the industry to continue, employ more Coloradans (as opposed to Texans, Oklahomans, and Utahns) for a longer period of time, and not drive our prices up and up.  

Speculation--according to most experts I have been studying--also plays a large role in the  current spike in (oil-based) gas (rather than natural gas, the resource target at the Roan).  


"[A]ll Republicans/conservatives/tea parties have been proven wrong. Everybody knows this." BJWilson83, Republican/conservative/tea partier

"The fossil record utterly refutes evolution." BJWilson83, graduate student

[ Parent ]
AS,
you don't know from nothing.

All the reserves in the US are only a few decades of (increasing) use at best.

Hell, they don't even really know if there is extractable petroleum under ANWAR!  Best guess is that there is SIX months of oil it it could supply all our needs.

Prudhoe Bay is in decline, just like most of America.  

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd." -Bertrand Russell

[ Parent ]
You're all wrong
Gas is $4/gal because unelected activist judges legalized gay "marriage" in California.

Non impediti ratione cogitationis.

"Some of the people that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?'." --Rep. Barney Frank

[ Parent ]
Don't feed the troll
He's gotten few responses to his other BS. Let's keep it that way.

"The fact that we Dems can't rebuild the house does not mean you bring back the [Republicans] who burned it down." - DavidThi808
[ Parent ]
Funny, since Bush has no clue what's going on in reality
Just a few weeks ago, Bush hadn't heard that gas was on the rise...

Peter Maer of CBS News Radio asked: "What's your advice to the average American who is hurting now, facing the prospect of $4-a-gallon gasoline, a lot of people facing ... "

"Wait, what did you just say?" the president interrupted. "You're predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?"

Maer responded: "A number of analysts are predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline."

Bush's rejoinder: "Oh, yeah? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that."

Interesting? INTERESTING!?!? Talk about being out of touch. I think this was around the same time McSame was pitching his gas tax holiday scheme.

I'm sure the speculation of 100 more years of occupying Iraq and war in the middle east has nothing to do with the continuous rise in gas either. As Rupert Murdoch said, we're going to be seeing $20 per barrel of oil any day now...

Most revealing of all was Murdoch's reference to the rationale for going to war, blatantly using the o-word. Politicians in the United States and Britain have strenuously denied the significance of oil, but Murdoch wasn't so reticent. He believes that deposing the Iraqi leader would lead to cheaper oil. "The greatest thing to come out of this for the world economy...would be $20 a barrel for oil. That's bigger than any tax cut in any country."

I also find it disturbing that you think environmentalist, those who want to keep our country safe and clean, are some how anti-American. What fucking planet are you from? Oh right, the same one Bush and McSame come from.  

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole

[ Parent ]
A wounded rattler...
Can still strike. The end of the Bush administration, and its hired lackeys, can't come soon enough.  We can only hope that the ranching/hunting/fishing/conservationist community can rise as one, and prevent any leasing until these bought & paid for scoundrels are run out of Washington.
Where should we be drilling?
Since I don't think very many people are planning to cut their natural gas usage such that drilling more wells will be unnecessary, where should we be drilling if not the Roan?  I don't really think that we should be drilling in places of special significance, but almost any place is special to somebody affected.

Any thoughts?

(And in case you object to the "we" in "where should we be drilling?", I submit that probably everyone reading this uses natural gas, directly or indirectly.)

Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place.  And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans. - Douglas Adams

95% of the Piceane is already leased...
yet only 30% has been put into production.  Major energy producers admit they already have a decade or more of drilling sites in their stockpiles.  Start there.

"[A]ll Republicans/conservatives/tea parties have been proven wrong. Everybody knows this." BJWilson83, Republican/conservative/tea partier

"The fossil record utterly refutes evolution." BJWilson83, graduate student

[ Parent ]
So, at that rate
The coming apocalypse for the Roan isn't coming that fast, either, is it?

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC
[ Parent ]
Is the Piceance of less value than the Roan?
Sure, they've already got leases.  But does it make sense from an environmental policy perspective to drill in the Piceance in preference to the Roan?  Is there less critical habitat in the Piceance?  Are there fewer water issues?

I'm asking because I genuinely don't know.

Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place.  And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans. - Douglas Adams

[ Parent ]
the lands are already leased
so, while there certainly are important values at stake in the Piceance, its an apples and oranges issue.  There is no need to commit the Roan's resources at this juncture, other than to build up company reserves and lock in the stipulations and conditions of approval of 2005 (when the BLM plan was drafted).  throughput the Piceance, companies are achieving a greater than 90% success rate in hitting producing targets.  It's another Bush land grab--locking up the West before he jets back to Crawford fo good.  

"[A]ll Republicans/conservatives/tea parties have been proven wrong. Everybody knows this." BJWilson83, Republican/conservative/tea partier

"The fossil record utterly refutes evolution." BJWilson83, graduate student

[ Parent ]
Good questions
I think a few things are different. Keep in mind this is just my opinion, and while I have researched the issue quite a bit I would love for others to add their take.

1. Roads/infrastructure: There were already paved roads and other county roads in the Piceance. Traffic on those roads has increased exponentially. There are some roads on the Roan, but it would require much more development of infrastructure.

