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The dismantling of the Utah and Colorado oil and gas industry ran into a snag recently. It was not one from Colorado but Republican Sen. Bob Bennett from Utah. According to The Daily Sentinel, he told a radio station in Salt Lake City that Ken Salazar was driving natural gas producers out of Utah.
“DOI keeps changing the rules,” Bennett claimed. “It changed the rules on the oil and gas leases and now is changing the rules on the department’s review of the secretary’s unilateral decision to cancel 77 gas leases in Utah.” As a result, Bennett has a hold on the appointments for Salazar’s chief legal adviser and the deputy Interior secretary.
The bulk of Colorado’s oil and gas production is in Congressman’s John Salazar’s 3rd Congressional District. This district is one of the largest and most diverse in the nation and spans 29 counties. The landmass is half the entire state of Colorado. The district includes gas-producing areas such as Mesa, Garfield, Rio Blanco, La Plata, and Las Animas counties. Google “Colorado’s Third Congressional District” and check out the map.
John Salazar’s political interests seem to be aligned with his brother Ken. Based on his voting record, he has no interest in the oil and gas business. He voted “Yes” on removing oil and gas subsides, “No” on authorizing the construction of new refineries and “Yes” on all renewable energy projects.
So who is representing the political interests of the oil and gas industry on the Western Slope? It is not D-Governor Bill Ritter. It is not our two Colorado senators, who vote the Democratic Party line and it is not our representative, John Salazar.
To fix this mess, we need a new congressman and some serious redistricting.
BILL MCKNIGHT
Grand Junction
2 Responses to “Who is protecting West Slope oil and gas interests?”
Posted May 13th, 2009 at 8:18 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
The only thing needed to “fix” energy companies is a rebound in the workd economy which will increase the demand for energy and will raise the price of the natural resource. Once that happerns, it won’t matter how many regulations or where. If it can pay for itself someone will find a way to extract and use it.
True of here in Colorado, or Wyoming or PA or wherever you want to look.
Posted May 14th, 2009 at 12:10 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Who is protecting Western Slope Oil and Gas interest? Kathy Hall, Josh Penry,Laura Bradford,Steve King, GJ Chamber of Commerce, Oil and Gas Companies, and thousands of others are trying to protect them . As oneperson noted above, “a rebound in the workd economy which will increase the demand for energy and will raise the price of the natural resource. Once that happerns, it won’t matter how many regulations or where.” I don’t know why this is so difficult to understand.
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