Bonus Rant of the Week: Dem’s energy proposals will hurt the environment

Click on this link for the proposed legislation:

Legislation to Force Big Oil to Use Owned Leases Introduced Today

An excerpt:

“Earlier today, Reps. Emanuel, Hinchey, Markey, Rahall, Welch and Yarmuth held a press conference to discuss legislation that will compel oil companies to utilize the 68 million acres onshore and offshore that are being leased by big oil companies, but not used to produce energy. Two pieces of legislation to achieve this goal were introduced today: the Responsible Ownership of Public Lands Act and The Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2008.”

Let me explain what these Representatives are proposing here. Federal minerals are leased to oil and gas companies quarterly by the Bureau of Land Management. Companies nominate the lease parcels, and then they are auctioned to the highest bidder. A company owns the right to develop the resource on that lease for up to 10 years. Additionally, companies can hold a lease by production. In other words, if they drill a producing oil or gas well, they can hold the lease until production stops. This law would cut the life of a lease to 5 years, halving the amount of time companies have to develop a lease. Yes, companies do have a lot of land leased and even with today’s energy boom in full swing, they are developing very few of these investments. So why force them to?

I didn’t know it was the Democrat party’s goal to accelerate oil and gas drilling. Apparently some of our Representatives think that the rapid oil and gas development going on federally-owned minerals in the west isn’t quite quick enough. These politicians like to talk of “big oil,” then turn around and offer a proposal that would require “big oil” to expand even bigger to develop all their leases. That means more drill rigs, more roads, and more habitat fragmentation in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.

Our Dems in Colorado have been complaining that energy development is happening too quickly here, and are advocating that companies need to slow down. They urge development of alternative energy sources. I generally agree, and this proposal goes counter to both those goals. Western Democrats who advocate environmental causes need to step up and denounce this legislation. We in the west have been complaining that Washington isn’t listening to our concerns. Coloradans thought electing Democrats might help reflect our conservation ethic in Washington. Apparently, this is not happening. Either these politicians are extremely ignorant to the effects of this proposal, or they care little for the concerns of many Americans.