Natural gas pipelines in the Rockies
Re: “East could get Rockies’ natural gas,” Oct. 5 news story.
The Post suggests that El Paso Corp.’s natural gas pipeline proposal connecting growing Rockies gas production to Eastern markets will hurt local consumers. The lower gas price that Colorado consumers enjoy reflects proximity to Rockies gas fields. This economic advantage is natural and enduring. Occasionally – when the growth of the region’s gas supply outpaces the building of pipeline takeaway capacity – the Rockies price differential temporarily increases. Free markets do not allow such anomalies to persist.
While the notion of keeping Rockies gas bottled up for local consumption may have some surface appeal, it is unrealistic (not to mention illegal under constitutional principles relating to interstate commerce). Oil and gas companies will not continue to invest in developing stranded gas. Instead, capital investment will flow toward gas plays that offer economic returns aligned with the national commodity price structure established by thousands of willing buyers and sellers.
New pipelines, including another El Paso project, are bringing northwest Colorado gas to Front Range consumers. A record number of drilling rigs are at work, thousands of good-paying jobs are being created, and Colorado will benefit from an estimated $500 million in tax collections and federal leasing revenues. As gas production declines elsewhere, the nation will increasingly look to our region for its gas supplies. New pipelines are natural and necessary, and should not be blamed for a gas price that reflects fundamental laws of supply and demand.
J. Greg Schnacke, Executive Vice President, Colorado Oil & Gas Association, Denver
Referendums C and D on November’s ballot
Well, everyone should have their “blue book” for the Nov. 1 election by now. I hope they have read it. It plainly shows that Referendum C should be voted down. Figure 1 on Page 2 shows that the state spending limit is already above what it was in 2001, and the projection for 2005 is above that of 2004. Therefore, it would seem that the problem is not income, but the never-ending desire of the politicians for more of the public money. The monies spent do not take into account that which was spent on schools due to Amendment 23. Now the state wants more money for preschool through 12th-grade education. It is apparent that our legislators do not believe we should ever have a downturn in state spending. It is time we let them know there is a limit to how much we cash cows bleed.
John S. Reid, Grand Junction
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With Referendums C and D, Coloradans aren’t giving anything up. They are making a great investment. One hundred dollars a year buys a great steak dinner for two – including a baked potato with the works, salad, dessert and a couple of frosty beverages – that is gone by morning. Instead, we can join together to help purchase great schools, highway construction jobs, great public colleges, health care for the least among us and pay off the money we had to borrow to do these things, among others. All for the price of dinner for two, once a year.
Keith Morris Gilman, Englewood
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Al Knight (“C & D, an odd coalition,” Oct. 12 column) suggests Referendums C and D will benefit those spendthrift Democrats. Talk about the pot lecturing the kettle for its blackness. Which political party is responsible for adding $3 trillion to the national debt in the past four years? Not the Democrats. The Republicans and their supporters have long since lost the right to chastise anyone about bigger government or fiscal responsibility.
David Steiner, Thornton
Upon reflection, it could have been worse
I was recently discussing Hurricane Katrina with an associate of mine and was greatly offended when he commented that “it could have been worse.” I thought that was a rather ignorant thing to say. Anything could have been worse, even the Holocaust, but saying that doesn’t tend to make people feel better. I was still a bit angry when I woke up the next morning and saw the tragedy that struck Pakistan. When a day or two passed and there were parts of the country that had still hadn’t received any government assistance, I saw that maybe my associate was right. I am usually the first one of my friends to criticize the war or the president or anything I can find, and I truly believe this is what makes our country great. However, after this set of events, I find my view slightly changed and I realize that we could live under much, much worse circumstances.
Ryan Hartman, Boulder
Supreme Court nominee
Harriet Miers, the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court, may be a decent person and an adequate lawyer, but her primary qualification for the court seems to be that she is a longtime member of an evangelical Christian church. Religious beliefs should neither exclude nor qualify individuals for appointment to public office. Imagine the uproar if she was a Muslim. In fact, what do Americans usually think of foreign governments that require individuals to belong to a particular religion in order to hold office?
Randy Chapman, Golden
Outsourced call centers
Re: “Let’s keep call centers at home,” Oct. 11 Cindy Rodriguez column.
I completely agree with Cindy Rodriguez. I have noticed that many companies are outsourcing call-center jobs to India.
Why are companies offering these jobs to people located in other countries? Because it is cheap. Many Americans need these jobs here in our own country, state and city. People who have worked years and years at these companies depended on the benefits, the pay, and the friendships they made throughout their time of employment.
These people are forced to take lower-paying jobs because many do not have higher education, and may even be forced to get on welfare.
These companies may think it is affecting only them, but in actuality it is affecting society as a whole, trickling down to the children of the employees who have been laid off.
Erica Castaneda, Denver
Rehabilitating wildlife
Re: “Back to the wild,” Oct. 9 news story.
What a pleasure to see on the front page something as positive as The Post’s article on returning mountain lion kittens to the wild. The Colorado Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center should be commended for the great job it did with taking care of the three injured lion kittens and releasing them in the mountains.
E.W. Rumaner, Denver
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