Category: News (Older posts)

  • Roadless: USDA grants CO request for more time to make recommendations for CO Rule

    Roadless: State of Colorado requested more time from the US Department of Agriculture to submit its recommendations for the Colorado Rule. This request has been granted.  CWF applauds this new development as the State needs more time to work on language modifications to the proposed rule to strengthen it.  CWF and NWF had submitted extensive comments on the proposed Colorado Rule on October 23 and the letter is posted on this website.

  • Oil Shale Development

    Congress: Re-enact oil shale moratorium

    CRAIG THOMPSON
    Perspective

    In a blind rush to promote oil shale development, the Bureau of Land
    Management released rules Nov. 17 governing public-land oil shale
    operations and royalties. Not surprisingly, oil shale royalties are a
    fraction of those charged for other public-land energy resources. Paltry
    royalties sweeten the deal for public-resource speculators.

    The potential energy reserve in Rocky Mountain oil shale is both
    enormous and seductive. Ten million acres of sparsely populated lands in
    Utah, Colorado and Wyoming overlie the Green River Formation, remains of
    ancient lake sediments enormous in area, thickness and concentration of
    kerogen — a solid hydrocarbon made from ancient rich aquatic plant
    life. Kerogen is carbon dioxide from our primordial atmosphere now
    locked up in rock. Oil shale boosters tell us that there may be a
    trillion or two barrels of kerogen — perhaps 800 billion barrels of it
    recoverable. That is a Saudi-sized reserve that sings a seductive song
    to a fossil-fuel addicted country.

    Appropriately seduced, the BLM is in an obvious hurry. Their rules will
    take effect three days before the Bush administration leaves office.
    Their urgency was obvious when in May they denied a request by Gov. Dave
    Freudenthal and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter for additional time to review
    the 2,000-page environmental impact statement.

    Why the rush? After all, the reserve has been here for the last 50
    million years, and industry has been trying to figure out how to
    economically extract kerogen from oil shale for almost a century.
    Further, industry has failed to develop the oil shale on the 3,200,000
    acres of land they already have rights to develop.

    First, kerogen is not oil. In fact, solid kerogen has low heat content
    — about 10 percent of crude oil. That means it has a lower heat content
    than municipal garbage, and half the heat content of prunes. Second, you
    have to melt the kerogen out of the rock and then refine it to get
    usable oil-like liquids. That requires energy — enormous amounts of
    energy. There are two ways to accomplish this. You can mine the shale,
    crush it, heat it, and melt out the kerogen, or you can heat the oil
    shale in the ground [in-situ] and pump it to the surface. Both processes
    are fraught with problems.

    In spite of enormous government support, the mining/processing option
    almost drove the Exxon/Unocal Colony project into bankruptcy in the
    early 1980s at their project site near Parachute, Colo. Exxon pulled the
    plug and 2,000 workers were suddenly unemployed. The effects on Colorado
    lasted for years.

    Imagine two pick-up trucks filled with rocks. Heat the rocks up to twice
    the temperature of your household oven and you can get enough kerogen to
    fill one of the pickups’ gas tanks. But wait: the kerogen solidifies in
    the tank. You also have 40 percent more spent shale than you had rock to
    start with. That is right, oil shale expands when retorted. It expands
    into an enormous solid waste problem — rich in water-soluble salts and
    metals that must be isolated to prevent environmental contamination.

    What about the in-situ method? We have tried heating the oil shale with
    propane, steam, micro-waves and electricity. But there is a problem. Oil
    shale beds often serve as the floor for aquifers. Heat the oil shale in
    place and you heat the aquifer. That causes the groundwater to dissolve
    compounds that otherwise would never be dissolved and in some cases
    never formed — elements like arsenic and fluoride, and compounds like
    thiocyanates and cyanides. This becomes a groundwater nightmare. Midway
    between Rock Springs and Green River, taxpayers are still paying for
    groundwater cleanup from several in-situ oil shale experiments now over
    three decades old.

    Oil-shale development produces huge environmental costs. One will be
    paid in units of acre-feet — water. Turning shale into useful fuel will
    require lakes of it, in site construction, in operation and refinement,
    and in cleanup. Water is also required to produce all the electricity
    necessary to convert the kerogen into usable fuels. Water has to come
    from somewhere in this arid region. It can only come from the
    unappropriated Colorado drainage water or from existing users. The
    former source promises a fight and the latter a major war.

