Wrong on Roan

Like it or not, "old energy" is still economy's lifeblood

Published August 15, 2007 at midnight

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The latest maneuvers to stall production of natural gas from public lands atop the Roan Plateau could make Coloradans unwilling subjects in a broader experiment to determine whether the "new energy economy" touted by Gov. Bill Ritter and others is already viable.

In their public statements, backers of "clean" or renewable energy are often modest about the potential these power sources offer today's consumers. Even the most ambitious legislation, for instance, usually provides for a decade or longer for renewables to make up 15 percent or 20 percent of a utility's energy portfolio.

In practice, however, many of the same people oppose virtually all opportunities for major production of "old energy," such as on the Roan and the Outer Continental Shelf. Such opposition could of course force green technologies to assume a larger role even where they're not yet realistic options to coal, oil and natural gas. Then again, maybe that's the point.

Take the controversy over the Roan. Reliable estimates suggest it sits atop probably the largest untapped natural gas reserves in the lower 48 states - enough, by itself, to heat 4 million homes for 20 years. And natural gas, remember, is a relatively clean fuel in itself.

Sen. Ken Salazar pressured the Bureau of Land Management to delay leases on the Roan for at least another four months, as requested by Ritter. And the energy bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month includes a provision from Colorado Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar that would ban drilling on BLM land at the top of the plateau forever.

If that provision reaches President Bush, he has threatened to veto the legislation; the White House has said it opposes measures in the bill that would limit domestic energy production, such as the amendment banning development on the Roan.

Let's hope the president sticks to his guns. There's not enough green energy available at any price, let alone a reasonable one, to satisfy the growing demand that's anticipated in the immediate future. The transition to an economy that doesn't rely heavily on fossil fuels will take many years.

Moreover, the BLM has spent seven years bending over backward to develop a drilling plan for the Roan that accommodates environmental concerns.

Old energy remains this economy's lifeblood. It also continues to pump employment and, yes, tax revenues - into the state. The Colorado School of Mines recently concluded that oil and natural gas operations accounted for $22.9 billion of economic benefits in 2005, or 6.1 percent of gross state product. Old energy may pack a bigger economic punch than tourism.

At some point, presumably, an array of renewables will become less expensive to produce than fossil fuels and market forces alone will dictate that coal, oil and natural gas remain in the ground.

We're nowhere near that point, of course. In the meantime, it would be foolish to ban the carefully regulated extraction of natural gas from huge deposits such as the Roan in the hope that the economy can survive unscathed a forced march into a green energy future.

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