WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders Tuesday removed language from a spending measure that would have allowed state-by-state approvals of oil-shale development.
Citing President Bush’s threat to veto the bill with limits on energy development, lawmakers said it would be stripped out.
That leaves unresolved what will happen to barriers on commercial oil-shale leasing, which could affect federal land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
A moratorium that blocked the Bureau of Land Management from issuing final regulations on oil-shale development expires Sept. 30. Placed in a spending bill last year, it would have to be extended either directly or with language renewing all provisions of earlier spending bills.
Instead of individual budgets, Congress is passing one spending resolution to keep the government running next year.
A taxpayer group, meanwhile, said Tuesday that the new BLM proposal for oil-shale leasing would cheat taxpayers by charging paltry royalties.
“We are extremely concerned that pursuing such a program at this time will have dire consequences for federal taxpayers,” said Jill Lancelot, senior adviser at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group. “It’s a recipe for yet another giveaway to the oil and gas industry.”
Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday sent the BLM a letter urging the Department of Interior “to heed the significant concerns of the state of Colorado and refrain from adopting final regulations” until research and development programs “yield meaningful results that can be reviewed.
“It will ensure a vibrant oil- shale industry might get off the ground with adequate protections for Colorado’s environment, communities and coffers,” Ritter said.
The proposal BLM is considering could cost taxpayers billions of dollars, Lancelot said. She cited BLM’s proposal to charge a potential 5 percent royalty to spur development, a rate lower than what energy companies pay for oil and gas drilling on public lands.
Anne C. Mulkern: 202-662-8907 or amulkern@denverpost.com
