German Gonzalez-Flores
III. 3/1: Lakewood, Colorado
In the third hearing conducted by the Bureau of Land Management on mitigating methane emissions, Coloradans packed the hearing room at the Denver Lakewood Holiday Inn on March 1 in Lakewood, Colorado to commend the BLM for proposing new safeguards on methane pollution on public lands. Lasting four hours and occurring on the state’s caucus day, faith leaders, mitigation industry professionals, ranchers, sportsmen, elected officials, taxpayer justice advocates, affected community members, health professionals, moms, veterans, and environmentalists testified in favor of the rules and urged BLM to strengthen them even further. The rule was supported by a margin of 58-9.
Many cited the importance of being good stewards of the land and curbing waste of a public resource, as well as the significant improvements to public health these standards offer. Others were concerned with the dangerous climate impacts of methane, which the BLM is working to correct via leak detection technology and repair requirements; these are already required in Colorado and in neighboring Wyoming. Colorado also has the distinction of being the first state in the country to pass rules for emissions reductions that are targeted directly at gas and oil companies.
Many concerned citizens and environmentalists feel that these regulations are not nearly enough, arguing the leak inspections should be happening quarterly instead of annually.
Elected officials from the home rule municipalities of Carbondale and Glenwood Springs officially endorsed the agency’s rulings, as well as Western Colorado Congresswoman Emily Hornback and Grand Junction City council member Bennett Boeschenstein.
“The rule would result in companies often bringing more gas to market, boost royalties for the public and create a level regulatory playing field from state to state”, commented Boeschenstein.
A letter to the BLM, expressing “our support for a strong rule to protect taxpayers and our public resources from undue waste by ensuring that the flaring, venting and leakage of methane during oil and gas production is governed by common sense rules on federal public gas air quality rules in the nation” was signed by twenty-six elected officials from the state to the BLM. The document commended the state for its status as a trailblazer for emissions reduction. It also represented signatures from primarily the central and western regions of the state: two Glenwood Springs city councilors, the entire Carbondale Town Council, the mayors of Aspen and Basalt, and commissioners from Eagle, Pitkin, La Plata, and Summit counties.
“Colorado has already shown leadership in this matter by issuing the strongest state-based oil and gas air quality rules in the nation,” the letter states. “These sensible rules were lauded by industry and environmentalists alike and can be an example that the BLM draws from nationally.”
The problem of curbing emissions to keep them in-state still remains an issue, which was also addressed in the letter.
“For Colorado, however, pollution from our neighboring states does not stop at the Colorado border, and the BLM must do more to protect taxpayers by addressing the lost royalties that would otherwise benefit Coloradans locally and nationally.”
From the opposing side, Andrew Browning of Consumer Energy Alliance stated the ruling would increase cost and decrease production of natural gas during this tense debate period, while Kathleen Sgamma of Western Energy Alliance- an industry group focused on federal legislative, regulatory, environmental, public lands and other policy issues -excoriated the rule proposed by the writers of the letter described above.
Patrick Von Bargen, executive director of the Center for Methane Emissions Solutions, sees how both sides of the issue could reach a consensus.
“Since the implementation of Colorado’s regulations, referred to as Colorado Regulation 7, the methane mitigation industry has grown substantially in Colorado, which is now third in terms of the number of methane mitigation companies”, said Von Bargen in a conference call with reporters on Monday. “Oil and gas producers are seeing a benefit by capturing revenue that otherwise would be lost.”
Ultimately, Colorado remains in a unique position as the first state to step up and take major action to regulate emissions, while also being pulled in different directions from both sides of the spectrum on how to save money, create jobs, and reduce emissions.
At this point the state is bound to the April 8th public comment deadline, though state officials want to extend the date further.