2. Dwindling critical habitat: As other areas are developed, the desire of people to protect what is left only increases. What exactly is "critical" habitat and what can peacefully co-exist and when is all up for debate (a rig for a month? two months? a well? a compressor station? And in the winter? Obviously, one cannot know if it impacts wildlife negatively until after negative results have occurred). If the Roan were developed and we were discussing drilling in the Piceance a lot of this could be the same. Both places are beautiful.

3. Water issues: With the creation of more roads would come more sediment, which could be a water quality issue. There are others, but they would likely be the same ones people could bring up for the Piceance.

Hopefully that helped a little.

To whom much is given much is expected.

[ Parent ]
wrong.
by leasing the lands now, the companies get them under what was possible (technologically, according to BLM) in 2005 when the plan was drafted.  Since then, companies operating in the area have extended their drilling reach substantially.  In ten years that reach will be even greater.  If we waited to lease the lands (or even most of them) until then, under what will likely be possible, we probably can have our cake and eat it too.  This is a land grab, Bushie's crooked friends and funders getting in while the getting's good, so they can ship all of Colorado's gas off to the MidWEst.

"[A]ll Republicans/conservatives/tea parties have been proven wrong. Everybody knows this." BJWilson83, Republican/conservative/tea partier

"The fossil record utterly refutes evolution." BJWilson83, graduate student

Well...
Actually, they're getting in while the getting's good so they can move as much public land into (partial) private control as possible before they leave.

As you say, it's not really about the gas because the companies don't have the drilling capacity to exploit the Plateau and everything else they've already leased.  So the only two reasons for leasing the Roan now are (1) to remove the land's potential wilderness designation and put it into private hands, and (2) to lease it under current provisions rather than future provisions to make it possibly cheaper to exploit.

"I have come to the conclusion that the making of laws is like the making of sausages-the less you know about the process the more you respect the result."  -- Anonymous IL State Rep. circa 1878

[ Parent ]
And at the same time
The repubs block legislation to impose extra taxes on the oil industry's profits and extend tax cuts for companies looking into alternative energies (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080610/ap_on_go_co/congress_oil_profits).

I'm skeptical about additional taxes on profits because I don't think the end consumer will see a difference at the pump. But extending tax breaks for wind, solar and other alternative energy development, and for the promotion of energy efficiency and conservation seems completely logical and beneficial to the economy and our energy problem. Why will the repubs not support this?  

The recent book on the Teapot Dome Scandal comes to mind....
The recent book on the Teapot Dome Scandal comes to mind....

Wasn't it Neil Bush that argued in court that he didn't understand what a conflict of interest was years ago with Silverado?

Ken Buck: a man of Mr. Rove and Dick Cheney. The road forward does not use reverse.

google 'Great Oil Shale Giveaway'
for a take on J. Steven's more recent Teapot Dome

"[A]ll Republicans/conservatives/tea parties have been proven wrong. Everybody knows this." BJWilson83, Republican/conservative/tea partier

"The fossil record utterly refutes evolution." BJWilson83, graduate student

One good thing out of this
You'll have tons of Republicans out in that area voting both to end the oil & gas tax holiday and for Obama & Udall.

Hopefully the Obama administration can bring in environmental requirements there that make drilling impossible.

Tom Tancredo Interview

Sweet!
$10 gas!  I love environmentalists!

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC
[ Parent ]
Yes, because there is so much gas in Colorado that...
...it makes no difference in the world supply. Think it through, if we open absolutely everything in the U.S. to drilling, we increase the world supply by 2 - 4% (and it would take 10 years to get there).

At the same time, demand will grow faster than that 4% (optimistic guess as to reserves) over that 10 years.

The bottom line is the world is not sustainable running on oil. We have to switch to alternatives. But don't worry, you can bitch about environmentalists stopping nuclear, wind, and solar plants. Yes, groups are not trying to stop wind and solar because they're ugly.

Tom Tancredo Interview

[ Parent ]
Wait
So because it's going to be drops in the bucket, we shouldn't fill the bucket?

Seriously?

That's just dumb.

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC

[ Parent ]
Not enough drops to fill the bucket
Not even close. And assuming we could wave a magic wand and instantly eliminate the need for oil as a fuel source, we will still need it--lubricants, plastic products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc. And we will likely never have aircraft that run on battery power.

Burning oil is like burning your house down for heat.

As far as natural gas is concerned, we are already self-sufficient. We export far more than we import. China and India could team up to blockade our ports and our houses would still be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

The same can't be said for oil. We just don't have enough, whether or not we sacrifice wildlife refuges in Alaska or drill in San Francisco bay. The only way to gain independence from foreign oil is to switch off oil and onto other fuels.

Non impediti ratione cogitationis.

"Some of the people that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?'." --Rep. Barney Frank

[ Parent ]
So Heating Your House
With natural gas from Roan is bad because you shouldn't use oil for energy?

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC
[ Parent ]
Huh?
The point is that we're already self-sufficient on natural gas without drilling on top of the Roan. And will be for a long time.

