The contentious process of writing new rules to regulate the oil and gas industry in Colorado has morphed into a kind of culture war, pitting newer, more environmentally conscious, residents against traditional energy and business groups.
Wednesday, Dave Neslin, acting director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, unveiled a series of “clarifications” of those rules aimed at achieving a cease fire in that culture war. Whether he joins the blessed ranks of the peacemakers will become clearer Monday in Denver when the commission begins a week of hearings and review of the proposed rules.
A hearing on the rules earlier this month in Grand Junction drew 2,000 people, most of whom felt the changes would give too much weight to wildlife protection at the expense of energy production and the well-paid jobs that accompany it.
Industry critics like the Colorado Environmental Coalition claimed many of those citizens hadn’t actually read the proposed rules but were alarmed by radio and newspaper advertising by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association attacking the proposals.
That’s doubtless true. What is officially billed as a “pre-draft” of the new rules runs 160 pages. Worse, there have been more than 10,000 pages of commentary, criticism and exhibits filed with the commission in support of, or in opposition to, the proposals. By comparison, the King James Bible is 1,108 pages long.
The most contentious area of the new rules raised the specter of a 90-day ban on drilling operations during winter, breeding or calving seasons to protect key species such as mule deer, elk, and sage grouse.
Neslin’s peace offering was aimed at defusing such fears. Energy companies will be able to drill 365 days a year by developing comprehensive drilling plans covering multiple well pads over larger areas, consulting with the Division of Wildlife or by limiting well density, he said.
He also dropped the black-tailed prairie dog as one of the protected species. “If they’re working with us, we won’t shut down their rigs,” Neslin promised.
Several key Democratic legislators who had been critical of the new regulations expressed hope Thursday that the concessions would ease the controversy. We hope they’re right.
All Coloradans have a stake in charting a middle course that balances energy development with wildlife protection. Failure to achieve that balance can lead to lawsuits that paralyze drilling operations, alternating with periods of unbridled development. Such wild swings of the political pendulum would ultimately wreck our economy and our environment.
Happily, the Ritter administration has shown it can strike a good balance between development and environmental protection with its plan for phased energy leasing on the Roan Plateau. It’s not yet clear whether Ritter’s plan or an earlier proposal by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will prevail in Congress.
But Ritter’s team proved it could get stakeholders including agriculture, environmental and sportsmen’s groups, local governments and industry together to balance development and environmental protection on the Roan. That same spirit of give and take can yet strike a similar balance for the rest of Colorado.
