John Hickenlooper, Denver’s current mayor and candidate for Colorado’s 2010 Governor race, is continuing his bid to show Coloradans who can worship the most at the feet of the business community: himself or Con candidate Scott McInnis. Coloradans are looking for a choice, Mayor. If you try to paint yourself as Republican-lite, Coloradans will choose the true Republican.
What has raised my ire today? Another Denver Post article detailing the mayor’s words at a Chamber of Commerce meeting yesterday. According to the mayor, Colorado is now known as an anti-business state, Ritter sided with “overboard” environmentalists and raising taxes in a recession is “crazy”.
At this point, Hick is going to have to work very, very hard to secure my vote this November. I don’t want a person with a “D” after their name in the Governor’s mansion governing like he wants to be a Con. Continue Reading →
If the Cons want to blame something for the loss of jobs, maybe they should look to the oil and gas corporations instead of the Democrat in the Governor’s seat. If production was up in 2009 (to record levels for natural gas and near-record levels for oil) and workers were laid off, then aren’t the corporations at fault?
In fact, 1,773 new wells were placed in 2009. While that is a decrease from 2008, the number of wells drilled in CO exceeded the number in Wyoming and New Mexico. According to the fear-mongering Republicans, however, the oil and gas industry was going to leave CO for our neighboring states because of the new rules implemented by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. That obviously didn’t happen, just as a couple of us here at SquareState accurately predicted.
Are the rules delaying the permit approval process, another claim the Republicans made time and time again in 2009? No. The average time to approve a drilling permit fell from 96 to 25 days, a huge improvement demonstrating that government works!
To recap: Republicans were flat wrong about drillers leaving the state. Republicans were flat wrong about the oil and gas industry suffering under responsible, common-sense rules that went into effect last year. Republicans were flat wrong about permits taking longer due to too much government interference.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, now running to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, made his intentions regarding drilling on Colorado’s West Slope known about a week ago. His statement doesn’t spark any confidence that he’ll deliver messages in ways that voters will respond. In fact, it’s an early signal that the message Massachusetts voters sent have yet to be heard in this part of the country (timing of the two events notwithstanding). If Hick wants to be the next Governor of Colorado, he has a steep learning curve ahead of him.
Two articles from the ProgressNow Daily News Digest caught my eye this morning. The first is about additional clean energy development in Colorado. The other puts violent speech from a Con politician on display.
I’ll start with the clean energy story: potential development in the San Luis Valley that is being looked at by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as part of an effort to build solar power infrastructure on public space in six Western states. Unlike Rep. John Salazar, who would rather condemn the planet to thousands of years of harsh climate than stand up to oil and gas corporations, Sec. Salazar’s Interior Dept. obviously understands the dangers involved. And while Sec. Salazar might have a level of political cover that Rep. Salazar doesn’t enjoy, one need only look at Rep. Markey’s principled vote and courageous stand against Colorado’s most extreme politicians to understand that that political cover isn’t necessary to act.
Some details:
Salazar said he has signed an order setting aside more than 1,000 square miles of public land for two years of study and environmental reviews to determine where solar power stations should be built.
Parcels include 10,000 acres that sit on the east side of U.S. 285 between Antonito and the state line and just under 6,000 acres west of Romeo. A fourth parcel covers 4,000 acres northeast of the intersection of U.S. 160 and Colorado 150.
Salazar vowed to have 13 ‘‘commercial-scale’’ solar projects under construction by the end of 2010 on lands that have what he called excellent solar energy potential and limited conflicts with wildlife, other natural resources and land users. He set a goal for the projects to produce a total of 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.
The oil and gas drilling rules that were established by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission have passed through the state House and as of today were initially passed by the state Senate (a committee, perhaps? the article doesn’t say). Final approval is still required by the full Senate and of course requires Governor Ritter’s signature.
From the Post article:
The Republicans hoped to increase certain protections for drinking water and to raise fines for some rules violations in exchange for stripping out a number of regulations.
Democrats summarily rejected the change, and, afterward, Republicans conceded the fight in the legislature is basically over.
Sen. Penry continues to project how the Cons operate:
“There are a lot of Democrats with reservations about this,” Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, asserted. “But they’re moving with lockstep discipline. They didn’t give an inch today.”
I certainly wouldn’t say Democrats ever move with lockstep discipline. These rules are two years in the making, coming after numerous public comment sessions and being watered down from their original state. Instead, a more appropriate story-line would be that the Cons’ 2009 session strategy of delay and distract ended up not waylaying these rules, at least up to this point.
Indeed, as johne demonstrated yesterday at SquareState, their distracting talking points haven’t stood up to the reality of the marketplace (what else is new?): as oil prices came off their record highs last summer, oil drillers found it wasn’t as profitable to keep drilling at the break-neck pace they had up until late last year.