Non impediti ratione cogitationis.

"Some of the people that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?'." --Rep. Barney Frank

[ Parent ]
So
We're totally energy self-sufficient?

I didn't know.  Guess the guy at the gas station made a mistake putting up the price this morning.  I'll have to tell him.

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC

[ Parent ]
There you go
conflating oil with natural gas.

Gimme a call when you figure out how to get an 18-wheeler to run on the stuff that comes out of your gas stove. Or when you figure out how to run the furnace in your house on 85-octane.

Non impediti ratione cogitationis.

"Some of the people that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?'." --Rep. Barney Frank

[ Parent ]
Me?
You were the one saying oil could be used for lots of other stuff besides burning for fuel.  

I agree.  Stuff like heating and energy uses that aren't all that different from (and are in fact strikingly similar to) those for natural gas.

Energy is energy.

Hell, you could use the natural gas here in Colorado in extracting oil from shale.  

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC

[ Parent ]
Intentially dense?
There is a huge difference between gasoline (refined from crude oil) and natural gas (aka, methane).

For gasoline, we are already over a barrel (pun partially intended) to the Mid-East Friends of the Bush Clan. We cannot produce enough domestic oil to refine into gasoline (etc) to meet our current demands. There just are not sufficient reserves under US soil. Period.

Methane/natural gas is an entirely different story. This is the stuff that Colorado is rich in (for now).

None the less, we're really not self-sufficient in natural gas, either. We import from Canada & Mexico, in part because storage is expensive. [Natural gas is, generally, extracted from the ground at constant rates over the year; however, our needs vary over the year (more demand in winter).]

As for burning natural gas to produce oil from shale, this is just plane silly. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. Consuming it in order to produce electricity (with subsequent energy loss due to inefficient conversions) and use the electricity to power heaters (with additional energy loss due to inefficient conversions) in order to produce the dirtiest fossil fuel would be felonious.

I would support the death penalty as an appropriate sentence for perpetrators of this crime.

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those that don't.

[ Parent ]
Using a eyedropper to bail out the boat is stupid
Concentrating on an extraordinary effort to add 2% is a dumb allocation of resources. People, capital, effort - these are all in limited supply. We can put that to the very difficult job of extracting a bit more oil in this country (almost always in very difficult to drill places).

Or... we can put the same effort into alternatives and conservation - and work to reduce our use by 20, 40, maybe even 80%. The smart person goes for the best ROI.

Tom Tancredo Interview

[ Parent ]
Clearly
The folks who complain about all the oil troubles don't mind them all that much.  As long as we finally get your favored "green" solutions, we can pay $60/gallon, right?

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative." -GKC
[ Parent ]
blaming enviros for high gas prices
makes about as much sense as invading Iraq for Sept. 11.

Right-wing "logic" at its finest.

[ Parent ]
Sweet!
The national average of gas when Bush took office was $1.46!

I love Big Oil Reublicans who use our troops for their energy policy.  

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole

[ Parent ]
its natural gas
that they want to drill for on the Roan, and it's not for Colorado, its for the Mid West

"[A]ll Republicans/conservatives/tea parties have been proven wrong. Everybody knows this." BJWilson83, Republican/conservative/tea partier

"The fossil record utterly refutes evolution." BJWilson83, graduate student

Bingo
People conflate oil and gas and they aren't the same thing. Drilling in ANWR (oil) won't heat your olympic-sized swimming pool, and drilling on the Roan (gas) won't make your Cadillac Escalade go.

As I noted above, there is no shortage of natural gas. We export more than we import as a nation.

Local variations in natural gas prices have more to do with speculation and transport (pipeline) issues, not national supply.

And as you have noted, drilling at top speed, the existing leases below the rim of the Roan are good for at least 30 more years of supply. That's a long time to built out an alternative energy infrastructure.

That won't stop them from drilling on the Roan though. The drilling lobby wants its foot in the door should a new administration try to close it. Expect drilling to slow below the rim so that the top of the Roan can be exploited as quickly as they can.

Non impediti ratione cogitationis.

"Some of the people that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?'." --Rep. Barney Frank

[ Parent ]
Yokel, you're wrong
while any energy resource can be equated (in BTUs for example) they are most certainly not equal.  Take oil shale, for instance, with a lower energy density than a potato--and generally a net energy loser to produce.  Using a clean burning a relatively valuable fuel (like nat. gas) to make another fuel (at an energy loss) is asinine, as pointed out above.  Which is why the plan is (most likely, according to RAND and other sources) to build several new coal fired power plants (cheap, dense, and dirty energy) to produce oil from shale (should they ever be able to pull that sword from the stone), which is more valuable (can be sold as jet fuel, etc.).  But to say energy is energy is just stupid.  Its like you think that it just exists in this abstract world, removed from context, reality, and consequence.  Kind of like your president's worldview, apparently.
Intresting
A more measured approach to developing our resources would allow the industry to continue, employ more Coloradans (as opposed to Texans, Oklahomans, and Utahns) for a longer period of time, and not drive our prices up and up.  

administration job

Bush Administration to Colorado: Buzz Off | 41 comments
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