Posted 8 months, 29 days ago in 
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Please educate yourself before you attack oil and gas industry workers. In general, the oil and gas industry sustains our way of life. We all drive vehicles, heat our homes, travel via airplanes and buy fresh produce from the grocery store. We are all consumers of the products derived by the gas and oil industry.
According to the Energy Information Administration Web site, the United States is the biggest consumer of natural gas by a considerable margin. For those of you who don’t know, natural gas is the product being drilled for in the areas surrounding Grand Junction. More than 62 percent of homes nationwide use natural gas for heating and cooking purposes. Most new electric power plants are powered by natural gas, and natural gas is used to produce many everyday products, such as glass and paper. Even if you believe you are not fueling this industry, you are. Furthermore, the industry as a whole is not as environmentally destructive as some people believe. We work hard to minimize the impact on the environment, taking measures to purchase green chemicals, for example. The process might not be perfect, but continuous progress is being made. And yes, gas and oil companies make profits. It’s called capitalism, and it is the basis for our economic system.
I, for one, am grateful that we have many profitable businesses in the Grand Junction area because I like having a job, receiving a decent paycheck and having places to spend that paycheck. I am not ashamed to work in the oil and gas industry. I would, however, be ashamed to attack and criticize an industry I knew very little about, all the while taking every advantage of the luxuries provided by it.
KELSEY HEJL
Grand Junction
5 Responses to “We are all energy consumers”
Posted February 25th, 2008 at 4:18 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
I know nobody who is against the enrgy companies, per se. The people I talk to know that the gas is there and it is needed. What is not needed is degradation of the land and water sheds, the air we breathe and unresonable intrusion of homes with drilling too close to houses. The energy extraction industries have a history in Colorado of pushing what rules there are to the limit, and over, and leaving a mess behind that citizens have to clean up. The industry will be here as long as there is gas to be found and there will be jobs. What has to happen is some tighter regulations with substantial penalties for not observing the rules. That will not kill the industry or jobs in the area but it will help to reclaim the land and public infrastructure after the drillers have departed.
Posted February 25th, 2008 at 7:13 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Obviously John B and I need to take a few days and drive around in areas that have been drilled over 30 years ago so he can show me the environmental destruction.
But that won’t happen because John B can’t afford to have his fantasies destroyed by facts.
It’s a terrible thing to live in a fantasy world when you are surrounded by reality, is it not?
Posted February 26th, 2008 at 9:22 am Login to Send PM Report this comment
Can I bring the beer?
Posted February 26th, 2008 at 10:22 am Login to Send PM Report this comment
Sure, It’ll help soften the irrational blather we’ll probably have to listen to….(Bad me, I made another assumption…)
Posted March 2nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
John B, please refer to the specific regulations that you think are being disregarded. Since the oil and gas industries are already heavily regulated and spend millions of dollars per year on restoring/preserving the environment, I am curious as to which regulations are not being followed. I am especially looking forward to the facts you have about the “energy extraction industries have a history in Colorado of pushing what rules…… ” Exactly where did this happen, when, and what rules were “pushed to the limit”? I would like to hear of all the examples since you say there is a history of this, but FACTS only, not your opinion. Please include the exact regulation(s) so that I can look it(them) up.
Also I would like to see how home owners who build 5000 sq foot+ houses in the wooded areas around our Colorado ski areas and tourist towns (thereby destroying habitat and ruining wildlife areas)restore that area when they move - can you let me know please? Again, please refer to the exact regulation so I can look that up. How about those ski areas also? Are they regulated enough or should we just shut them down and restore those areas?
Thanks - I am sure you have these facts right at hand so I will stay on and wait.
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