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Thursday, June 19, 2008
Energy industry ads draw fire
DENVER (AP) — An ad campaign by the oil and gas industry attacking “job-killing rules” proposed by Colorado regulators is drawing its own share of attacks.
Two trade groups bought ads in Colorado newspapers that ran this week to warn of a “looming threat to Colorado’s economy” from a proposed overhaul of the state’s oil and gas regulations, including a full-page ad published Wednesday.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association and the Colorado Petroleum Association have also bought time on radio stations to make their case, saying the new rules would threaten the livelihoods of more than 71,000 people who “go to work at good paying jobs with benefits in Colorado’s oil and gas industry.”
The ads are a lead-in to weeklong hearings on the proposed regulations starting Monday in Denver. The rules would put in place laws requiring that more weight be given to public health, wildlife and the environment when approving oil and gas development.
The problem with the ads, according to critics, is they’re inaccurate and misleading, from the number of oil and gas jobs in the state to the effects of new regulations.
“It’s just more of the same old scare tactics,” said Duke Cox, a western Colorado businessman and member of Western Colorado Congress, a conservation group.
The figure of 71,000 oil and gas jobs comes from a 2007 state-funded study that also said the industry contributed nearly $23 billion in direct and indirect economic benefits in Colorado in 2005. The figure’s been cited by industry officials, legislators and even Gov. Bill Ritter, whose “controversial political appointees” are criticized in the industry’s ads.
But state labor statistics for April list 27,700 jobs in natural resources and mining, which include the oil and gas industry.
The 70,779 jobs in the Colorado Energy Research Institute report encompass direct and indirect jobs as well as industries affected by oil and gas development.
“I think our economists would take some exception to how far that net is cast,” said Bill Thoennes, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Department economists said a total of 109,000 Colorado jobs could be considered energy related if everything from oil and gas drilling to renewable energy to truckers who deliver supplies is counted.
Thoennes said the number drops to roughly 25,000 when counting direct oil and gas jobs and some support positions. He said it could be argued that other industries are bolstered by Colorado’s natural gas boom. He added that the oil and gas industry has expanded by about 10 percent a year since 2001, making it one of the fastest-growing in the state.
Colorado is seeing record natural gas development, with 6,368 drilling permits issued last year and more expected this year.
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Enviros can’t stop Bull Mountain pipeline
A federal appeals court decision this week ends environmentalists’ efforts to stop construction of a natural gas pipeline through western Colorado roadless areas.
A three-judge 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has lifted a temporary injunction prohibiting construction on the Bull Mountain pipeline. The decision clears the way for work to proceed despite a pending lawsuit challenging the project.
Environmental group representatives said Thursday that even though the pipeline can’t be stopped, they might continue to pursue the lawsuit in order to seek a ruling on the larger question at stake.
“The issue of pipelines and roadless areas in general terms is still an important one, and one that can be addressed by this case,” said Dan Morse, public lands director for the High County Citizens’ Alliance.
On Wednesday afternoon, the court held a hearing in Denver on the environmental groups’ appeal of a federal judge’s earlier refusal to grant an injunction while the lawsuit continues.
On June 6, the appeals court agreed to impose a temporary injunction. Later Wednesday, the court said it was dissolving that injunction, and would issue an opinion on the merits of the case “in due course.”
The 25.5-mile pipeline will cross about eight miles of roadless areas in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests and White River National Forest. It will run from northwest Gunnison County to the Divide Creek area south of Silt.
Environmentalists say the project violates the federal government’s 2001 roadless rule, which bars road-building on about 58 million acres of forests. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management said the roadless rule doesn’t apply to temporary construction corridors.
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Mesa leads county list in payment program
Fifty-seven Colorado counties will receive more than $17 million in payments from the federal government under the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes program.
The payments go to counties with large holdings of federal lands and this year’s payments represent a 1.4 percent increase over last year.
Mesa County was the largest recipient in western Colorado, with $1.5 million. Other counties and their payments were:
— Delta County, $171,000;
— Garfield County, 1,078,000;
— Montrose County, $1.2 million;
— Rio Blanco County, $424,000.
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Apartment vacancy rate inches upward
The latest numbers from the Colorado Division of Housing show the apartment vacancy rate in Grand Junction has risen one-tenth of one percent in the first quarter of this year.
The vacancy rate is currently 1.8 percent, up from 1.7 percent in the last quarter of 2007. The numbers are an indicator of a tight rental market, which is seeing higher rents and fewer available apartments.
The average apartment rent in the Grand Junction area is $648 a month. Five years ago, in the first quarter of 2003, the average apartment rent was $473 a month, according to the division.
“Rents are up considerably. It jumped $50 from a couple quarters ago to this quarter,” said Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the division of housing. “Rents are just way up from what they were just a couple of years ago.”
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Thefts from vehicles problem for rafters
Cars parked by people taking weekend rafting trips have become easy targets of criminals who steal gas and break windows to get at valuables.
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking ways to protect parked vehicles along the Gunnison and Colorado rivers. The most popular target for thieves are at the Loma boat launch on the Colorado River and on the Gunnison River: The Bridgeport Road parking lot, the Escalante Canyon bridge, the Whitewater bridge on Colorado Highway 141, the Whitewater BLM parking lot and Escalante boat launches.
“We have had a lot of thefts from vehicle,” said Catherine Robertson, field manager for the Grand Junction office of the BLM.
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Gov. Ritter launches $10 million New Energy Communities Initiative
Gov. Bill Ritter announced today he is launching a $10 million New Energy Communities Initiative in partnership with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
“The New Energy Communities Initiative will reward local governments working collaboratively to position their communities at the forefront of the state’s New Energy Economy,” Gov. Ritter said in a news release.
The initiative will focus on three areas: greening public facilities, greening downtowns and greening homes.
Gov. Ritter made the announcement during a keynote address at the Colorado Municipal League’s annual conference in Steamboat Springs.
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Mesa County gets 10 minutes before COGCC
On Monday entities with “party status” will have an opportunity to make verbal arguments before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Mesa County will have just 10 minutes.
The United States Forest Service will have the least amount of time, 5 minutes before the board, while Gunnison and La Plata counties, along with the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, will have the most time allotted: 35 minutes each.
The news, presented to the commission Wednesday, drew cynical jeers and laughter from County Commissioner Craig Meis.
“This will be the best kangaroo court I’ve ever seen,” Meis said. “I can’t wait to watch it.”
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