This Denver Post article at least recognizes this:
Republicans say the rules also impose new costs on drilling companies, which have significantly scaled back their operations across the West in response to the flagging economy. Those costs could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars extra per well, said Sen. Al White, R-Hayden.
The truth is the fossil fuel drilling industry is scared of losing their stranglehold on uncontrolled drilling. They haven’t been faced with working with others before this and like other Cons are terrified of progress and inclusion.
The fossil fuel drilling industry has operated too long without reasonable restraint. If these rules are implemented and enforced (quite a different story altogether, unfortunately), Coloradans will be allowed to play on a field that’s a little more level. Hopefully news comes tomorrow that the full Senate voted for the rules.
This news was triggered into my memory this morning by a news report on the radio that a number of drillers were at the state Capitol yesterday urging postponement of the new rules’ passage. I wrote recently that Con leaders are quite purposefully framing the issue as costing drilling areas jobs. As usual, the Cons are pulling a job on those workers and the rest of the public. Drilling jobs are being lost because our economy is in free-fall – set up through a long period of Con economic policies being in place. If those workers are upset about their jobs being cut (justifiably so, btw), they need to petition those who really are responsible: their former employers. Drilling corporations aren’t slashing jobs because of a piece of legislation being debated in CO’s legislature. That’s absurd. But those corporations, and their elected official lackeys like Sen. Shawn Mitchell, Sen. Balmer, and Rep. Gardner have successfully deflected all that righteous anger at an unpassed set of rules.
The truth is the fossil fuel drilling industry is scared of losing their stranglehold on uncontrolled drilling. They haven’t been faced with working with others before this and like other Cons are terrified of progress and inclusion. For the first time, environmental concerns will also be brought to the attention of regulators. The tourism industry in Colorado consistently brings in more money to the state than do drilling operations. That industry has been negatively impacted by drilling activity but hasn’t had an equal seat at the table to determine where and how drilling should occur.
Two relevant quotes can be found in the article:
“Everybody can co-exist,” he [Keith Goddard of Rifle] said. “But the oil and gas companies have been able to do whatever they please. And the wildlife takes a back seat to it.”
“We’re seeing major issues with all the businesses, not just the ones directly involved with oil and gas,” [Rob] Cose said. “You have cafes that are struggling because people aren’t spending money.”
Reasonable people can see the validity of such statements. Ideologues like Mitchell and others only want to inflame people – not help solve their problems.
I was disappointed to read that President Obama has taken NAFTA renegotiation of the table. American workers are suffering because of failed “free-trade” policies. If he wants high employment and a strong economy, protecting our workers is a primary way to get there. This is a result of the people Obama has put into power.
Another 627,000 jobs were lost in the Economy Bush Built. Net job losses could total 700,000 for February. Good thing corporate profits were setting records as late as last year. I’d hate to think the economy was bad or something.
About one in four people with a mortgage owe more than their homes are worth. One of Obama’s solutions is to force lenders to re-negotiate mortgage terms. The lending industry, who got us into this mess in the first place, is objecting to the plan. As usual, they’re also not proposing any kind of solution. Doing nothing will all but destroy our economy.
David Harsanyi continues his crusade against America with his op-ed this week. He claims taxes, extreme government spending and wealth redistribution are patriotic in an attempt to slam President Obama’s recovery plans. In Con Fantasy Land, it seems tax reductions are now called tax increases. Similarly, the past 8 years of keeping occupations off the budget and creating the largest government program in 30 years (that doesn’t work with its peers) went by uncommented since it was a Con “president” who proposed the “extreme government spending”. Last but not least, Harsanyi’s characterization of wealth redistribution comes across as pathetic after we’ve seen the effects of Bush’s “tax cuts”. Americans were sure glad to get one two grand back (the first year only) they were passed weren’t they? Oh, except for the richest 1%. They’re keeping hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per year thanks to Bush’s tax cuts. Wealth redistribution indeed. And what’s up with this:
Yes, the same Freddie and Fannie — once implicitly guaranteed by government and now explicitly run by government — that helped, through social engineering, to push us into recession.
I wish the rest of us had figured out what the great sage Harsanyi did – Fannie and Freddie (with Cons leading them right up through the beginning of this horrible recession) were so unbelievably powerful. Cons love their conspiracy theories. I learned an important lesson during the Bush years. When a Con says something, the reality is exactly opposite.
A Colorado constitutional rewrite is being seriously considered by more and more people. State spending is affected by numerous, conflicting amendments. Colorado can either lose out on education, health care and prisons or a group of adults (hopefully) can come together and implement realistic solutions. If a Constitutional Convention is called, one potential flaw is they can rewrite any part of the Constitution they want. It would be nice if people who were convinced government can’t operate weren’t put in charge of that government. It simply makes no sense.
