Progress Now Action

Note to astroturf pro-oil demonstrators: if your bosses get "ruled out" of Colorado's vast trove of energy resources because they refuse to develop them responsibly, somebody willing to do so will replace them. And make boatloads of money.

That's called the marketplace.

Oil and gas rally asks: Please don't rule us out

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association held rallies in Greeley, Denver, Trinidad and Grand Junction to protest proposed regulation of the industry that they say is a complete rewrite of the rules that have governed the industry in Colorado. Industry official contend the new rules would choke the industry in Colorado.

"If we didn't have oil and gas in Weld County, that would mean that all of our property tax would be about 40 percent higher," he said. "That would not be a fun bill to pay."

Deb Frazier, spokeswoman Communications Director for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, which includes the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said the new rules won't destroy the industry in the state.

"We believe that the energy industry will continue to thrive," she said. "We believe that it can continue to thrive and protect our water shale and our environment." She also said the new rules are not a one size-fits-all solution and may not change that much in Weld.

Two simple points:

1. The idea that better protection for the environment and property owners is really going to "drive the energy industry out" of one of the most important reserves in the country is ridiculous. This is about a couple of extra percentage points on an energy company's bottom line versus irreplaceable land, water, and livelihoods. It should be an easy choice, and if the current leaseholders decide they can't drill without protecting the land around their site, they don't deserve to drill. Go ahead and get "ruled out" in that case, let those willing to follow the rules do it. But there's no real worry about that, since

2. The push for better regulation of oil and gas drilling in Colorado isn't happening in a vacuum:

Frazier said the state hasn't updated the rules since 1996 when there were only 1,000 requests for new drilling permits. Last year there were 6,300...

Really sounds like an industry on its last legs, doesn't it? They're not going anywhere. They'll be here playing by the rules even if they'd rather not have any rules. They need the resource every bit as much as we need them to extract it responsibly.

The energy industry is free to go on organizing fake protests, free to mislead their employees into believing that sensible environmental protections at drilling sites will cost them their jobs. Just like I tell my seven year old, they'll have to clean up either way, and throwing a staged tantrum won't convince anybody.