Coyote Gulch

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Iraq
From today's Denver Post, "In the run-up to the war in 2003, a Denver Post poll indicated that 53 percent of Coloradans supported a war with Iraq. Other questions in the wide- ranging poll conditioned the slim margin of support on expectations for finding weapons of mass destruction and direct links to terrorist networks, said pollster Floyd Ciruli. The poll was taken after the president's State of the Union address in 2003, as he laid out a case for war. About the same time, a Washington Post poll showed that 66 percent of Americans favored the war. Said war opponent Jane Heppinger of Fountain on Friday: "We tried to tell them.'"

Yahoo! News: "Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave 'any time they want,' though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training. The embattled prime minister sought to show confidence at a time when congressional pressure is growing for a withdrawal and the Bush administration reported little progress had been made on the most vital of a series of political benchmarks it wants al-Maliki to carry out."
"2008 pres"
9:31:35 AM

Energy policy: Oil and gas development

The Durango Herald has some background on newly minted Colorado Oil and Gas Commissioner, and Hesperus resident, Thomas Compton. From the article:

Hesperus resident Thomas Compton was among five new members appointed to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Thursday by Gov. Bill Ritter. Compton joins Durango resident Kimberlee Gerhardt, who was reappointed to the commission, as Southwest Colorado's representatives on the commission...

Compton is the owner of Compton Cattle Co. in Hesperus, a commercial beef enterprise, and is vice president of the Colorado Rural Electric Association board of directors and served on the governor's task force on Colorado roadless areas.

Here's some background on Trési Houpt, new commissioner from Garfield County, from The Glenwood Springs Post Independent. From the article:

Garfield County Commissioner Trési Houpt has a chance to give local government a voice on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission...

"I'm absolutely honored to have been selected by the governor. I think this is an incredible opportunity for the state of Colorado to really put together a reasonable and responsible and well-balanced approach to permitting applications," Houpt said. "We now have people on the commission who have environmental backgrounds, public health backgrounds and wildlife backgrounds." In addition to serving as a county commissioner, Houpt chairs Colorado Counties Inc.'s Land Use and Natural Resources Committee and is a member of the National Association of Counties Environment, Energy and Land Use Committee...

In the past, five of seven COGCC members had oil and gas development backgrounds, Houpt said. "It's a broad based commission now, so we can look at all of the various issues surrounding the placement of industry," she said. She heard Ritter's announcement while traveling and was reached via telephone from Chicago O'Hare Airport. She was on her way to a National Association of Counties conference.

Houpt, a Democrat, said she became very involved in the discussion regarding the bill reconfiguring the COGCC and was very happy when it passed. "As I continued to see energy development grow in our county, I began to realize how important it was to bring some kind of balance to the decision-making," she said. Houpt said the previous COGCC didn't have the ability to be as balanced. "I don't think the laws really gave the previous commission the tools they needed to be balanced," she said. The previous COGCC was charged with approving oil and gas permitting that was promoted in the state of Colorado, she said, and no one was charged with looking at the environmental, wildlife or public health issues. In Garfield County, Houpt believes a few of the important issues that need to be looked at are well density, proximity to homes and other structures, and the impacts on neighbors and those who have the resources beneath their property.
"2008 pres"
8:55:20 AM