http://www.newwest.net/topic/main/C69/L37/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2008 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:49:58 MDT Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:49:58 MDT http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/shale_oil_still_a_mirage/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/shale_oil_still_a_mirage/C69/L37/ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:10:00 MDT Talk of a “new boom” in oil shale production has been heard for more than two years now – but it’s not happening soon. While they are opposed on most energy issues, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard and Democratic Rep. Mark Udall, both of Colorado, are opposed to a new plan to mine potentially rich shale deposits on the Western Slope. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/obama_looks_to_solidify_west/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/obama_looks_to_solidify_west/C69/L37/ Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:31:00 MDT Will Amendment 48, the pro-life ballot measure that will be voted on in the November election, cost Barack Obama Colorado? That’s one possibility raised in recent days by local politicos eyeing the fall presidential race. , At the same time we are witnessing what the Grand Junction Sentinel calls “a fundamental realignment of the formerly reliably Republican Rocky Mountain West.” http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/no_relief_in_sight_for_drug_laws/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/no_relief_in_sight_for_drug_laws/C69/L37/ Wed, 28 May 2008 18:07:00 MDT Anyone who thought that some sanity had been brought to Colorado drug laws by the 2005 referendum that essentially legalized pot in Denver – think again. This week Metropolitan State College of Denver student Timothy Arndt pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia – a move that will allow Arndt to keep his college financial aid. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/ritter_signs_uranium_protection_bill/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/ritter_signs_uranium_protection_bill/C69/L37/ Wed, 21 May 2008 16:16:00 MDT Gov. Ritter yesterday signed a bill that will strengthen uranium mining restrictions in Colorado – but that may also have the effect of bringing new uranium mines online in the next couple of years. Signed by Ritter after a long battle in the state legislature, HB1161 will require extraction companies to certify they will return underground water reserves either to pre-mining conditions or to ones that are within existing state standards. It’s hardly a triumph for environmentalists, though. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_grid_gets_a_brain/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_grid_gets_a_brain/C69/L37/ Fri, 09 May 2008 09:31:00 MDT If all goes as planned Boulder will become the world’s first “fully integrated Smart Grid City,” says regional utility Xcel Energy. Envisioned as the first true innovation in electricity distribution in close to a century, the Smart Grid movement is essentially developing ways to bring digital Internet-based technology to power lines, giving utilities and business and residential customers greater control and efficiency in the flow of electricity. Ultimately, once the Smart Grid takes over a significant chunk of the existing power distribution infrastructure, utilities and governments will be able to use the power of the Web to better manipulate how electricity is generated and delivered. In other energy news: Democrats ready populist energy legislation; Colorado eyes fine print on electricity bills; and O&G executives foresee oil-price downturn by the end of the year. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/oil_price_off_the_rails/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/oil_price_off_the_rails/C69/L37/ Fri, 02 May 2008 07:26:01 MDT The convergence of record high gas prices ($3.60 a gallon average across the U.S.), a presidential campaign, obscenely high earnings reports from Big Oil, and the prospect of $4 gas during the summer driving season has led to some rampant silliness, including the proposed “gas-tax holiday” being backed by candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Congress plans to get into the act, pledging to bring forth legislation to offer low-income Americans relief from high prices at the pump – legislation that President Bush will almost certainly veto. The price surge is also leading to an alarming question: has the oil industry jumped the rails of basic economic laws? According to economics, soaring prices would, in normal times, lead to increased output of oil, reduced demand and a subsequent reduction (or at least a flattening) in prices. But prices haven’t followed suit. In other energy news: Colorado Wildlife Commission weighs in on oil and gas production; Xcel plans to shutter coal plants opposed by consumer-protection agency; and Colorado will study the economic effects of new oil and gas regulations on the industry. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/uranium_mines_a_step_closer/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/uranium_mines_a_step_closer/C69/L37/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:25:00 MDT The Colorado legislature pushed forward yesterday a bill that aims to protect groundwater and other natural resources from possible uramium mining in Colorado. HB1161, sponsored by state representatives from the Fort Collins area, would "require uranium miners to prove they could return groundwater to either pre-mining conditions or levels in line with existing state standards," reports Jason Kosena of the Daily Coloradoan. While this bill, which is expected to clear the full Senate, is viewed as a victory for environmental activists, it could clear the way for the long-awaited rebirth of Colorado's dormant uranium industry. In other energy news: new oil reserves in North Dakota will boost domestic production; Ken Salazar intros legislation to end the Roan Plateau drilling controversy; and natural gas prices shoot up in the region. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/doe_funds_cheap_solar_research/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/doe_funds_cheap_solar_research/C69/L37/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:35:00 MDT Aiming to jump-start the U.S. solar-power industry, the Dept. of Energy will put up $13.7 million in the next three years to support university-led projects to bring less expensive solar technology to market. Hit in recent months by falling stock prices and the cost of commercializing sophisticated photovoltaic technology, the solar industry needs to find ways to hasten the development of cheap, wide-spread arrays. Under its "Solar America" initiative, the Bush Administration has set a target of bringing the cost of solar energy down to levels competitive with conventional electricity production by 2015. All together, the projects could reduce the cost of electricity produced by photovoltaic systems from the current levels, 18-23 cents per kilowatt hour to 5-10 per Kw/hour. In other energy news: Sen. Salazar sponsors a bill to recover and treat "produced water" from oil and gas production; Colorado lawmakers finally figure out how to distribute revenues from federal mineral leases; Colorado School of Mines' mountainside 'M' goes green with LEDs. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/outcry_muted_over_new_og_rules/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/outcry_muted_over_new_og_rules/C69/L37/ Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:21:00 MDT After all the griping and gnashing of teeth over the new rules for oil and gas production in Colorado, it was perhaps inevitable that the actual draft regulations, which were released this week, were less inflammatory than the industry rhetoric would have led you to believe. Brian Macke, regulatory compliance manager for Denver-based Delta Petroleum, told The Denver Post his company is "encouraged" by certain aspects of the proposed regulations, which call for more scrutiny of the potential environmental aspects of proposed drilling, among other changes. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, the most vociferous opponent of the new regime, was not mollified. In other energy news: state legislature tries to save federal mineral leasing revenue for higher ed; NASA scientist James Hansen challenges Duke Energy CEO; Bank of America adopts clean –energy principles. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/despite_demand_og_value_drops/C69/L37/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/despite_demand_og_value_drops/C69/L37/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:58:00 MDT With the price of a barrel of oil zooming past $106 and likely to continue rising, you would think that the value of the oil and gas coming out of the Rocky Mountain West would be setting records. That's not happening, mainly due to a lack of transport options to get the fiuel to big markets in the Midwest and East. Colorado produced $6.63 billion worth of oil and natural gas in 2007, dropping 24 percent from '06, according to the Colorado Geological Survey. Meanwhile, the opening of new pipelines from the producing fields of the Mountain West should relieve the pressure on prices. In other energy news: state legislators over energy-efficiency bill; wind power producer relocates to Northern Colorado; coal demand soars, outstripping supplies.