Author Archives: Duke Cox

Industry Bigwig…CleanStim, Yes…Fat Tire, No.

9
  by: Duke Cox Sat April 20, 2013 at 2:10 PM MDT
In a recent editorial published in that local, daily Denver paper, well known oil industry hack and friend o' frackin', John Harpole, has drawn a clear line in the …well, hops..and announced his personal boycott of New Belgium Breweries' products.
 
New Belgium CEO Kim Jordan and her husband, Jeff Lebesch have been lavish in their support of the effort by communites and citizens across the state to restrict the potentially devastating process known as hydraulic fracturing. Mr. Harpole, the CEO of Mercator Energy,in a piece entitled, "New Belgiums' line on fracking is too tough to swallow" lays out his case.  

(more…)


Full story: Industry Bigwig…CleanStim, Yes…Fat Tire, No.

And now…announcing ” SuperFrack”!!

6
  by: Duke Cox Tue February 19, 2013 at 12:11 AM MDT

From the website, "Oilprice.com" comes the announcement of a trend I have mentioned before…more and more "fracks" per wellbore to release more natural gas. I will let the article, which I have edited for length, speak for itself.

Make sure you read through to the last paragraph, and then imagine the possibilities…

          ——————————————————————

Lower costs. Higher oil and gas recoveries.”

That's how Dan Themig, President of Packers Plus – a privately owned, Calgary-based fracking (completions) company – describes an interesting new development in fracking…a development that spells bigger profits for energy producers…

You see, Themig's new QuickFRAC® product is one great example of a new trend in fracking – one that gets away from the traditional horsepower model and into one a “Recovery Factor” (RF) model. (The RF approach looks to increase the amount of oil and gas recovered from a well. It's estimated that most wells recover just 5% -20% of the Original Oil in Place – also known as OOIP.)

The size of individual fracking operations has increased 10 times in the last decade, as the industry has grown and learned how to more effectively apply the technology.

Themig says the “sledgehammer approach” of more horsepower (in the form of pumping trucks at surface), more fluid and more proppant has been the industry norm for the last five years, but now the industry is getting smarter in order to increase production from wells.

“We want to reduce the amount of fluid used and maybe the amount of proppant. We can reduce the time and number of stages and get a more effective Recovery Factor.”

Fracking in 2004
This is the size of a frack job in 2004.

Fracking in 2008
This is the size of a frack job in 2008.

In the new, ever-longer horizontal wells being drilled, fracking is done in multiple stages – often every 100 metres.

QuickFrac can do multiple stages of fracks at the same time.
QuickFrac can do multiple stages of fracks at the same time.

Themig says that completing several fracking stages at once saves so much time, QuickFRAC can save 10% on overall well costs for a producer – often a $500,000 saving per well.

Having several fracks go into the formation at the same time also increases the amount of oil recovered from the well, Themig says. That’s because the rock holding the oil is being hit by huge pressures and vibrations on different sides at the same time, which creates more fractures in the rock.

“We drilled a $5 million well and decreased costs 10% by doing 24 stages in 10 hours,” Themig says. “Previously that would have taken 4-5 days using cement liners in the wellbore, and two days with our regular StackFRAC® technology.”

“And we increased the Recovery Factor by 30%-40%.”

Themig says The Future is using longer horizontal wells, and doing more frack stages per well, and QuickFRAC is positioned to help the industry make the evolution easy and profitable.

“The number of fracks are now far more than we ever thought it was going to be. In 2001 we thought 5-6 fracks be enough to frack a well. Then the industry moved to 12-15 per well now to over 30. Some customers want 40-60 fracks – consider how long it would take to do 60 fracks that are 4 hours each. The future looks like 60-100 stages in a lot of wells, depending on geologic needs.”

by. Keith Schaefer

 

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/A-New-Trend-in-Fracking-Emerges-The-Recovery-Factor.html

 

Sooo…if complete destabilization of the ground upon which you stand appeals to you….welcome to "SuperFrack"…coming soon to a watertable near you.


Full story: And now…announcing ” SuperFrack”!!

Ray Scott demonstrates profound dishonesty…or ignorance…you choose

12
  by: Duke Cox Mon January 21, 2013 at 7:58 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Representative Ray Scott of Mesa CountyВ introduced a bill into the Colorado Legislature on Friday that would exempt oil and gas wells permittedВ in the next two yearsВ from the states’ severance tax.В  В He claims the point is to help fund education, because after the two year free ride, he intendsВ subsequent severance taxes will be earmarked to fund college tuitions. Yeah, …right.

His supposition is that a freebie from the state is necessary and desirable to spur a slug of permits that will then create a resultant uptick in drilling, which will then spur job creation. He claims the idea is much like Amendment 58 which went down in 2008 by nearly 60 % at the ballot box…but it isn’t.

The Bill Ritter supported Amendment 58 would have raised severance taxes on O&G production and would have ended the decades long Ad Valorem Tax Credit that alreadyВ allows O&G companies to reduce their severance taxes in the amount of the property taxes they owe.В  This discount, which they alone enjoy, В amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes they don’t pay…year after year. To offer them another freebie and try to link it to a bill that did just the opposite to the industryВ isВ  plainly dishonest.