    The 2005 Rand report on oil shale development concluded that the
    Colorado River and tributaries like the Green and Yampa would be “highly
    impacted” regardless of which technology is employed. The oil shale
    debate has lacked any thorough discussion of the water impacts.

    Water is not the only environmental issue. Public oil shale lands
    support some of the richest wildlife populations in North America and
    are already impacted by a booming gas development industry. At the scale
    envisioned by the BLM, it would forever alter the wildlife-rich Western
    way of life.

    Everything about oil shale seems enormous. We need enormous amounts of
    further research before we lease development rights to speculators.
    Governors Freudenthal and Ritter, along with U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and
    Sen.-elect Mark Udall, get it. They have called for a go-slow approach.
    We need to support them and to urge them to call on Congress to re-enact
    the oil shale moratorium.

    How will that help achieve American energy independence? In spite of the
    enormous promise, oil shale remains a finite non-renewable resource.
    With current technology, oil shale development is too costly, and a
    desperately poor excuse for a fuel that can be highly polluting. Oil
    shale will not solve our energy problems. That solution will ultimately
    come by converting to sustainable resources. Oil shale development may
    delay a transition to renewable energy that we will have to make in the
    future in any case.

    Craig Thompson was an oil shale worker in the 1970s, an oil shale
    groundwater researcher in the 1980s, and is now professor of Engineering
    and Environmental Science at Western Wyoming Community College.

  • Oil Shale Development

    Congress: Re-enact oil shale moratorium

    CRAIG THOMPSON
    Perspective

    In a blind rush to promote oil shale development, the Bureau of Land
    Management released rules Nov. 17 governing public-land oil shale
    operations and royalties. Not surprisingly, oil shale royalties are a
    fraction of those charged for other public-land energy resources. Paltry
    royalties sweeten the deal for public-resource speculators.

    The potential energy reserve in Rocky Mountain oil shale is both
    enormous and seductive. Ten million acres of sparsely populated lands in
    Utah, Colorado and Wyoming overlie the Green River Formation, remains of
    ancient lake sediments enormous in area, thickness and concentration of
    kerogen — a solid hydrocarbon made from ancient rich aquatic plant
    life. Kerogen is carbon dioxide from our primordial atmosphere now
    locked up in rock. Oil shale boosters tell us that there may be a
    trillion or two barrels of kerogen — perhaps 800 billion barrels of it
    recoverable. That is a Saudi-sized reserve that sings a seductive song
    to a fossil-fuel addicted country.

    Appropriately seduced, the BLM is in an obvious hurry. Their rules will
    take effect three days before the Bush administration leaves office.
    Their urgency was obvious when in May they denied a request by Gov. Dave
    Freudenthal and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter for additional time to review
    the 2,000-page environmental impact statement.

    Why the rush? After all, the reserve has been here for the last 50
    million years, and industry has been trying to figure out how to
    economically extract kerogen from oil shale for almost a century.
    Further, industry has failed to develop the oil shale on the 3,200,000
    acres of land they already have rights to develop.

    First, kerogen is not oil. In fact, solid kerogen has low heat content
    — about 10 percent of crude oil. That means it has a lower heat content
    than municipal garbage, and half the heat content of prunes. Second, you
    have to melt the kerogen out of the rock and then refine it to get
    usable oil-like liquids. That requires energy — enormous amounts of
    energy. There are two ways to accomplish this. You can mine the shale,
    crush it, heat it, and melt out the kerogen, or you can heat the oil
    shale in the ground [in-situ] and pump it to the surface. Both processes
    are fraught with problems.

    In spite of enormous government support, the mining/processing option
    almost drove the Exxon/Unocal Colony project into bankruptcy in the
    early 1980s at their project site near Parachute, Colo. Exxon pulled the
    plug and 2,000 workers were suddenly unemployed. The effects on Colorado
    lasted for years.

    Imagine two pick-up trucks filled with rocks. Heat the rocks up to twice
    the temperature of your household oven and you can get enough kerogen to
    fill one of the pickups’ gas tanks. But wait: the kerogen solidifies in
    the tank. You also have 40 percent more spent shale than you had rock to
    start with. That is right, oil shale expands when retorted. It expands
    into an enormous solid waste problem — rich in water-soluble salts and
    metals that must be isolated to prevent environmental contamination.

