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When we hear a group ask lawmakers to legislate “balance,” our vision is of a circus tightrope walker. Sometimes this high-wire act involves a unicycle and a long pole, but the expert on the tightrope knows balance is the key to staying upright.
Unfortunately, efforts in the legislature this year to reshape the makeup and mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission will not create the balance supporters are touting. Quite the opposite. This legislation (House Bill 1341) will upset an equilibrium that has taken decades to achieve, tip the scales against the rights of mineral property owners, and further polarize the debate over responsible energy development in Colorado.
Among its most important duties, the commission settles technical and economic disputes between competing oil and gas property owners and companies. House Bill 1341 would require that most members of the commission have no background in the highly complex world of property rights and contracts inherent in oil and gas production and processing. It would also add the appointed heads of two state departments as ex officio voting members of the commission. How this attempt to reform a vital state commission somehow provides balance is very hard to see.
What I do see is an industry that is critical to the health of Colorado’s economy under attack. What other Colorado industry generates more than $20 billion in economic activity, 70,000 jobs and a steady stream of tax revenues and yet is subject to such criticism and misunderstanding as oil and gas? Yes, the pace of energy development has increased across Colorado and the Rockies, but so has America’s demand for domestic energy to fuel a growing economy.
Energy producers in Colorado comply with a wide spectrum of regulations designed to protect public health, safety, the environment and wildlife. This complex, often overlapping web of local, state and federal regulations is based on decades of interaction between government, the public and the industry. But House Bill 1341 would reduce the level of technical expertise on the commission while at the same time increase the complexity of the issues to be considered. Some balance.
Another proposed change would allow the new commission to prohibit development of natural gas in certain undefined situations. This idea has two problems: First, these minerals are private property thatthe state cannot take without just compensation. There’s no way to tell whose property would be deemed “politically incorrect” and taken under this new law. Second, Colorado’s economy — and that of the West — is growing, with increasing demands for clean-burning fuels to generate electricity for homes, businesses, computers and hybrid cars. Arbitrarily restricting supply will only lead to shortages and higher prices.
We understand that some people who live in communities where development is occurring don’t believe the COGCC listens or responds to their concerns.
We also know that regulations governing our business must continue to evolve to protect public health and the environment, and to reflect constantlychanging technology. We will continue to work with state, federal and local officials, and concerned citizens to identify genuine issues, create solutions, and support a strong and effective COGCC able to do its job while holding every company to high standards of operation.
The COGCC faces many challenges as it balances private property and contract rights, the need for affordable, reliable supplies of energy, and protection of the environment, safety, wildlife, and other community values. House Bill 1341 does not balance the commission’s role. Instead, it skews the process and will likely lead to bureaucratic gridlock and higher energy prices. Colorado energy producers and consumers deserve a thoughtful, measured approach instead of this new, untested regulatory scheme.
Stan Dempsey is president of the Colorado Petroleum Association.
READER COMMENTS
Wait a minute. Did I miss something? Didn't HB1314 EXPAND the COGCC? It did not REMOVE any seats, it just added some. So what's the harm in that? I could see your point if the bill would replace reps with oil and gas and property rights expertise, but this Bill doesn't do that. These new reps will come up to speed on these issues, so I don't see the problem.
However, I do agree with your last two points. These are FEDERAL minerals we are talking about--states have little/no power. Nice attempt, but if people want to make a difference, things need to happen at the federal level.
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