But, when you are a legislative toad for the oil and gas industry, you can never be quite dishonest enough…so Rep. Scott deals out this whopper…

 “The oil and gas industry in Colorado is arguably the largest industry in our state,

This , of course, is not true…and I believe Ray Scott knows it. В O&G are part of the energy and mining sector of our state economy…a sector which makes up under 5% of our state economic output. He is either lying or ignorant.

he also offers up another gem…

“Each derrick’s going to create potentially 200 jobs. If we could get one extra derrick in Mesa County right now, that 200 jobs is important. If we got five, that’s a thousand jobs.”

I am not sure what sort of math the good Representative is using to calculate this (or where he gets his data), but it is the same sort of calculation, I will bet, that allows the “blonde lady in the black pantsuit” to claim O&G supports 11,000,000 jobs nationally. I have checked withВ  the U.S. Dept. of Labor and I can only say to her, “liar, liar, pantsuit on fire” because she isn’t telling the truth…

and neither is Ray Scott.


Full story: Ray Scott demonstrates profound dishonesty…or ignorance…you choose

Update on COGCC Water Testing and Setbacks Hearings.

0
  by: Duke Cox Tue January 1, 2013 at 9:49 PM MDT

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)



Here is the announcement from the COGCC regarding next weeks’ hearing schedule. The setback hearings have been moved to the end of the docket. We expect those hearings to start late on Tuesday or Wednesday morning…As always, things can change. Even though I will be traveling, I will update again with any news…


Location of January 2013 Rulemaking Hearing.

The hearing on January 7, 2013 will convene following the conclusion of

proceedings under Docket No. 1211-RM-03 and abbreviated general Commission

business (consent agenda only), in the Governor’s Square 15 meeting room on the

lower level of the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel

1550 Court Place – Lower Level

Governor’s Square 15 Meeting Room

Denver, CO 80202

(303) 893-3333

Information about the testimony expected is below the fold…The first day of hearings (all start at 9:00AM.) will concentrate on water testing rules…setback hearings follow the conclusion of that hearing. As you can see…the environmental community gets to go last.


4. Testimony and Cross Examination.

Witnesses identified in the Parties’ Final Prehearing Statements should give a

brief overview of their testimony and be prepared to answer Commission questions

regarding their testimony. It is not necessary to recite the credentials of expert

witnesses as that information should be included in the submitted materials.

If a Party chooses to cross examine a witness, the time spent cross examining

the witness will be deducted from the cross examiner’s allotted time.

Order of Presentations and Allotment of Time for Witness Testimony.

The Parties are encouraged to group themselves according to common interests

and concerns and allocate their time among witnesses according to the following limits:

A. Commission Staff – 45 minutes

B. Public Comment (continued) – 30 minutes (2 minutes per speaker)

C. Elected Officials – 15 minutes

D. Preliminary motions – 30 minutes

E. Regulated Community and their Associations – 3.5 hours

F. Colorado Cattleman’s Association, Colorado Farm Bureau, and

Colorado Association of Home Builders – 2.0 hours

G. Local Government and Councils of Government – 2.0 hours

H. Community and Environmental Organizations – 3.5 hours

The time limitations set forth above include each group’s direct testimony, as well

as cross examination conducted by any member of a group. Parties are advised that

rebuttal testimony may be limited to written submissions. Any party wishing to preserve

time for rebuttal testimony should do so expressly prior to commencing its direct

testimony.

Please attend at any time, but note that public comment IS available. You can sign up at the door.


Full story: Update on COGCC Water Testing and Setbacks Hearings.

Update…No Session on Monday,7th! More Later….

20
  by: Duke Cox Sat December 29, 2012 at 11:14 PM MDT

(Glad to exercise my waning obligation in promoting a strong West Slope and Colorado voice, the esteemed DukeCo1 – promoted by ClubTwitty)





It’s Your Water…Pay Attention

On the morning of Monday, Jan. 7th, at 9:00 o’clock (as of this writing), the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission will continue hearings involving the minimum distance that should be required between oil and gas wells and facilities, and occupied structures. This “setback” has historically been 150 feet in rural areas and 350 feet in urban areas. The damage that can be done by mishaps in the O&G business can be disasterous. The truth is well documented.

This setback distance needs to change. I will be testifying, on behalf of the thousands of members of the Western Colorado Congress, at the hearing on Monday and I encourage every Coloradoan who cares about the air they breathe and the water they drink to ATTEND the hearings and SPEAK during the public comment period. The Commission needs to see a crowd that fills the hallways and stretches to the street The hearings will be held Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at the Sheraton Denver Downtown at 1550 Court Place.

My submitted testimony I have pasted after the fold…  

BEFORE THE OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION

OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

IN THE MATTER OF CHANGES TO THE ) CAUSE NO. 1R RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE OIL )

AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION ) DOCKET No. 1211-RM-04

OF THE STATE OF COLORADO )

COGCC SETBACK RULEMAKING 2012 )

TESTIMONY OF DUKE COX

When I sat down at the computer and began to consider my testimony, my mind went to a question. I reflected upon how many times I have taken the opportunity, and have been honored, to be a part of the decision making process each of you, Commissioners, now faces.  I simply don’t have the inclination nor the energy to figure it out, but I began to speak to this issue in 2005. When you add in all the other commissions, committees, and councils, before which I have appeared, I have asked hundreds of decision makers for the same thing…fairness and honesty.