    What about the in-situ method? We have tried heating the oil shale with
    propane, steam, micro-waves and electricity. But there is a problem. Oil
    shale beds often serve as the floor for aquifers. Heat the oil shale in
    place and you heat the aquifer. That causes the groundwater to dissolve
    compounds that otherwise would never be dissolved and in some cases
    never formed — elements like arsenic and fluoride, and compounds like
    thiocyanates and cyanides. This becomes a groundwater nightmare. Midway
    between Rock Springs and Green River, taxpayers are still paying for
    groundwater cleanup from several in-situ oil shale experiments now over
    three decades old.

    Oil-shale development produces huge environmental costs. One will be
    paid in units of acre-feet — water. Turning shale into useful fuel will
    require lakes of it, in site construction, in operation and refinement,
    and in cleanup. Water is also required to produce all the electricity
    necessary to convert the kerogen into usable fuels. Water has to come
    from somewhere in this arid region. It can only come from the
    unappropriated Colorado drainage water or from existing users. The
    former source promises a fight and the latter a major war.

    The 2005 Rand report on oil shale development concluded that the
    Colorado River and tributaries like the Green and Yampa would be “highly
    impacted” regardless of which technology is employed. The oil shale
    debate has lacked any thorough discussion of the water impacts.

    Water is not the only environmental issue. Public oil shale lands
    support some of the richest wildlife populations in North America and
    are already impacted by a booming gas development industry. At the scale
    envisioned by the BLM, it would forever alter the wildlife-rich Western
    way of life.

    Everything about oil shale seems enormous. We need enormous amounts of
    further research before we lease development rights to speculators.
    Governors Freudenthal and Ritter, along with U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and
    Sen.-elect Mark Udall, get it. They have called for a go-slow approach.
    We need to support them and to urge them to call on Congress to re-enact
    the oil shale moratorium.

    How will that help achieve American energy independence? In spite of the
    enormous promise, oil shale remains a finite non-renewable resource.
    With current technology, oil shale development is too costly, and a
    desperately poor excuse for a fuel that can be highly polluting. Oil
    shale will not solve our energy problems. That solution will ultimately
    come by converting to sustainable resources. Oil shale development may
    delay a transition to renewable energy that we will have to make in the
    future in any case.

    Craig Thompson was an oil shale worker in the 1970s, an oil shale
    groundwater researcher in the 1980s, and is now professor of Engineering
    and Environmental Science at Western Wyoming Community College.

  • Drill Baby, Drill?? Do it right — No Shortcuts With Our Wildlife, Land and Health.

