Kudos to The Daily Sentinel’s Mike Saccone (”State to study economic implications of overhaul of oil and gas regulations,” Apr. 29) for resolving the temporary confusion precipitated by Charlie Kerr’s letter (”Resolution will weaken COGCC rulemaking,” Apr. 28) as to Senate Joint Resolution 22, cosponsored by our Republican state Sen. Josh Penry.

First, as Sen. Penry accurately observed in response to my follow-up, and contrary to Kerr’s incorrect assertion, SJR 22 would not have “required” the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to do anything, but rather merely “urged” it to assess the economic impacts of its impending new rules prior to their finalization.

Second, as Sen. Penry also properly advised me, Gov. Bill Ritter’s administration — including Director of Natural Resources Harris Sherman and COGCC Acting Director David Neslin — had already agreed with industry representatives to undertake such an assessment because of the magnitude and potential ramifications of new rules.

Third, while industry lobbyists have promoted “economic assessments” in other contexts to weaken environmental regulations (particularly, the Clean Air Act), it remains to be seen what effect the COGCC’s review will have on the strength of its new rules. Thus, Kerr’s letter was moot as to JSR 22 (which has already been withdrawn) and premature as to the actual effects of the COGCC’s assessment.

Credit also goes to Sen. Penry for promptly communicating accurate information to this constituent, despite his busy schedule and the daunting press of Senate business.

The upshot of our exchange — which also included Club 20’s Executive Director Reeves Brown — is that the oil and gas industry is not about to abandon Western Colorado, that the larger oil and gas operators are now working cooperatively with Gov. Ritter’s administration to promote responsible development, and that assessing and addressing the industry’s valid economic concerns will serve to overcome the last legitimate obstacle impeding implementation of a new and more balanced regulatory regime in Colorado.

BILL HUGENBERG
Grand Junction

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 10:32 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.