The decisions facing this commission are not trivial…nor are they technical…they are filled with humanity. The decisions you make affect real human beings in very real ways. The judgments you must make are filled with the anguish and disenfranchisement of the many living human beings that wind up on the losing end of the “play”; the thousands of Colorado citizens that drew the short straw when it comes to their dealings with a chemically intense industrial company that wants to take up residence, literally across the street, and yet bear no actual responsibility for the impact of their presence. Ask anyone who lives in the gas patch…those impacts are profoundly unpleasant and dangerous.

Those humans are the ones for whom I speak; the ones whose story is not bankrolled and broadcast by the most powerful industry in the world. The ones’ whose homes I hope you will choose to protect.  

I am a builder. I build homes, among other things. I know how important a home can be. I also know far too many people whose homes have become an unhealthy trap, or an unlivable liability. Now, as the industries’ appetite for oil and gas profits continues to accelerate, more and more thousands of Colorado homes, and the people they hold, are going to be put at risk. It is imperative that this commission move decisively to establish rules that clearly put public safety as their priority. It is unfair to ask Colorado residents to live with significant risk, when that risk can be so easily reduced.

The setback rule is a critical marker in letting companies know that Colorado only welcomes the best companies; those committed to using the best available technology and incorporating the very best management practices. Companies who want to produce oil and gas in Colorado should willingly utilize the remarkable reach capability of modern directional drilling. As we all know, both oil and gas are taken from pools with no distinct underground property lines. This reality greatly improves the flexibility of decisions about location. The industry lobbies’ who claim that surface property rights are a hindrance to drilling are not being honest. Companies who want to do business in Colorado must honestly and respectfully consider the need to protect our people and the homes they inhabit.

It is not too much to ask, in view of the remarkable new technologies that are here and still emerging, for Colorado’s oil and gas companies to admit that theirs is what Duane Zavadil of Barrett Resources once referred to as an “intrusive” industry. It is within your authority to recognize the increasing threat to Colorado’s public health as drilling, fracking, and production operations creep ever closer to thousands more Colorado homes.

A new setback rule requiring operators to remain at least a thousand feet from homes is a good start in the right direction.

The developers and Homebuilders Association are being disingenuous when they claim that somehow they will be prohibited from developing new subdivisions if greater setbacks from homes are required.  Clearly this is not the case.  The proposed rules by the COGCC staff, and the rules proposed by the conservation community, both include the ability for a landowner to waive the setback requirement.  The developers own the land they are developing.  As landowners, they can waive any setback requirement – whether that setback be 350 feet, 1,000 feet, or 2,000 feet.  

With a 1,000 foot setback, developers will still be able to develop land as they choose.  My guess is what the developers are truly concerned about is how they will market homes in subdivisions where they have waived the setback requirement.

You all have a lot on your plate in protecting the public health, safety, welfare, and environment (including wildlife) while simultaneously promoting the oil and gas industry.  You do not have to worry, however, about how developers and homebuilders will market homes that may eventually be closer than 1,000 feet from an oil and gas facility.      

Colorado’s rulemaking process has been lauded by many people across the nation. Justifiably so. We have created a very comprehensive and workable set of rules that many consider to be a model for the nation, and we should all take pride in what we have created. But, as technology advances and as oil and gas operations inexorably move closer and closer to more heavily populated areas, those rules need to be updated.

Now is the time to do that, and the people of Colorado are counting on you to represent them.  Your mission to represent the people of Colorado and to help protect their health and well being is not secondary to your responsibility to promote development. HB1341 made that clear in 2009. Nothing has changed since then…the people of Colorado, the cities and towns in which they live, and the glorious Colorado environment that envelopes us all are under your stewardship. Please… for all the people in all the communities across our beautiful state…don’t forget that trust.

Duke Cox

 


Full story: Update…No Session on Monday,7th! More Later….

You want to put it where…?

0
  by: Duke Cox Sat July 28, 2012 at 9:08 AM MDT

I came across this story from Energywire. The decision about re-establishing more reasonable setbacks from homes when locating drilling rigs has been “on the table” at the COGCC for three or four years. Now that discussions are underway, they have been talking for over five months.

The O&G industry will try to stall a decision for as long as they can, all the while setting drilling rigs pretty much wherever they damn well please. Pressure on the O&G leadership is growing dramatically, though, as one community after another realizes the risks they are facing when a drilling rig moves into their neighborhood.

OIL AND GAS: Drilling rigs in Colo. must be farther from homes, schools and hospitals — conservationists  (Thursday, July 26, 2012)

http://us.mg5.mail.yahoo.com/n…

Scott Streater, E&E reporter

A coalition of Colorado conservation groups is asking the state to require that oil and natural gas drilling rigs be sited farther away from homes, schools, hospitals and nursing homes where air pollution from drilling operations can threaten the health of children and others who are most vulnerable.

Boulder-based Western Resource Advocates and two other groups sent a seven-page letter yesterday to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) asking the agency to begin developing new setback rules forbidding drilling rigs within 1,000 feet of residential housing and within 1,500 feet of schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities.