    Talking Points for Wildlife
    Drill Baby, Drill?!?
    Not Unless it is Colorado Clean!
    I am Harvey Nyberg. I am a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Wildlife Federation. The Colorado Wildlife Federation is committed to developing collaborative solutions to difficult problems that have the potential to adversely affect fish and wildlife populations and habitats
    I’m happy to be here today to help kick off this exciting effort to increase public awareness of appropriate energy development.
    We’re here today to move beyond slogans to solutions that make energy production in Colorado cleaner.
    As you can see from the billboard in my hands, we are concerned that the deer, antelope, and other species including the rare Greater Sage Grouse, will have too few places to run and play in Colorado.
    Some of the key facts are that:
    ·        Hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing are big sustainable business here, pumping more than billion into the economy each year and supporting over 33,000 jobs.
    ·        The greatest threat to the long-term health of fish and wildlife populations isthe loss of adequate quantity and quality of habitat.In Colorado, oil and gas development has been identified as one of the greatest threats to wildlife habitats and populations.
    ·        Colorado is home to world famous wildlife resources. We boast North America’s largest elk and migratory mule deer herds as well as outstanding populations of pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep and other big game species. Colorado also is renowned for its fisheries with 9000 miles of trout streams, including 168 miles of œgold medal waters.
    ·        Colorado also is home to some fish and wildlife populations that have declined over time, including the Gunnison and Greater Sage Grouse. If populations of these species are allowed to decline further as a result of inadequately regulated development, they may qualify for protection under the endangered species act. That would have significant social, economic and political effects in Colorado.
    ·        If we are going to maintain fish and wildlife we have to maintain habitat. Experience has shown that the mitigation measures historically used to guide oil and gas development are not adequate to protect wildlife resources, especially antelope, mule deer and sage grouse.
    ·        It is critical that we protect our fish and wildliferesources by requiring that the timing and spacing of wells in critical habitat ranges be planned in advance to ensure that the requirements of both energy development and wildlife are met.
    ·        Examples of damage to wildlife habitat that must be avoided or minimized include:
    Ø      Blockage or constriction of migration corridors (avoid excess roads, powerline and pipeline routes)
    Ø      Disturbance of breeding, nesting and rearing habitats for sage grouse and other wildlife
    Ø      Chemical leakage and sedimentation into native cutthroat trout and other streams
    Ø      Fragmentation of mule deer, bighorn sheep and elk critical winter ranges needed for survival.
    Ø      Studies have documented a 46% decline in wintering mule deer population in a heavily drilled (Sublette) county in Wyoming. We know that there are serious impacts on fish and wildlife if we allow the oil and gas industry to take shortcuts when they drill.
    Too often these discussion have been couched in terms of either or. Either we have oil and gas development, or we have fish and wildlife habitat. We know that is not the true choice. We know there will be oil and gas drilling in Colorado. But, we need to make sure that oil and gas development is not done in such a manner that it unnecessarily damages wildlife and aquatic habitat. In the past we have used our knowledge and technology to correct mistakes. This time, we have the chance to use those to prevent problems. In the long run that is a more effective strategy.
    This means that the Colorado legislature should ratify the soon-to-be completed work of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The state was long overdue to update oil and gas protections to make sure that drilling does not harm our wildlife habitat and public health. The Commission has done a commendable, and exhaustive, job. Their final vote will culminate the most extensive oil and gas rulemaking ever in Colorado including more than 6,000 hours of meetings, hearings, and testimony and over 2,000 written comments. The new protections are not perfect and we would have liked to see them stronger in some areas. However, they are an important step forward.
    Enough with the Drill, Baby, Drill chants – let’s be sure the oil and gas industry doesn’t take shortcuts with our fish, wildlife, land, health and wallets.

    Thank you and I’ll be happy to take your questions.

     

     

    I am Dr. Ken Gerdes. I specialize in internal and environmental medicine, and am based in Denver. I have been a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) since 1982. Physicians for Social Responsibility believes the United States must rapidly begin a transition away from reliance on fossil fuels, which create numerous hazards for human health and the environment.   I am happy to be here today to help kick off this public awareness effort on energy.
    Sportsmen, ranchers, doctors and taxpayer watchdog groups all agree – œDrill, Baby, Drill may have sounded catchy on the campaign trail but we need to carefully balance our energy needs with protection of wildlife, land, health and taxpayers. These groups are moving toward solutions rather than slogans to make energy production Clean.
    The billboard over my shoulders [Broadway and 22nd in Denver] dramatizes the public health risks associated with oil and gas drilling.
    Some 215 products containing 278 chemicals, as well as arsenic and mercury have been used in natural gas production in Colorado. Ninety-three of those products have one or more severe health effects. And yet currently, the oil and gas industry is exempted from key environmental laws like the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the responsibility to notify local communities of chemicals used in their areas.
    As you may have read just yesterday morning in the lead article of the Denver Post [November 17] , recent tests in a heavily drilled county in Wyoming discovered dangerously high levels of benzene in water wells as a result of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Tests show that 88 of the 220 wells tested in Sublette County, Wyoming were contaminated. (That’s 40%.)
    Despite the known risks of benzene to human health, fracking is not covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act. With this warning from Wyoming, knowing that fracking is used extensively in Colorado, we should all take heed.
    Furthermore, based on data from the EPA, Western Regional Air Partnership and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action found that in the Denver metro area, oil and gas production is the largest growing source of ozone producing air pollution.
    High ozone levels reduce lung function, cause throat irritation, among other harmful impacts. It is clear that high ozone levels cause premature deaths in vulnerable groups like children, seniors, and the sick.
    All of these known health impacts are all the more of a concern since oil and gas drilling is on a sharp increase here in Colorado. There has been a seven-fold increase in drilling permits in the last ten years. We know that there will be oil and gas drilling in Colorado but it is critical that the public understands that there are risks that come with ramped up drilling. We must ensure that the oil and gas industry does not take shortcuts that would harm public health. The new Congress in January should change the outgoing Administration’s œdrill everywhere despite the costs policies, which mandated that oil and gas extraction trump all other values on America’s public lands, including wildlife habitat, drinking water supplies and economically important recreation like hunting and fishing and viewing. Congress needs to ensure the oil and gas industry obeys our environmental laws like all other industries must do.
    Likewise, the new administration should end the environmental rollbacks of the outgoing administration by restoring balance to the management of America’s public lands.   We need to protect the places that make Colorado and the West what it is, like proposed wilderness areas and key wildlife habitat that are too sensitive and too important to drill.

