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Friday, March 21, 2008
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From The Denver Post editorial staff: "The Post supports House Bill 1161 in its current form. We had reservations about the bill as introduced, but it has been substantially improved by its sponsors, Fort Collins Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas, after repeated meetings with mining industry representatives, local officials and environmental groups...But mounting concerns over global climate change have spurred new interest worldwide in nuclear power. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized subsidies for up to six new reactors in the United States. Meanwhile, China, India and Japan are looking at nuclear to reduce their dependence on coal. That surge in demand has sparked renewed interest in Colorado uranium, especially in a new 'in-situ' process that promises to mine uranium more cheaply and with less environmental disturbance than the old open-pit mines... The trick is to be sure that the new mines are monitored to ensure they meet water standards. And that's where HB 1161 comes in...Fischer, an engineer, and Kefalas have worked diligently to craft a balanced bill that won't ban uranium mining in Colorado but will help ensure that the water supplies vital to agriculture and municipal use aren't sacrificed in a new mining boom. It deserves to become law."
"2008 pres"
7:20:45 AM 
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From The Jackson Hole Star Tribune: "Federal officials have extended the comment period on a proposal to open nearly 2 million acres of federal land in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado to commercial oil shale development. The deadline for comments on the draft proposal was Thursday. The Bureau of Land Management has decided to accept comments for 30 more days after getting requests from water managers, conservationists and local governments in Colorado. The BLM has proposed opening federal land in western Colorado, eastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming to oil shale development. Experts estimate nearly a billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the shale once the technology is perfected."
Governor Ritter is telling the feds to slow down on oil shale development, according to The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:
Gov. Bill Ritter encouraged the Bureau of Land Management on Thursday to hold off on allowing commercial oil shale development in northwest Colorado, citing the "serious risk" of "tremendous adverse impacts" on the state's water, wildlife and public lands. In a letter to the BLM, Ritter said the federal government should wait until private companies can develop safe and efficient ways to develop commercial oil shale prior to permitting commercial development on federal land. "It is premature for the BLM to make any decisions that allocate federal land to a commercial leasing program through its resource management plans or otherwise," Ritter said. Ritter's letter came in response to the BLM's Oil Shale and Tar Sands Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, released in December...
The agency's preferred scenario called for the development of nearly 2 million acres of federal land and mineral estate, including nearly 360,000 acres southwest of Meeker and north of Parachute. Ritter called the BLM's preferred scenario "misguided and unacceptable." The governor said at this point the benefits of developing oil shale do not outweigh the need to preserve the region's wildlife, water and environmental resources...
"Yet another boom and bust cycle for energy development will be dire for Northwest Colorado, a region that retains considerable skepticism and frustration over the collapse of the oil shale boom of the 1970s," Ritter said. "Another failed attempt at oil shale development could preclude development of this nationally significant resource for decades."
"2008 pres"
7:04:37 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 2:15:00 PM.
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