The groups’ letter — sent to COGCC acting Director Thom Kerr — argues that public health studies have found that drilling operations emit toxic pollutants such as benzene and formaldehyde that “pose health risks ranging from asthma to neurological conditions to cancer.” Yet the state’s current 350-foot setback from residences and schools in urban areas is “a much shorter distance than required for liquor stores” and is not a sufficient distance to protect the health of nearby homeowners and schoolchildren, they write.

“In Adams, Boulder, Broomfield and Weld counties, 87 existing, active or proposed drilling sites appear to be within 1,000 feet of public schools,” according to the letter, which in addition to WRA includes the Durango-based San Juan Citizens Alliance and Grand Junction-based Western Colorado Congress.

“This is about protecting the health and safety of families,” said Mike Chiropolos, chief counsel for WRA’s Lands Program. “Continuing to allow drilling just a football field’s length from a playground is not in the best interests of any community.”

What really angers me is listening to engineers from the companies, whose lobbyists fight a change tooth and nail, brag to me about how they can reach out a mile or more with their directional drilling. Why do they fight so hard to resist a sensible standard? Because, second only to their perception it will affect their profit, they can’t stand to be told what to do.

What front range communities and their leaders need to know is the Colorado Supreme Court, in what is known as the “Gunnison Decision”, held that local governments have rights, in at least seven areas, to regulate O&G acvtivities in their community. Contact WSA, WCC or the SJCA if you need help with information or networking. And while you are at it…send them a check.

And…never, never give up.  


Full story: You want to put it where…?

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose…

1
  by: Duke Cox Sat July 28, 2012 at 8:18 AM MDT

So, I met Rose Pugliese today. It was an experience that reminded me one should try to avoid jumping to conclusions. Rose is running for Mesa County Commissioner and I had heard a few things about her that seemed outrageous. Rose purportedly said, whilst running for the school board a while back, some ill-advised things about climate change and evolution as they relate to school curriculum. Today, she informed the Bagel Street Irregulars (AKA “the commies in the back room”), that she had been misquoted or something like that. In any case, that is old news and she seemed almost contrite in her explanation today.

I was impressed with the way Rose presents herself. She is articulate, educated and carries herself confidently. But…she suffers from MCMS… Mesa County Mis-infomation Syndrome. You see, Rose came here from out of town not too long ago and became immersed in one of the most pervasive and effective message machines on planet earth (well, at least in Colorado).

When asked her opinion about the future of oil shale (kerogen rock, actually) all she could say was… “I support all forms of energy development”. When pressed for more…she had nothing. It is because the MCrMM (Mesa County republican Message Machine) doesn’t get into messy, facty, details and such.

Not having a ready answer about energy issues might not be a problem if you are running for a county clerk position on Long Island, but when the goal is Mesa County Commissioner, this is required knowledge. But I don’t blame Rose. She is comfortably in the cupped hands of the republican party that can’t go into facty details, because those details always prove them wrong. So the candidate gets a brief primer from an O&G hotshot from Club 20 filling her head with bullshit talking points. It doesn’t really matter in most cases ’cause Rose doesn’t often talk to a crowd like the one she encountered this morning.

You see, you really don’t need to have actual information at your disposal when you talk to  republican gatherings in Mesa County. They don’t want to hear it anyway, because the meme is set in stone here and those who speak out against it are treated as pariahs. I am often approached by progressives who move here and find they can’t talk to their neighbors because progressive thought is actively and angrily suppressed in this community.

Rose got an earful today and spent significant time writing down the things she was hearing. She even promised she would have an open mind (we heard that from Laura Bradford, too, once upon a time) and contact and listen to all sides when making decisions. Platitudes..? I can’t say, but she seemed sincere to me. We will see what develops in our next episode…”the Education of a Rose”.    


Full story: A Rose is a Rose is a Rose…

One down…forty nine to go….are you listening Hick?

3
  by: Duke Cox Wed May 23, 2012 at 6:49 AM MDT

On the occasion of the spill on Douglas pass, let me post this news, from CNN, of the sanest state in the nation, making a very reasonable decision.

Until the industry STOPS using toxic chemicals in drilling and fracking fluids, we just shouldn’t let them do it.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/17/…

Vermonts’ governor signed a bill that makes it the first state to ban fracking, the controversial practice to extract natural gas from the ground.

“This is a big deal,” Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday. “This bill will ensure that we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy.”

Shumlin said fracking contaminates groundwater and the science behind it is “uncertain at best.” He said he hopes other states will follow Vermont’s lead in banning it.

Are you listening governor Frackenlooper? Aren’t you ready to lose that nickname? Do you know the name Laura Amos, governor? How about Karen Trulove, or Chris Mobaldi? Does the name Jose Lara ring a bell? These are all names of people sickened or killed by the toxic industry you blindly defend.

Is the money really worth it to you? Do you really think you are doing the people of Colorado a favor by allowing an industry that comprises less than 4% of our state economy to screw up the air and water for the rest of us?…just so they can provide a few thousand jobs? …and make a bloody damned fortune for themselves, in the bargain.

The courageous governor of Vermont has opened the door. Do you have the courage to look through that door and see the truth…or has the taste of fracking fluid poisoned your soul?

So I ask again, governor…is the money really worth it?

