By Jim DiPeso, REP vice
president for policy and communications, published March 7, 2010 in the Pueblo (CO) Chieftain. Also published February 23, 2010,
in
the Billings Gazette. Also published February 14, 2010 in the Albuquerque Journal, February 5, 2010 in the Denver Post, and January 24, 2010 in the Casper Star-Tribune, Casper, WY. Also published in Ted
Williams' Conservation Blog in Fly
Rod & Reel Online.
Oil and gas production is an important use of America’s public lands.
But
not everywhere and not without scrutiny. Public lands are not a gift
bag for whatever the special interest flavor of the month happens to be.
Public lands are America’s stock of natural capital, which is in our care for long-term stewardship and public benefit.
Their
dividends come in many currencies -- water and grass to support
ranchlands, trails and antiquities for engaging history, wildlife and
wilderness for chasing game and invigorating the heart. And yes,
energy, minerals, and wood fiber too.
Americans depend on the
Interior Department to keep it all in balance. In the first decade of
the 21st century, things tipped out of balance. Oil and gas received a
privileged spot at the head of the line, and was allowed to scoop up
more than its fair share of the dividends.
Now, the Interior
Department is restoring the balance. Secretary Ken Salazar has
announced reforms in oil and gas leasing policies in order to better
protect water, land, and wildlife.
The Bureau of Land
Management, the overseers of energy leasing and permits on public
lands, has received a new set of instructions.
More due
diligence will be expected. Instead of selling leases as fast as the
paperwork can be stamped, BLM will be expected to bring in diverse sets
of eyes from different resource management disciplines to ensure that
more questions are asked before leasing decisions are made.
For
many parcels, the decision may still be to sell leases. For others,
perhaps not, because other considerations -- water quality or habitat
conservation, for example -- may prevail. In order to maintain balance,
that’s as it should be.
The oil and gas industry will still be
welcome to offer its ideas on where leasing should take place. In
scheduling lease auctions, however, BLM will lean toward areas that
already are in production, to minimize impacts on natural resources
while still allowing for robust energy production. That’s also as it
should be.
Under the new policy, the expectation is that citizen
input will be more than perfunctory. Critics will argue that
anti-drilling busybodies will bog down leasing in nettlesome appeals
and endless process.
Actually, the opposite would be true. If
citizens believe their concerns are being taken seriously, they would
be less likely to challenge problem leases through appeals or lawsuits.
The
history of leasing over the past decade bears this out. In 1998, only 1
percent of oil and gas leases were protested. In 2008, 40 percent were
protested.
When Interior failed to manage oil and gas leasing
with checks and balances necessary to protect the public interest, the
predictable result was costly, time-consuming protests.
Once
checks and balances are restored and fewer questionable leases are
offered, protests will decrease and energy companies can get on with
producing hydrocarbons from appropriate locations.
Critics also
have argued that the leasing reforms will ensnarl oil and gas
production in red tape, hindering efforts to move America towards
energy independence.
Such arguments have the superficial appeal
of simplicity, but the energy world is far more complicated than sound
bites suggest. Availability of leases is not the sole determinant of
oil and gas production. Other critical factors include energy demand,
market prices, well productivity, and availability of rigs and trained
crews.
Moreover, any argument that leasing policy reforms will
squeeze oil and gas companies off public land doesn’t square with facts
on the ground. Nearly 44 million acres of public lands already are
under lease, but only 12 million are in production.
Oil and gas
production from public lands will continue to have an important role as
we seek cleaner, more secure energy sources for our homes and
businesses.
The public, however, would be ill served by
continuing unbalanced policies that push oil and gas to the head of the
line, at the expense of clean air, clean water, wildlife, and unspoiled
natural landscapes.
Such policies are the result of shallow,
either-or thinking that would cheat future generations out of their
public lands inheritance while doing little to modernize our energy
system.
The Interior Department’s leasing reforms will help
restore balance to public lands management, ensuring that we can make
careful use of the land while handing off a treasured legacy to our
descendants.
The stewardship ethic that lies at the heart of
true conservatism demands no less. As the great conservationist
Theodore Roosevelt taught his fellow Americans, "we are not building
this country of ours for a day. It is to last through the ages."