  • Drill Baby, Drill?? Do it right — No Shortcuts With Our Wildlife, Land and Health.

    Talking Points for Wildlife
    Drill Baby, Drill?!?
    Not Unless it is Colorado Clean!
    I am Harvey Nyberg. I am a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Wildlife Federation. The Colorado Wildlife Federation is committed to developing collaborative solutions to difficult problems that have the potential to adversely affect fish and wildlife populations and habitats
    I’m happy to be here today to help kick off this exciting effort to increase public awareness of appropriate energy development.
    We’re here today to move beyond slogans to solutions that make energy production in Colorado cleaner.
    As you can see from the billboard in my hands, we are concerned that the deer, antelope, and other species including the rare Greater Sage Grouse, will have too few places to run and play in Colorado.
    Some of the key facts are that:
    ·        Hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing are big sustainable business here, pumping more than billion into the economy each year and supporting over 33,000 jobs.
    ·        The greatest threat to the long-term health of fish and wildlife populations isthe loss of adequate quantity and quality of habitat.In Colorado, oil and gas development has been identified as one of the greatest threats to wildlife habitats and populations.
    ·        Colorado is home to world famous wildlife resources. We boast North America’s largest elk and migratory mule deer herds as well as outstanding populations of pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep and other big game species. Colorado also is renowned for its fisheries with 9000 miles of trout streams, including 168 miles of œgold medal waters.
    ·        Colorado also is home to some fish and wildlife populations that have declined over time, including the Gunnison and Greater Sage Grouse. If populations of these species are allowed to decline further as a result of inadequately regulated development, they may qualify for protection under the endangered species act. That would have significant social, economic and political effects in Colorado.
    ·        If we are going to maintain fish and wildlife we have to maintain habitat. Experience has shown that the mitigation measures historically used to guide oil and gas development are not adequate to protect wildlife resources, especially antelope, mule deer and sage grouse.
    ·        It is critical that we protect our fish and wildliferesources by requiring that the timing and spacing of wells in critical habitat ranges be planned in advance to ensure that the requirements of both energy development and wildlife are met.
    ·        Examples of damage to wildlife habitat that must be avoided or minimized include:
    Ø      Blockage or constriction of migration corridors (avoid excess roads, powerline and pipeline routes)
    Ø      Disturbance of breeding, nesting and rearing habitats for sage grouse and other wildlife
    Ø      Chemical leakage and sedimentation into native cutthroat trout and other streams
    Ø      Fragmentation of mule deer, bighorn sheep and elk critical winter ranges needed for survival.
    Ø      Studies have documented a 46% decline in wintering mule deer population in a heavily drilled (Sublette) county in Wyoming. We know that there are serious impacts on fish and wildlife if we allow the oil and gas industry to take shortcuts when they drill.
    Too often these discussion have been couched in terms of either or. Either we have oil and gas development, or we have fish and wildlife habitat. We know that is not the true choice. We know there will be oil and gas drilling in Colorado. But, we need to make sure that oil and gas development is not done in such a manner that it unnecessarily damages wildlife and aquatic habitat. In the past we have used our knowledge and technology to correct mistakes. This time, we have the chance to use those to prevent problems. In the long run that is a more effective strategy.
    This means that the Colorado legislature should ratify the soon-to-be completed work of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The state was long overdue to update oil and gas protections to make sure that drilling does not harm our wildlife habitat and public health. The Commission has done a commendable, and exhaustive, job. Their final vote will culminate the most extensive oil and gas rulemaking ever in Colorado including more than 6,000 hours of meetings, hearings, and testimony and over 2,000 written comments. The new protections are not perfect and we would have liked to see them stronger in some areas. However, they are an important step forward.
    Enough with the Drill, Baby, Drill chants – let’s be sure the oil and gas industry doesn’t take shortcuts with our fish, wildlife, land, health and wallets.