 

Will Colorado ever ban fracking?

View Results

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Full story: One down…forty nine to go….are you listening Hick?

Colorado Repubs say…Roll back those rules!

0
  by: Duke Cox Mon May 14, 2012 at 6:48 AM MDT

(We’re not going to need this planet later, are we? – promoted by ProgressiveCowgirl)



A press release from the group, Colorado Conservation Voters, declares a successful year on the environmental lobbying front.


Colorado’s conservation community praised a productive 2012 legislative session, which they entered with priorities to create jobs and clean up our air and water.  Conservationists accomplished precisely that, highlighting two major bipartisan bills passed with wide majorities and signed into law: the Electronic Recycling Jobs Act (SB 133) which creates 2,500 jobs and the Electric Vehicles Act (HB 1258) which will kick start the electronic vehicle market in Colorado.  Conservation groups also turned back harmful legislation which threatened our clean air, water and public health and secured funding for renewable energy which has brought thousands of jobs to Colorado.

That’s great news, of course, to a tree hugger like me, but the part I found most interesting was the list of anti-conservation bills thrown at the legislature by the repubs. I don’t know if this list was published anywhere other than the CCV website, so I will provide it here, after the jump:  

 

 

The list of anti-environmental legislation below the list of good bills reads like a Craig Meis wet dream.


Pro-Conservation Bills Passed  

SB 133 – Electronic Recycling Jobs Act – Creates 2,500 jobs, bans electronic waste and protects water by keeping tons of toxic materials out of landfills.

HB 1258 – Electric Vehicles – Kick starts Colorado’s electric vehicle market by increasing the availability of electric vehicle recharging stations.

HB 1032 – Continues forest restoration program for five more years.

HB 1050 – Extends tax check off for non-game and endangered wildlife.

HB 1028 – Extends funding for low income energy assistance.

HB 1315 – Reorganization of Governor’s Energy Office – Provides critical funding to ensure the office remains.  The GEO has been instrumental in making Colorado a recognized leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency, bringing thousands jobs to Colorado.  

Anti-Conservation Bills Defeated  

HB 1172 – Prohibits the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) from considering carbon when making decisions on energy generation.

HB 1121 – Permits the PUC to waive the renewable energy standard.

HB 1102 – Increases cap rate from Clean Air Clean Jobs to 1%.

SB 88 – Pre-empts local governments on oil and gas regulations.

SB 17 – Prohibits the Water Quality Control Commission from adopting rules to regulate water pollution.

HB 1103 – Permits counties to exempt themselves from auto emissions testing as part of compliance with ozone standards.

HB 1322 – Requires the federal government to cede federal lands to the state.

HB 1014 – Reduces funding for repairing bridges and improving transit by reducing vehicle registration late fees.

HB 1066 – Requires counties to allow ATVs/OHVs to be driven on county roads, thereby increasing the likelihood of OHV damage to sensitive public land ecosystems.

HB 1021 – Eliminates state transit and rail advisory committees.

SB 126 – Extends time new vehicles are exempt from air inspections from 4 to 8 years without scientific evidence to show that these vehicles do not break down and pollute as they age.

HB 1136 – Eliminates the ability to provide electric vehicle charging stations at rest areas and RTD park and rides.

HB 1160 – Allows the capture of coal bed methane to be considered a renewable energy source under the renewable energy standard.

HB 1161 – Delays water pollution rules on nitrogen and phosphorus.

HB 1351 – Includes energy produced from gas created by burning waste and methane gas from coal mines in the renewable energy standard.  

It is hard to pick the most absurd of the bunch of anti-conservation bills…I came up with a tie for the two bills that want to re-write science the most….HB1160 and HB1351.

I am sure we can all find a favorite in this crowd.  


Full story: Colorado Repubs say…Roll back those rules!

You mean…We’re not as important as we think?

0
  by: Duke Cox Wed April 18, 2012 at 1:29 AM MDT

A new study done by a local economic research firm in NW Colorado kinda trips up the O&G lie about how significant they are to our economy. The local Chamber of Commerce head tells the tale, and is backed up with statistics.

http://www.craigdailypress.com…

Yampa Valley Data Partners report: Drilling crews leave small economic footprint in Northwest Colorado

By Scott Franz

April 16, 2012

“Chris Oxley has watched oil activity in Moffat County ebb and flow for years.

The Craig Chamber of Commerce executive director said Thursday that pipeline projects and oil drilling has filled area hotels, trailer parks and rooms in private residences. It’s also brought a buzz of activity to town.

But she said the buzz doesn’t tend to last long and the economic impact of oil rig workers who sleep and stay in Craig when exploration activity ramps up is smaller than people may realize.

Oxley said she and about 11 other business leaders met last week with Moffat County Natural Resources Director Jeff Comstock.

Oxley said the feedback she got from business owners from lodging, retail, real estate and construction companies at the meeting reaffirmed her long-held belief that drilling crews continue to have a minimal economic impact in Craig.

Scott Ford, a local economic analyst and an adviser for Yampa Valley Data Partners, said his recent analysis of the three phases of well development and his discussions with Shell Oil officials who are working in the region led him to predict the economic impact of drilling crews who work in Moffat and Routt counties will continue to be minimal His economic forecast stated that if drilling activity in Moffat County is as busy as it was in 2006, spending by drilling crews would result in $12,980 in sales tax revenue for Craig, and $18,221 for the state.

