August 13, 2010 07:39 PM UTC

Dan Maes--Wrong for Colorado

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• by: ClubTwitty

As oil and gas activity in Colorado climbs out of the trough of its latest bust, on track to see the second highest number of drilling permits issued since the boom crested in 2008, the popular GOP myth that industry has ‘fled the state’ is shown to be exactly the silliness so many claimed it was.  

Although clearly on the rebound as natural gas prices slowly rise, Dan Maes’ second priority–after he destroys thousands of non-specified jobs–is to ‘beg forgiveness’ from the drillers who, over the last couple of years (during the worse economic downturn of our time) laid down rigs and laid off workers (as any industry does when prices for their commodity crash by 60%).

Resource economies are notoriously volatile as prices fluctuate dramatically, a lesson that has been learned repeatedly throughout the West. Good economic policy would work to diversify–not homogenize–the economy, and to build infrastructure toward the future.  

On his website, Maes explains his understanding of the issue:

…[A]n industry expert in the oil and gas industry clearly has laid out to me that our current governor has made oil and gas exploration and mining more costly and difficult as a result of more bureaucratic regulations all in the name of the politically correct new energy economy.

Dan Maes is a funny guy–how exactly he got to his current perch and his qualifications for sitting there are open to speculation. But policy matters, and Coloradans deserve to know what Dan would really do with the keys to the Governor’s office.  

 

One thing Maes claims he would do is repeal the state’s oil and gas regulations:

Maes, an Evergreen businessman, has already made up his mind on the regs, telling the Sentinel he would work to repeal them right away, but he did at least promise to personally fly to the site of any oil and gas rig alleged to be causing environmental problems…

Dan Maes’ ‘Three Point Plan’

The Durango Herald ran this article July 13, 2010:

He’s pitching a three-point plan. First, he would downsize state government, although he has not pinpointed where to cut employees.

Second, he would “beg forgiveness” from the natural-gas industry for the environmental rules initiated by Gov. Bill Ritter, in the hopes that energy jobs will return to Colorado.

Finally, he would cut taxes, especially for businesses.

So far Maes has gotten far on very little–policy wise.  He wants to shrink (non-specific) government, gut regulations, and cut taxes.  

Without any details the first and third points are just political blather. His pander to the industry boys however is a little creepy.  A strange sense of the public interest.

Meanwhile many of the drillers are doing just fine under the new regulations–even reaching agreement with the Division of Wildlife to extend Colorado’s rule to better protect our shared wildlife resources. As the Colorado Independent reports:

Ritter announced a groundbreaking deal with nine of the state’s largest oil and gas producers to protect key wildlife habitat on more than 355,000 acres of the state’s Western Slope under provisions of last year’s amended and oft-criticized oil and gas drilling regulations.

Today the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel editorialized:

Some critics of the new rules have argued that the wildlife requirements in this part of the state were so onerous and costly that they would drive gas companies out of the region.

But supporters of the new rules – and The Daily Sentinel has long been among that group – have maintained that the rules simply provide new means of protecting the environment, not measures aimed at driving the gas industry from Colorado.

The state and the 10 companies involved in these agreements have demonstrated that industry can continue to work and protect Colorado’s invaluable wildlife resources. We congratulate all of the companies and state authorities involved.

Maes is no longer just talking to the Tea Partiers, now he is talking to the state. The man wants to be Governor and it’s time he provide some details to his tossed off remarks in his red meat stump speeches. Which jobs would he cut ‘on day one?’  Besides groveling, what changes would he make for the oil and gas industry?

Williams Pays Record Fine for Spring Contamination

“WATER! It is an absolute human and economic necessity. WATER! You and I cannot live without it.”   Scott McInnis (?)

Wiser words were never lifted written. Water is indeed a necessity, amplified in the arid West. One of the most obvious and troubling impacts of drilling and production are the impacts to our water sources and resource.

According to an article by Dennis Webb of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel:

State regulators Thursday unanimously signed off on a record $423,300 fine against Williams for benzene contamination of a spring that led to a man becoming ill in 2008.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission acted in a case that came to light when Ned Prather drank the spring water at his cabin northwest of Parachute in May 2008 and had to go to the hospital.

…”It seems very generous” to Williams, commissioner Michael Dowling said of the negotiated amount.

…Williams continues to disagree with the state’s determination that the contamination came from a nearby Williams production pit that had a leaking liner.

Such ‘incidents,’ which are invariably tied up in investigations and hearings for years, are not exactly uncommon the Daily Sentinel article notes:

The previous record fine by the commission was $390,000, imposed in April against Oxy USA for another case of spring contamination, also northwest of Parachute.

The same day, the commission levied another fine of $257,400 against Oxy for yet another case of spring contamination in the same area.

The state is investigating Oxy as the possible source of contamination of a second spring on the Prather property…

Three of the four highest fines ever levied by the commission involve Garfield County violations. In 2004, EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) was fined what was then a record $371,200 for a gas seep into West Divide Creek south of Silt.

Colorado includes many natural resources–and copious mineral ones too. We cannot let the long-term health of our water, wildlife and lands suffer for the short-term wealth brought by this highly industrialized, and always impactful, activity.

Contrary to industry spin there are a growing number of contamination incidents.  It’s not just a theoretical fear. These cases point to the need for stronger (state and federal) regulation. Maes’ misguided willingness to hand over the state’s authority is wrong for Colorado.  

Maes should specify what exactly Coloradans should apologize for as activity rebounds and mishaps mount.  Clearly the oil and gas commission is already overworked and understaffed. Which of these positions will go in the Maes Employee Massacre?  

Any governor begging forgiveness is unseemly but for Maes it is a regular feature of his stump speeches. Now that Dan Maes is the Republican candidate to lead our state, media and citizens cannot let him get away with off-handed remarks. Now is the time to demand the details.