    Thank you and I’ll be happy to take your questions.

     

     

    I am Dr. Ken Gerdes. I specialize in internal and environmental medicine, and am based in Denver. I have been a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) since 1982. Physicians for Social Responsibility believes the United States must rapidly begin a transition away from reliance on fossil fuels, which create numerous hazards for human health and the environment.   I am happy to be here today to help kick off this public awareness effort on energy.
    Sportsmen, ranchers, doctors and taxpayer watchdog groups all agree – œDrill, Baby, Drill may have sounded catchy on the campaign trail but we need to carefully balance our energy needs with protection of wildlife, land, health and taxpayers. These groups are moving toward solutions rather than slogans to make energy production Clean.
    The billboard over my shoulders [Broadway and 22nd in Denver] dramatizes the public health risks associated with oil and gas drilling.
    Some 215 products containing 278 chemicals, as well as arsenic and mercury have been used in natural gas production in Colorado. Ninety-three of those products have one or more severe health effects. And yet currently, the oil and gas industry is exempted from key environmental laws like the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the responsibility to notify local communities of chemicals used in their areas.
    As you may have read just yesterday morning in the lead article of the Denver Post [November 17] , recent tests in a heavily drilled county in Wyoming discovered dangerously high levels of benzene in water wells as a result of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Tests show that 88 of the 220 wells tested in Sublette County, Wyoming were contaminated. (That’s 40%.)
    Despite the known risks of benzene to human health, fracking is not covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act. With this warning from Wyoming, knowing that fracking is used extensively in Colorado, we should all take heed.
    Furthermore, based on data from the EPA, Western Regional Air Partnership and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action found that in the Denver metro area, oil and gas production is the largest growing source of ozone producing air pollution.
    High ozone levels reduce lung function, cause throat irritation, among other harmful impacts. It is clear that high ozone levels cause premature deaths in vulnerable groups like children, seniors, and the sick.
    All of these known health impacts are all the more of a concern since oil and gas drilling is on a sharp increase here in Colorado. There has been a seven-fold increase in drilling permits in the last ten years. We know that there will be oil and gas drilling in Colorado but it is critical that the public understands that there are risks that come with ramped up drilling. We must ensure that the oil and gas industry does not take shortcuts that would harm public health. The new Congress in January should change the outgoing Administration’s œdrill everywhere despite the costs policies, which mandated that oil and gas extraction trump all other values on America’s public lands, including wildlife habitat, drinking water supplies and economically important recreation like hunting and fishing and viewing. Congress needs to ensure the oil and gas industry obeys our environmental laws like all other industries must do.
    Likewise, the new administration should end the environmental rollbacks of the outgoing administration by restoring balance to the management of America’s public lands.   We need to protect the places that make Colorado and the West what it is, like proposed wilderness areas and key wildlife habitat that are too sensitive and too important to drill.

  • State Oil and Gas Commission Approves Rules

    State Oil and Gas Commission Approves Rules
    That Help Ensure Wildlife’s Future in Colorado
     