The O&G industry likes to claim it is one of, if not the, biggest drivers of Colorados’ economy. The truth is, it constitutes  far less than 4% of our economy and fewer than 10,000 jobs.    


Full story: You mean…We’re not as important as we think?

Dear Governor Hickenlooper,

0
  by: Duke Cox Mon March 19, 2012 at 4:47 AM MDT

The last time I wrote to you was shortly after you were elected. I asked, at that time, that you not forget the citizens who live in Colorados’ many (and growing) gas patchs. Your recent actions (well documented here) indicate that you have, indeed, forgotten Colorados’ gasfield orphans. You have betrayed the trust so courageously built by Governor Ritter.

From your buddies’ offices, high up on 17th St., you cannot see the tears in the eyes of the hundreds of Coloradoans whose quiet enjoyment of their private property has been devastated by this industrial molestation called oil and gas development. From the COGA offices, you can’t hear the pleas for justice and fairness coming from the dozens of families whose water has been poisoned by the industry for whom you have just become a lap dog. You have honestly earned the nickname “Frackenlooper”.

I don’t think I am telling you any news when I tell you just how pissed off the conservation community is at you right now. You have ZERO credibility with me, my friends, AND the lady who cuts my hair. Maybe it’s time you went ahead and changed parties. You behave like a republican…you might as well call yourself one.

On the other hand…  

 

You might have a prayer of salvaging some respect from Colorados’ people, but you will have to do something big to change the tide that will likely deny you a second term. I have a suggestion for you:  Save the North Fork.

The BLM is considering leasing 20,000+ acres around the magnificent North Fork Valley, home to over 60 organic growers. It is clean, rustic, and should remain that way. Industrial development of such a dirty resource as natural gas is completely inappropriate for an area with so much “natural capital”. The earths’ bounty will deliver wealth and prosperity in the North Fork Valley as long as humans don’t destroy that capacity. Lend your political influence to NOT drilling, for a change.

I urge you to visit Paonia, Hotchkiss, Crawford and their surrounding fields and farms. It is a place that surpasses the imagination in beauty and pastoral ease. It is no place for drilling rigs. Go there, Governor…talk to the people whose lives and livlihoods you have put at risk by being a cheerleader for an industry who deals in poison water and filthy air.

Convince them that drinking fracking fluid is good for them…and that it will make their produce more desirable. Get out of town for a few days and get to know the “other half”. Get to know the widower of Chris Mobaldi. Chris died last year from illnesses her physician was convinced, but, of course, couldn’t prove, were from her chronic exposure to gas well emissions.

Sit down with Steve Mobaldi and tell him how much you enjoy drinking fracking fluid.

Governor Ritter came out to visit the residents of the patch and what he discovered led him to push through the new rules you keep trying to compromise. Bill Ritter withstood the hatred and bellicosity of those people for whom you carry water. He was our champion and our friend.

You are not half the Governor that was Bill Ritter. You are “Governor Frackenlooper”…by your own choice.    


Full story: Dear Governor Hickenlooper,

No Time to Snooze…

8
  by: Duke Cox Sun February 12, 2012 at 6:40 AM MDT

Polsters, and all other sentient creatures in Colorado, need to be aware of the latest opportunity for our Governor to stack the deck for his O&G industry friends or, instead, channel his predecessor and do the right thing for the people of Colorado.

The Director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, David Neslin, has announced his departure from that position to take a job with a law firm that specializes in defending oil and gas companies. WTF?…again?

The conflict of interest questions raised by this fact are only heightened by the long history of such revolving door activity in this position. It is imperative that front range citizens, activists, and government officials understand how important it is to contact the Governor (sorry, I don’t have time to look it up for you) and insist to him that Director Neslins’ replacement should be a regulator…someone who will not likely be offered a fat job in the industry they are supposed to regulate…not facilitate.

I knew Director Neslin during the rule making process, and I am surprised and disappointed in his choice.

But it is his to make, of course.

The question of the influence of politics on public policy is being addressed by a powerful new voice from Garfield county. I encourage everyone to check out the “Earthworks” website, and look for a story by Judy Jordan, former Oil and Gas Liason for that county. She has a very enlightening story to tell. Make sure you read the comment by Lisa Bracken, as well.

Sorry I can’t seem to copy a link for you. It may have something to do with my innate stupidity….ya’think?    :)  


Full story: No Time to Snooze…

Sorry, Charlie…your story smells fishy.

7
  by: Duke Cox Sat June 25, 2011 at 7:56 AM MDT

I don’t know if I am more disappointed that Diane Cox, Mesa Counties’ Marijuana Vigilante, continues to spread lies and hysterical rhetoric about medicinal Cannabis, or that Charles Ashby of the daily Grand Junction newspaper has written such a terrible story in covering her outrageous blather.

Mr. Ashbys’ story, under the title “Medical pot question makes Palisade ballot”, starts with a false claim in the headline and gets worse from there. Quoting the story;

A Palisade group seeking to have the Grand Valley’s last remaining marijuana dispensary banned announced Tuesday evening that Palisade Town Clerk, Carol Speakman, has certified a ballot question to do just that.

trouble is… tain’t true McGee.

