Environmentalists often are accused of radicalism, but days like this demonstrate all too clearly that there are extremists on the pro-development side, too.
The case in point is U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, a California Republican who chairs the powerful House Resources Committee and who often pushes intensive energy extraction at the price of sacrificing all other national values on public lands.
Last summer, Congress adopted a careful compromise that both encourages development of the West’s vast oil shale reserves and gives the affected states (including Colorado) a meaningful say over how that development affects their air, water, wildlife and communities. U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, was instrumental in brokering the deal.
But Pombo twice has tried to upend that sensible settlement. Last fall, he attached an amendment to the federal budget bill that would have eliminated the requirement that U.S. agencies consult with state and local governments regarding oil shale projects. He also tried to give oil shale companies a sweetheart deal on federal royalties (the percentage of revenue paid for removing irreplaceable government-owned energy resources).
Fortunately, Pombo’s overreaching amendment was stripped from the final legislation, but he’s at it again: Last Thursday, the House approved Resolution 4761, a Pombo bill which would open America’s coastlines to oil and gas drilling.
The bill also would require the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to make faster decisions about allowing natural gas drilling on public lands. If the BLM missed the new deadlines, believe it or not, the energy companies’ drilling plans would be deemed approved. The provision upends the normal legal requirement that the BLM consider the environmental harm that drilling could do before giving the energy companies the go- ahead. Indeed, if Pombo seriously wanted to improve the BLM’s efficiency, he would help get proper funding for the bureau. As it is, his proposal would just let energy companies delay the BLM effort in order to skirt several important environmental laws.
Lastly, Pombo is pushing to further lower the oil-shale royalty rate. It’s ridiculous that at a time the federal treasury is carrying such a deficit, Pombo would give a new tax break to some of the country’s biggest energy companies.
Last fall, moderates beat back many of Pombo’s most extremist efforts. They will have to do so again now.