    Five leading wildlife conservation groups are praising the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s approval of new rules to protect wildlife during energy development and say the rules help ensure the future of the state’s wildlife habitat.
    œThe future looks a lot brighter for wildlife than it did two years ago, said Steve Torbit, a veteran wildlife biologist and regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation.
    œIndustry will find that these rule are workable and reasonable, Torbit said. œFactoring in wildlife conservation will become a natural way of doing business for the natural gas industry.
    The rule making requires drilling companies to consult with the Colorado Division of Wildlife before development begins and emphasizes the use of comprehensive development plans and the best available technology to minimize the number of well pads. The rules are required to implement the intent of the Colorado Habitat Stewardship Act passed unanimously by the Colorado Legislature and signed by Gov. Bill Ritter last year.
    œThe Commission and staff processed an enormous amount of detailed information over the summer and came up with a compromise that factors in the minimum protections needed by wildlife to withstand the intensive development of Colorado’s oil and gas resources on the West Slope, said Suzanne O’Neill, executive director of the Colorado Wildlife Federation.
    œWe view the Commission’s actions as a workable, balanced compromise, O’Neill said.
    The work of staff members from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Department of Natural Resources drew support from the wildlife conservation groups.
    œAs a former director of a state agency, I couldn’t be more proud of the work of the DOW and DNR staffs to credibly use science as a guide to develop regulations to avoid and minimize impacts to wildlife, said Gary Graham, executive director of Audubon Colorado.
    œThese rules offer the best protections in the West for wildlife in the face of a daunting challenge from expanding oil and gas development, Graham said.
    œFuture generations will look back at what the wildlife conservation community has achieved here and say, ˜They gave their best,’ said Ivan James, vice-chairman for legislation for the Colorado Bowhunters Association.
    œNow it’s time for us to work for the full implementation of these rules, James said. œIndustry has the technical expertise to do a great job to conserve our wildlife resource and sportsmen and other wildlife conservationists remain ready to help them achieve our common goal.
    The new rules limit the number of well pads that can be developed in important wildlife habitat, particularly in areas important to the protection of greater sage grouse, a native species that has already been proposed for listing under the endangered species act.
    œIf rules like these were implemented in other states as they will be in Colorado, that could go a long way toward precluding the necessity to list the sage grouse as endangered, Graham said.
    Bob Elderkin, the former Bureau of Land Management regulator who first conceived the set of wildlife guidelines that lead to the Habitat Stewardship Act, also emphasized the importance of the compromise regulations.
    œThe conservation community didn’t get all it wanted and neither did industry, said Elderkin, a member of the Colorado Mule Deer Association. œBut these rules are important because the number of well pads in an area can be reduced to avoid impacts to wildlife.
    œIndustry has the technical ability to drill a number of wells directionally from a single pad, he explained. œReducing the number of well pads will probably have a greater positive impact than anything else we’ve done for wildlife.
    The DNR staff will now write the final rules and the Oil and Gas Commission will consider final approval this October.
    CONTACT:
    Suzanne O’Neill CWF (303) 919-3949
    Bob Elderkin Mule Deer Association (9970) 948-9081
    Steve Torbit NWF (3030 619-4122
    Ivan James Colorado Bowhunters (303) 526-0516
    Gary Graham Audubon Colorado (303) 415-0130

  • State Oil and Gas Commission Approves Rules

    State Oil and Gas Commission Approves Rules
    That Help Ensure Wildlife’s Future in Colorado
     
    Five leading wildlife conservation groups are praising the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s approval of new rules to protect wildlife during energy development and say the rules help ensure the future of the state’s wildlife habitat.
    œThe future looks a lot brighter for wildlife than it did two years ago, said Steve Torbit, a veteran wildlife biologist and regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation.
    œIndustry will find that these rule are workable and reasonable, Torbit said. œFactoring in wildlife conservation will become a natural way of doing business for the natural gas industry.
    The rule making requires drilling companies to consult with the Colorado Division of Wildlife before development begins and emphasizes the use of comprehensive development plans and the best available technology to minimize the number of well pads. The rules are required to implement the intent of the Colorado Habitat Stewardship Act passed unanimously by the Colorado Legislature and signed by Gov. Bill Ritter last year.
    œThe Commission and staff processed an enormous amount of detailed information over the summer and came up with a compromise that factors in the minimum protections needed by wildlife to withstand the intensive development of Colorado’s oil and gas resources on the West Slope, said Suzanne O’Neill, executive director of the Colorado Wildlife Federation.
    œWe view the Commission’s actions as a workable, balanced compromise, O’Neill said.
    The work of staff members from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Department of Natural Resources drew support from the wildlife conservation groups.
    œAs a former director of a state agency, I couldn’t be more proud of the work of the DOW and DNR staffs to credibly use science as a guide to develop regulations to avoid and minimize impacts to wildlife, said Gary Graham, executive director of Audubon Colorado.
    œThese rules offer the best protections in the West for wildlife in the face of a daunting challenge from expanding oil and gas development, Graham said.
    œFuture generations will look back at what the wildlife conservation community has achieved here and say, ˜They gave their best,’ said Ivan James, vice-chairman for legislation for the Colorado Bowhunters Association.
    œNow it’s time for us to work for the full implementation of these rules, James said. œIndustry has the technical expertise to do a great job to conserve our wildlife resource and sportsmen and other wildlife conservationists remain ready to help them achieve our common goal.
    The new rules limit the number of well pads that can be developed in important wildlife habitat, particularly in areas important to the protection of greater sage grouse, a native species that has already been proposed for listing under the endangered species act.
    œIf rules like these were implemented in other states as they will be in Colorado, that could go a long way toward precluding the necessity to list the sage grouse as endangered, Graham said.
    Bob Elderkin, the former Bureau of Land Management regulator who first conceived the set of wildlife guidelines that lead to the Habitat Stewardship Act, also emphasized the importance of the compromise regulations.
    œThe conservation community didn’t get all it wanted and neither did industry, said Elderkin, a member of the Colorado Mule Deer Association. œBut these rules are important because the number of well pads in an area can be reduced to avoid impacts to wildlife.
    œIndustry has the technical ability to drill a number of wells directionally from a single pad, he explained. œReducing the number of well pads will probably have a greater positive impact than anything else we’ve done for wildlife.
    The DNR staff will now write the final rules and the Oil and Gas Commission will consider final approval this October.
    CONTACT:
    Suzanne O’Neill CWF (303) 919-3949
    Bob Elderkin Mule Deer Association (9970) 948-9081
    Steve Torbit NWF (3030 619-4122
    Ivan James Colorado Bowhunters (303) 526-0516
    Gary Graham Audubon Colorado (303) 415-0130