 

I received this in an e-mail from the town of Palisade:

The Town of Palisade announced today that petitions containing 187 signatures seeking voter approval of a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries have been received.  Contrary to recent media reports, the signatures have not yet been validated.  In an article in the June 22, 2011 edition of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel it was reported that a group named Safe and Healthy announced that Palisade Clerk, Carol Speakman has certified a ballot question to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in Palisade.  This is incorrect.

Perhaps, Charles, when Ms. Speakman didn’t return your call, you should have waited a while to print your story. Had you done some research, you would know that Diane Cox is not a registered voter in Palisade. There are numerous claims that SHE has been circulating petitions, which would, of course, render every signature she personally collected invalid. But since you chose to quote ONLY Ms. Cox in your story, I guess you decided that none of her claims deserved investigating.

For example, Diane Cox’s claim that “the existing marijuana shop was allowed to open through an ‘emergency meeting’ of of only three (town)board members with no public hearing or input” is vigorously denied by the owners of the facility, Mr. and Mrs. Loughman.

But then…isn’t the reporter supposed to check on these things, BEFORE he submits the story? It almost seems you let her write the story for you.

  Even that is not the most egregious “boo-boo” in this troubled little story.

This gem is a classic;

Cox said Palisade residents who signed the petition said a dispensary in town would detract from the citys’ image as the state’s peach capital  

She said, they said…really? Did all of them say it? Only one? Maybe none? How is this unassuming little storefront going to destroy Palisade? How is this journalism, Mr. Ashby? How can you write a story about an issue of great importance to many people and not challenge, or even question, the assertions of a screeching zealot?

With all due respect, Mr. Ashby, I have a suggestion. Why don’t you visit the dispensary and talk to the Loughmans? Get their response to Diane Coxs’ assertions. While you are there, you can speak to some of the cancer patients who come to get the medication that allows them to withstand the horror of chemotherapy. Or perhaps you will meet the local businessman who finally found a way to control his debilitating headaches, a result of a severe neck injury.

Maybe you could go sit down with the town leaders in Palisade

Town of Palisade

970.464.5602

tsarmo@townofpalisade.org

and ask them why they chose to give the Loughmans a corporate citizenship award. I guess they aren’t too worried about the dispensary ” detracting from the cities’ image as the states’ peach capital”.

It is truly disappointing to see the lazy reporting displayed here. I didn’t realize Harmon was contagious.

 


Full story: Sorry, Charlie…your story smells fishy.

Cannabis hating crusader not welcomed in Palisade

10
  by: Duke Cox Fri May 27, 2011 at 5:18 PM MDT

At the Palisade, CO Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday of this past week, Mesa counties’ “Marijuana Avenger”, Diane Cox (no..we are NOT related) ran into a town that simply didn’t want to hear her hyped-up and reprehensible attack on the folks who run the local Cannabis dispensary.

As many readers will know, Mesa County, Grand Junction, and Fruita have, in one way or another, banned Cannabis dispensaries. Diane Cox, the self-appointed banner carrier of the “We Hate Weed” police, likes to take credit for being a force in shutting down dispensaries. She uses a shameless set of distortions, insinuations, and outright lies to paint a picture of dispensary owners as predatory, money-grubbing, dope-dealers. The one remaining dispensary in the Grand Valley is in Palisade, and her attack on that establishment and its’ owners may backfire on Ms. Cox.

     

 Earlier on that day, Tuesday, a local television station aired an interview with our favorite pot-hating crusader. During the interview, she warned TV viewers that these business owners were bad people who are responsible for increased truancy and drug use in our local schools. That charge has been refuted by the local police and the local high school principal, but when did facts ever get in the way of what zealots believe?

So…riding high on her wave of outrage, Ms. Cox showed up at the Palisade Trustees’ meeting, where the owners of Colorado Alternative Health Care, Mr. and Mrs. Loughman, were being presented with a letter of thanks and appreciation for their outstanding corporate citizenship and for all the city projects they have organized volunteers to accomplish. I am certain it was Ms. Coxs’ intention to make a statement during the proceedings.

What she did not anticipate, I think, was a room full of supporters of the Loughmans and their business. It did not encourage her when the chairman of the Board of Trustees made a comment to the audience and the TV camera there, disapproving of Mrs. Coxs’ earlier comments on TV and flatly informing her that the Town of Palisade does not view Colorado Alternative Health Care in the same light as she. In so many words, he essentially told her, “we don’t want to hear it, Diane”.

After the presentation (and numerous rounds of hearty applause for the Loughmans) the TV cameraman followed Mr. Loughman outside for an interview. With no TV camera to assail during the required public comment period and a room full of unsympathetic ears, Ms. Cox folded her tent and went away quietly.

What Mrs. Cox encountered was a community of people who are not buying into the kneejerk point of view that casts Cannabis as some sort of “evil” thing. Of course, there have been a number of “dope dealers” who opened store fronts to deal drugs. They have been and will continue to be weeded out as groups like CCHPAA (Cannabis Consumer Health and Patient Advocacy Association) continue to work with responsible caregivers and health professionals to design the models that will best serve Colorados MMJ patients.

