The political arm-wrestling match between Gov. Bill Ritter and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management over Western Colorado’s energy-rich Roan Plateau will probably be resolved in the U.S. Senate in the next few days.
For the sake of Colorado taxpayers, as well as the state’s wildlife, we hope Ritter wins.
The BLM announced this week that it intends to lease 67,000 acres of public land on the plateau and surrounding areas in one fell swoop on Aug. 14. Ritter has urged leasing the estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas on the 3,500-foot- tall mesa in Garfield County in six phases, with drilled land in each phase to be restored before the next lease would be issued. Additionally, Ritter wants to protect a total of 36,000 acres in the area from development. The BLM plan would put just 20,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat off limits.
Ritter’s plan is obviously superior from an environmental prospective. But it’s also more taxpayer friendly than the BLM’s all-at-once approach. The feds’ want to lease the most environmentally sensitive block, 35,000 acres at the top of the plateau, at once, though development would be phased in over 20 years. Energy companies are likely to pay much less for reserves that they can’t tap for two decades than for gas they can extract in the next few years.
Simple economics indicates Colorado and federal taxpayers — who will share both the initial leasing bonuses and ultimate royalties on a 5 0/50 basis — will likely receive much more money over the life of the Roan’s production from phased leases than the BLM’s all-at-once approach. That’s doubly likely considering that energy prices — and leasing bonuses — are rising much faster than the general rate of inflation.
As a final, and decisive, factor in Ritter’s favor, drilling technology is rapidly evolving. Directional drilling and other advanced techniques will allow future extraction of gas in environmentally sensitive areas with less disturbance than today’s methods. Ritter’s plan takes advantage of this evolving technology by leasing the least vulnerable areas first.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration rejected Ritter’s input and opted to stick with an earlier plan — favored by energy companies — drafted by the former administration of Republican Gov. Bill Owens. It’s not a disastrous plan, but Ritter’s is better.
Now, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar plans to offer Ritter’s plan as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill when it reaches the Senate floor, possibly this week. The theory is that attaching Ritter’s plan to the Pentagon budget puts it out of reach of a Bush administration veto.
We urge not just Colorado’s delegation but all lawmakers who care about the environment and a fair deal to American taxpayers to vote for Ritter’s carefully nuanced plan.