  • Gov. Bill Ritter objected to prematurely move forward with commercial oil-shale development in Colorado.

    n Oil Shale

    Washington, DC – The fight to establish an orderly process for the development of oil shale suffered a setback today, as the White House was successful in its effort to block an extension of the limited funding limitation on the issuance of commercial oil shale leasing regulations, which expires on September 30.  The White House has stated its intent to rush ahead with the issuance of final regulations for the development of oil shale, despite having no idea how much water would be required to develop oil shale, how much power would be needed, or whether the technologies are even commercially viable.  The White House had threatened to shut down the federal government unless the moratorium on finalizing commercial oil shale regulations was lifted.

     

    The following is the joint statement of Sen. Salazar, Cong. Salazar, and Cong. Udall.

    œThe White House is evidently willing to go to all extremes to trample on the will of Western communities.   They were threatening to shut down the entire federal government – at a moment when our economy is in crisis – over two issues:  offshore drilling and oil shale development.  We support the responsible development of our oil and gas resources at home – Colorado alone is home to more than 34,000 gas wells – and we support comprehensive energy solutions that include the expansion of offshore development.  However, it is clear that the Bush Administration is clueless about the realities of oil shale development.  By rushing ahead toward commercial leasing, they are putting at risk the very objective we hope to achieve – responsible oil shale development – by heightening the chance of another devastating bust.  The White House’s approach is foolhardy and their ˜my way or the highway’ tactics deplorable.

     

    œWe have fought hard to extend the current funding limitation, which prevents the issuance of commercial oil shale leases, because we need to continue with an orderly process that allows necessary research and development to be completed first.  Our first choice for the coming year was to extend that moratorium and continue to protect the R&D programs we helped create.  We were open to a second alternative, proposed by Congressman Matheson, that would allow states to opt in to commercial oil shale leasing.  This would have allowed the State of Colorado to determine the future of oil shale development within its borders.  Neither of these options was sufficient for a White House that, in its waning days in office, is hell bent on running roughshod over Colorado and the West. 

     

    œWhen Congress reconvenes in January, we will fight to restore an orderly process for oil shale development so that Colorado’s land, water, and communities are protected.   We continue to believe that Western wisdom, gained from our century of work to develop oil shale, offers a far better chance of getting us to our goal of responsible commercial oil shale development than the eleventh hour schemes of an outgoing Administration. 

  • Colorado’s Oil ad Gas Commission Approves Rules to Protect Wildlife

    On September 23, the Colorado OIl and Gas Conservation Commission approved protections for wildlife on a provisional vote to be finalized at its December meeting. These protections will help wildlife withstand the intensive oil and gas development, particularly on the west slope.

  • Colorado’s Oil ad Gas Commission Approves Rules to Protect Wildlife

    On September 23, the Colorado OIl and Gas Conservation Commission approved protections for wildlife on a provisional vote to be finalized at its December meeting. These protections will help wildlife withstand the intensive oil and gas development, particularly on the west slope.