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Sunday, December 14, 2008
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Since oil shale has been the "Next Big Thing" around Colorado for over a hundred years conservation groups are hoping that the Obama administration will slow things down a bit on the development side particularly since there is no commercial scale technology available for environmentally safe production yet. Here's a report from Philip Yates writing in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. He writes:
Twenty-one conservation and environmental groups have requested that the incoming Obama administration withdraw recently released commercial oil shale regulations. The groups asked Carol Browner, who heads President-elect Barack Obama's Energy and Environment Policy Working Group and who has been picked to coordinate energy policy from the White House, to withdraw the regulations and review current oil shale policy largely because the research and development program for oil shale extraction "remains in its infancy."
Shell Exploration and Production, Chevron and American Shale Oil collectively hold five 160-acre research and development leases in northwest Colorado. No company has yet submitted any formal proposal to the BLM to begin developing its experimental lease, according to the agency. "A commercial leasing program cannot be properly developed until the results of (the research and development program) are known and analyzed, and this is expected to take more than one decade," the groups' letter said. "As the Department of the Interior readily acknowledges, oil shale development will compromise the region's scarce water supplies, degrade sensitive wildlife habitats, and further impact local communities already suffering degraded air quality because of unprecedented oil and gas drilling."
The Western Colorado Congress, the Colorado Environmental Coalition, the Wilderness Society and Aspen-based EcoFlight were some of the groups that signed the letter, which was sent to Browner earlier this month...
The groups' request to the Obama administration comes as several environmental groups consider launching a possible lawsuit against the federal government for allegedly violating federal law by not allowing the public to protect land use changes that opened 2 million acres in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to potential oil shale development. That decision, along with the release of the regulations, largely clears the way for eventual oil shale leasing. However, that won't come for several years because of additional environmental analysis that must occur, the BLM has said. The regulations, required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, will become effective on Jan. 17, according to the Federal Register.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"cc"
7:58:21 AM 
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Here's Part 1 of Bob Berwyn's look at some of the items on conservationists' list of changes they'd like to see in an Obama administration, from the Summit Daily News. From the article:
Conservationists hope that the incoming Obama administration will boost protection for national forest roadless areas and make other changes aimed at conserving natural resources. Some shifts in policy will take time to implement, but in some key areas, the changes could be immediate and dramatic, and will be felt on national forest lands in Summit County, according to Andy Stahl, director of a watchdog group called Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. The Portland-based organization is comprised of current and former agency employees, and offers cover for whistle-blowers along with closely tracking and analyzing Forest Service policies. Stahl said standard moves during a transition include the immediate suspension of any rule-making processes and the withdrawal of non-finalized rules.
The most sudden changes could affect a contested set of rules for managing inventoried roadless areas, including about 60,000 acres of White River National Forest land in Summit County. A national rule adopted at the end of the Clinton era, as well as a different rule developed by Bush appointees, have both been the subject of back-and-forth battles in federal court. The Clinton rule gives the most stringent protection for roadless areas, based on their importance as watersheds, wildlife habitat and buffers against invasive weeds. "The Obama administration is much more apt to defend the (Clinton) roadless rule," said former Deputy Forest Service Chief Jim Furnish, who helped push the rule during the waning days of the Clinton administration. The Bush rule involved a state-by-state petitioning process. In Colorado, that created allowances for oil and gas extraction, ski-area development and logging...
Stahl said he expects the U.S. Department of Justice to drop support for the Bush rule and vigorously defend the Clinton rule. The change could take effect as soon as Obama's incoming justice department officials sit down at their desks in January, Stahl said, adding that conservation groups already have started lobbying the transition team on key issues...
Under the Bush administration, the Forest Service also adopted regulations that drastically cut public involvement and environmental studies associated with developing national forest plans. Agency officials said the goal was to speed planning and implementation, cut red tape and reduce planning costs, but the change widely was seen as a serious blow to resource protection and public involvement. The planning rule has also been tangled up in court, and was rejected by a federal judge in California last year. Stahl said he can't see the Obama administration defending the Bush rule in court, especially given the unfavorable decision by the federal court in California. Stahl and Furnish said they expect the new administration to reverse course and go back to an earlier version that requires a high level of environmental scrutiny and public participation...
A critical part of the planning rule that was eliminated by the Bush administration involves a requirement that the Forest Service maintain viable populations of species across forests. Stahl said that part of the rule is the linchpin for making sure that the agency develops ecologically sound plans. Several forest plans in Colorado have been caught in the gap between rules. Most recently, the agency issued a draft plan for the Comanche National Grassland in southeastern Colorado that carves out large areas for oil and gas drilling without offering substantial protection for a slew of rare species that live in the remote prairie and canyons...
Obama is on record as supporting domestic energy development; that could leave some of western Colorado's wild areas in the crosshairs. "He's made some statements about aggressively pursuing natural gas development," said local wilderness advocate Currie Craven. "It raises the question of how much understanding there is of western land-use issues in the Obama camp. How much of a change (from Bush) is there really going to be, with regard to extracting fossil fuels?" Much could depend on who runs the agencies at a political level. An undersecretary in the Department of Agriculture is generally responsible for implementing policy, and Stahl said that numerous groups are already lobbying to get certain people appointed to key slots.
"colorado water"
7:45:12 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 3:27:18 PM.
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