SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Records release reveals more about secret Vernal meeting"

It's rare anymore that SandBox agrees with Republican commissioner Tom Jankovsky.  His  heavy and ham-handed handling of Garfield County needs is just  not setting well with a number of  residents.  And they're conservatives...

But in this case, we'll run alongside Jankovsky.  This craziness over  the Vernal meeting  is nothing but political.

With that said, this controversy is another great reason to say NO to the re-up of Republican John Martin and YES to Democrat Sonja Linman.

We definitely need balance in Garfield County BOCC.  Things like this dust-up  over the Vernal meeting are preventable.

"Save a gas rig.  Vote Sonja Linman (D) for Garfield County  Commissioner".

John Stroud:
"GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Garfield County commissioners were more than just an idle participant at a special closed-door meeting in Vernal, Utah, in late March to discuss oil shale policy, a Colorado government watchdog group says.

The meeting produced a unified political statement from counties in three states, which was later sent to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The letter was critical of the BLM's plan to reduce the amount of federal lands available in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming for oil shale research and development.

“Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky organized the Vernal meeting,” Colorado Common Cause charged Thursday...." (Read more? Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within news others make since 2010"

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Deny Carbondale's request for energy impact funds"

Excellent idea from Sharon Brenner this morning.  Here on the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.

Sharon Brenner:
"I am wondering why Carbondale thinks it should get energy impact funds for its new library, especially since the town is doing all it can to fight natural gas drilling in the area. The town itself is responsible for adding significant additional costs to the construction of the library. It is retirees and trust funders who have moved to Carbondale that are driving the need for a larger library — not energy company employees. I urge the Garfield County commissioners to deny the town's request.

Just out of curiosity, if the library were oriented to take advantage of solar heating (windows) in the morning and winter, and shaded in the afternoon during the summer, how much would be saved by not installing solar panels and the accompanying controls? How long will it take to recover the costs of the solar panels?
...." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Our View: At 1st glance, Shell impresses"

Steamboat Today Editorial Board:
"Shell Oil is yet to have its first public hearing on its first proposed exploratory well in Routt County, but the encouraging impression the company made during a community open house last week should serve as an example for other energy operators seeking to do business here.

We’re not naive. Shell is a huge multinational corporation sophisticated enough to know it must connect with the communities where it seeks to drill for oil. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be grateful for the manner in which the company appears to be conducting its business in Northwest Colorado.

During a midday event Wednesday at the Steamboat Springs Community Center, Shell executive Matt Holman and a team of 15 company employees representing many facets of its operations matter-of-factly described their plans for Northwest Colorado. Holman made his company’s intent crystal clear — they want Routt County to allow Shell to drill three exploratory wells this year — while also clearly stating their intent to obey all 60 oil and gas permit guidelines adopted by the county....."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "In the American west: An ocean of oil"

Jazz Shaw:
"In case you missed it – and you very well might have, since the media was too busy talking about gay marriage to be bothered – a rather remarkable thing happened in Washington this week. An auditor from the GAO testified before the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment on the subject of energy. But instead of hearing about how horrible things are, she calmly delivered something of a bombshell.

“The Green River Formation–an assemblage of over 1,000 feet of sedimentary rocks that lie beneath parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming–contains the world’s largest deposits of oil shale,”Anu K. Mittal, the GAO’s director of natural resources and environment said in written testimony submitted to the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
“USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions,” Mittal testified.
“The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered,” Mittal told the subcommittee. “At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world’s proven oil reserves.”

Read those last two sentences again and think about it for a moment. The largest remaining reserves of oil on the planet are not in Saudi Arabia or buried under the frozen steppes of the former Soviet Union. They’re here in the United States. Combined with the massive resources in western Canada, that means that North America is the King of Oil for the future. But what – if anything – will we do about it?...."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."