It is always gratifying to see loud-mouthed zealots put in their place. The steadfast support of the people of Palisade and the town government for the Loughmans’ and their business managed to shut up one of the most vociferous critics of this rapidly growing industry. It will take years and many good minds to transform the Medical Cannabis industry into a mature, well-designed, and consistent enterprise.

The hyperbolic, unfounded criticisms and attacks dished out by truly ignorant sycophants like Diane Cox are not helpful. And in Palisade, at least, not well tolerated.

update: as an afterthought to this diary, I thought it appropriate to establish that I attended the trustees’ meeting at the recommendation of and in the company of the president of the above mentioned group, CCHPAA. I will be happy to be recognized as a shill for the organization and its’ mission.

Medical Cannabis patients are caught between the free market and the black market. The only leverage they have are grass roots activism and sympathetic communities. It will take many organizations on the grass roots level to support the lengthy process of building a responsible delivery system for medical Cannabis. The ignorance and archaic attitudes displayed by those who resort to name calling and fear mongering should be ignored. They are from the 1930s. Time to give it a rest.

     


Full story: Cannabis hating crusader not welcomed in Palisade

Oh, What a tangled web we weave…

5
  by: Duke Cox Tue March 8, 2011 at 5:53 PM MDT

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)



As I walked over to the counter I immediately spotted it lying there . It was a response from congressman Scott Tipton to a letter sent to him by my wife. It was, in sum, a gratuitous, patronizing piece of claptrap.

She had written him asking him to support landowners, small communites, and water drinkers in general, by supporting legislation that would require natural gas and oil companies to reveal what they are injecting into the ground during the hydraulic fracturing process. Unless you just flew in on the midnight flight from Mars, you know that the poisonous soup some companies use (in prodigious quantities, I might add) to facilitate their profit picture is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act…and the Clean Water Act…and a number of others. They don’t have to reveal anything to anyone.

By the time I had finished the second paragraph, the familiar old “you lying jerk” response had started  to kick in…well, you decide for yourself;

Environmental stewardship is one of my top priorities, and I encourage the EPA to carry out this task in a responsible manner.

For one thing, I didn’t know “stewardship” was a synonym for “exploitation”…live and learn. And I guess he just forgot to include the rest of that last phrase;

“I encourage the EPA to carry out this task in a responsible manner”…after I cut their budget in half.

The rest of the letter was filled with the usual corporatist rhetoric Tipton is instructed to use. A few tasty samples:

…common sense has been lost in a regulatory process that has become politicized and wrought with bureaucracy and overlap.

maybe that should say…”wrought with bribery and overreach”

job killing regulation of carbon emissions

I guess he believes the only thing in this country that doesn’t kill jobs is tax cuts for the rich.

EPA regulations run counter to free market principles…

but massive subsidies and no bid contracts don’t?

cannot continue down this path of overregulation.

Well…that’s just stupid.

It was, though, in the third paragraph of the letter that I read the item that set me off and prompted this diary and the title. The letter says;

According to a 2010 Small Business Administration report, the economic burden of regulation on the American people totals 1.75 trillion dollars annually. That number piqued my interest. “How the hell do they know that”, I wondered? Sooo..I did a little checking.

That number comes from a report written by Nicole V. Crain and W. Mark Crain, who are professors at Lafayette College in Easton Pennsylvania. Their report is evaluated by Sidney Shapiro of the Center for Progressive Reform who says:

Upon examination, it turns out that the estimate is the result of secret calculations, an unreliable methodology and a presentation calculated to mislead.

comparing the SBA report to the 2009 report from the Office of Management and Budget, he states:

The 2009 OMB report, based on data from federal agencies under the Bush and Clinton Administrations, found that in the ten years ending in 2008 annual regulatory costs ranged from $62 billion to $73 billion (converted from 2001 into 2009 dollars).

The Crains only overestimated by $1,677,000,000,000.

Mr. Shapiro goes on to eviscerate the Crains’ report:

A new report today by the Center for Progressive Reform (Setting the Record Straight: The Crain and Crain Report on Regulatory Costs) shows that much more is at work than that.   In areas where the OMB and Crain and Crain calculations overlap, Crain and Crain use the same cost data as OMB, but, unlike OMB, which presents regulatory costs as a range, Crain and Crain always adopt the upper end of the range for inclusion in their calculations. More significant, Crain and Crain’s calculations for the regulations not covered by OMB’s report appear to be based largely on a decidedly unusual data source for economists – public opinion polling, the results of which Crain and Crain massage into a massive, but unsupported estimate of the costs of “economic” regulations.  Because Crain and Crain have refused to make their underlying data or calculations public.

 I recommend you read the entire article at the CPR website;

   http://www.progressivereform.o…

But now…to the fun part.

As I continued my investigation, I discovered the Crains’ cite a study by Joseph M. Johnson, among others, the googling of which leads to the American Enterprise Institute…surprised? It gets better.

The name that comes up at the link I googled was Veronique de Rugy, a right wing mouthpiece for, among other groups, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. It seems Mr. Johnson also has a long affiliation with the Mercatus Center. The Mercatus Center is a hard right wing think tank that has received, since 1997, nearly ten million dollars from…wait for it…Koch Industries. Charles Koch is a board member.

 


Full story: Oh, What a tangled web we weave…