Moving Slowly to Keep Energy Prices High

Boulder County resident and current Congressman Mark Udall wants to replace outgoing US Senator Wayne Allard. This begs the question: will Mark Udall vigorously defend Colorado’s interests in the Senate as well as Wayne Allard?

 
From the Rocky Mountain News story (Hat tip: Instapundit):

The Senate Appropriations Committee today narrowly defeated Sen. Wayne Allard's attempt to end a moratorium related to oil shale development in Colorado.

It was a big day for Colorado energy issues on Capitol Hill as Gov. Bill Ritter testified before a senate committee asking lawmakers to move cautiously on oil-shale development until more is known about the environmental impact and other issues.

Governor Bill Ritter testified against this? Isn’t this contrary to his interest in giving more play money to colleges and environmentalists via his severance tax proposal?

Meanwhile downstairs, the appropriations committee was considering a massive Emergency Supplemental Spending Bill. Allard, a member of the committee, attempted to insert an amendment that would reverse the moratorium that lawmakers approved late last year.

The moratorium prevents the Department of Interior from issuing regulations so that oil companies can move forward on oil-shale projects in Colorado and Utah. Allard said the moratorium has left uncertainties at a time when companies need to move forward and in the long term make the United States more energy independent.

"If we are really serious about reducing pain at the pump, this is a vote that would make a difference in people's lives," Allard argued.

But in a 14-15 vote, the committee spilt (sic) strictly on party lines and rejected the amendment.

One of the key votes was from Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who said Sen. Ken Salazar had urged her to reject the amendment even though she personally thinks the moratorium on oil-shale development is unjust. [Emphasis added]

So Ken Salazar and Bill Ritter applied as much pressure as possible to prevent Colorado from harvesting its own natural resources. What would Mark Udall do if he was in Senator Allard’s position? Last year, he sponsored the amendment to put the moratorium in place.

 Congressman Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs), succeeded today in getting an amendment included in the Interior Appropriation bill which will bar the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from issuing any final regulations for commercial-scale leasing of oil shale and from offering any commercial oil shale leases during fiscal year 2008. Current law requires BLM to issue those regulations, and to move to a full-scale commercial leasing program, on a crash basis and under a tight deadline.

 “My amendment will slow that process down so that we can be thoughtful about oil shale development." 

This suggests a new campaign slogan: Mark Udall, Ken Salazar and Bill Ritter—moving slowly to keep energy prices high.

by Civil Sense