On a positive note for science, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory is scheduled to launch Tuesday. The polar-orbiting satellite will measure oxygen-to-carbon ratios to indicate where carbon sources and sinks are at. My fear is that carbon sources will be found to be larger and more prevalent than carbon sinks. There are already indications that the warming oceans are soaking up less carbon every year, allowing the atmosphere and oceans to warm up even further.
The 2009 Colorado legislative session is underway and the Colorado Cons have made their intentions and general strategy quite clear. They will spend the 120 legislative days delaying the work of the legislature and distracting from actual problems in the lead-up to next year’s elections. A frame is being established and Democrats need to ensure things get done despite the wasteful tactics the Cons are employing.
Example #1: State Sen. Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield) led an attack on regulations that were released last month by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. He and his followers are using a false talking point in an attempt to eviscerate the regulations at the behest of the fossil fuel industry. The talking point: any amount of regulation on industry activities will cause a devastating impact on the industry. Instead of being manhandled by regulations, drilling corporations have consistently threatened to pull up their stakes and move to other states to do business. This threat is simply ridiculous: would corporations willingly give up millions of dollars of profits in the face of justified regulatory activity? Of course not. But they keep pushing it nonetheless.
State Sen. David Balmer, not to be “out-talking pointed”, provided the following:
“By every metric I could see … the oil and gas business is declining in Colorado”
Sen. Balmer must not be looking very hard for metrics. Oil and gas drilling operations have exploded across the state in the past 8 years, even during 2 years of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter’s term. I have a question for Sen. Balmer: what is the state of Colorado getting out of all of this new drilling? More crime, more pollution, more use of taxpayer-funded infrastructure (that the oil and gas corporations are not helping to pay for, by the way) and more negative impacts on tourism (hunting and camping, among others). Meanwhile, Colorado isn’t receiving the tax payments it’s due because of an old exemption put in place to help the oil and gas industry establish themselves in the state. Well, they’re plenty established, but still aren’t paying their fair share. But they’ll happilly fear-monger the populace into believing they’ll leave if the status quo changes. As an added note, Harris Sherman is quoted in the article as identifying falling commodity prices as the primary reason the gas industry has slowed down from its record pace last year. Maybe Sen. Balmer should spend some more time in a basic economics course before throwing around b.s. causes.
Lawmakers will be allowed to amend the proposed regulations prior to their enactment. I hope CO Democrats will not allow the Cons to wreck the process, which has already taken years.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission passed a series of rules Tuesday (and I nearly missed the news) that addresses the impact that oil and gas drilling has on Colorado. The rules were established in response to a 2007 law passed by the Colorado Democratic-led legislature requiring oil and gas development to be balanced against protection of public health, the environment and wildlife.
The Grand Junction Sentinel article I link to above is kind of light on details beyond that general statement – big surprise, I know. A lot of the article is spent on a single issue that didn’t garner unanimous approval. One substantial item that the article does bring up is the following:
Commissioners are scheduled to continue their final deliberations through Thursday. Two key areas still awaiting final action involve wildlife protections and stricter drilling pit requirements.
I know there has been some real debate surrounding those wildlife protections. One recommendation included limited oil and gas well drilling during small portions of wildlife cycles. Those restrictions could have easily been exempted if operators could demonstrate a small impact on wildlife. As with almost any issue, the oil and gas industry screamed to everybody listening that it would mean the downfall of their industry in the state. In fact, they were threatening to pull up stakes and move to more “business-friendly” states. The Commission responded as most regulators do by backing off the recommendation, despite proof of current and real impacts on wildlife. It’s another reason I want to see the oil and gas industry’s influence lessen and end one day. Getting everything they want is the only form of compromise they understand. Fine, when they’re irrelevant, it won’t matter what they want.
Since the corporate media article is light on details, I’m going to have to do some research to find what rules were passed and give my take on what I think they mean. Of course, a couple of decisions haven’t been made yet, so maybe the Sentinel will write a more detailed article when everything is settled. In any event, I’ll return to this subject as soon as I have those details.
George Bush decided not to change the number of troops holding down our occupation of Iraq for the remainder of his time in office. Like the courageous visionary he is, he’s leaving the decision to the next President.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission staff recommended the elimination of the proposed 90-days drilling restriction in some wildlife areas. Imagine if instead of spending millions on lobbying, fuel corporations spent that money on developing new technologies. Imagine if their actions were responsible and moral.
Sarah Palin’s Alaska is a welfare state. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Where does all that money come from to spend on each resident? The rest of the country’s taxpayers. Leeches! The last paragraph sums up the situation very nicely (emphasis in bold is mine):
Why is a windfall-profits tax good for Alaska but not for the U.S.? Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? People in Alaska are better than people in the rest of the U.S. They’re more American. Although there are small towns and farms and high school hockey teams in the lower 48, there are fewer down here, per capita, than in Alaska. And there are many more journalists and pollsters and city dwellers [and community organizers] and other undesirables who might benefit if every American had the same right to leech off the government as do the good citizens of Sarah Palin’s Alaska.
