Energy

The Roan Plateau, just north of I-70 and east of Grand Junction, is unmistakably a special piece of Colorado geography. It is the permanent or migratory habitat for some of our most prized wildlife. Despite a fairly significant amount of roads already and impacts from ranching and sportsmen, parts of the Roan remain largely undeveloped - and thus a prize to behold for environmental protectionists. Whatever bounty exists on the surface of the Roan is dwarfed, however, by the energy treasures that geologists say lie beneath it - an estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Years ago, Congress directed the Department of Interior to develop plans to permit more energy production on federal lands. The Roan study has involved seven years of public hearings and scientific research and input. Local citizens and governments that would obviously be heavily impacted by activity on the Roan have given testimony, written volumes of letters, and had opportunity for input throughout the process. Coalitions representing sportsmen, environmentalists, cattlemen, land owners, public service agencies, and energy companies have all had years of opportunity to effect the process.

With so many interests to be satisfied, it was apparent that compromises would need to be made and perhaps no one would be 100 percent happy with the final plan. In the end however, the process was widely applauded as transparent, comprehensive, and sensitive to the local communities and the specific nature of the Roan. The plan itself was hailed as perhaps the most restrictive, detailed, thorough plan of its kind ever devised. Only one percent of the surface may be disturbed at one time. Energy companies will of necessity have to pool resources, utilize the most modern technologies, and directionally drill to minimally impact the surface and still harvest the resources. Plus, before a new permit can be sought, restoration to a natural state must be completed on the previous site. In other words, only one site will be active at any given time. Nearly a third of the Roan is excluded completely for environmental concerns.

The essence of this "Phased Development" plan has been in the public domain for about a year, and consistent with the process on behalf of the State of Colorado, Governor Owens and his staff were given the opportunity to review and critique the final draft. Indeed, Owens' then Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Russell George, now a cabinet member under Governor Ritter, was largely the architect of this balanced approach. George is a resident of Rifle, next door to the Roan, and represented the region in the state legislature where he served as Speaker of the House. Still, that's not good enough for some. There has been a cry from the objectors for more study and more delay in recent weeks, including legislation introduced in Congress for a one year delay in permitting proposed by three Democrat members of Congress, namely the Salazar brothers and Mark Udall.

Evidence of how different people (editorial boards, in this case) can have the same facts but come to opposite conclusions appeared Tuesday morning, June 12, in the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post. The Rocky basically says "Enough already! Get on with it." The RMN editorial board sees through the thin veil of the dissenters who think more delay is necessary - "...none of these critics has given any indication the he'd be willing to let energy production on the plateau move forward in 2008, or 3008, for that matter."

The Post thinks we need to study it more and supports further delaying permitting as proposed by the Udall and the Salazars, and for good measure they suggest that Colorado's new Governor should get to respond, too. Ritter says he needs another four months to figure out what he thinks of the plan. But, during his campaign for Governor, he already sided with the Salazars who wanted to completely shut the Roan down to any energy production. I suspicion the Post knows what his response might be.

Following the Post’s logic, within another year we'll be looking at a new election and a new administration. Maybe that administration ought to get to review it, too, and maybe that administration might lean in the shut-it-down direction?

Preferring a utopian conclusion, the Post says "we think that's (a delay) appropriate to give the public, the government and oil and gas developers time to try to come up with a plan that works for everyone." Maybe someone should tell the Post that plan already exists. It's the same plan devised by Russell George that was agreed to by the local governments, environmentalists, and energy companies over a year ago. And, in reality, the Denver Post knows it.

The shut-it-down-completely crowd (of which the Post is supportive) will never be happy with any plan, regardless of how restrictive and protective of the Roan. So, as long as they have veto power through endless delays in the supposed quest for "a plan that works for everyone," they win. Which is exactly what they want and will torture the truth to get it.

Public process has a beginning and an end. It should not go on endlessly, though too often in government it does. Public process demands transparency, honesty, good-faith, and compromise. Not everyone can get their way, but if they are objective, everyone ought to at least agree that the process involving the Roan Plan has had all of the elements of good public process, and that process has reached its end.

I agree with the conclusion of the Rocky Mountain News: "Careful drilling on the plateau should have started long ago. Delaying it for another year serves no useful purpose - unless the real goal is to keep the Roan's immense natural gas reserves stuck right where they are."