American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2015 - 130

ConventionCoverage: Colorado Oil & Gas Association
of dollars of escrowed oil money will
flow into the Iranian economy, yet Iran
has done nothing to step away from being
the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism."
Bennet did not argue that the accord
left a lot to be desired from the United
States' perspective, but he countered, "I
agree with the theory that there isn't a
better deal available. The question we
have is this deal versus no deal."
He pointed out that in 2003, when
Iran had only 150 centrifuges and no enriched uranium, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus
Germany (P5 + 1) tried to negotiate with
Iran. "The deal was very generous on a
lot of points, except one: They said no
enrichment of any kind, and Iran walked
away," he recounted.
By 2009, Bennet said, Iran had 19,000
centrifuges and enough enriched uranium
to make 10 bombs. That was when Congress passed the Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act, but what
really brought Iran to the negotiating
table, Bennet credited, was the Obama
administration getting China and Russia
to agree to multilateral sanctions.
"But the deal the Russians and Chinese

signed was not for regime change. They
signed up to get Iran to the table to negotiate," he reminded.
"So I think the question is, if we don't
do the deal, do we preserve the military
option that is so important, or are we
more likely to preserve that option if we
stay with a multilateral group of countries
so that when the time comes, they will
be ready to act militarily?" Bennet posed.

Environmental Regulations
On a variety of other topics:
* Gardner promised to try to halt the
Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to lower the National Ambient Air
Quality Standard for ozone, calling it the
"most expensive regulation ever proposed.
It will have a $140 billion economic
impact on Colorado alone between 2019
and 2040, $817 million in Colorado implementation costs, and 11,000 lost jobs."
* Bennet also expressed concern, noting that "significant parts of our state
would be in nonattainment." However,
he blamed the underlying statute, saying
it didn't give EPA the flexibility it needed.
* Bennet said he supported EPA's
proposal to cut methane emissions from

the oil and gas industry by 45 percent by
2025. Noting that Colorado's methane
regulations grew out of negotiations between a group of producers and the Environmental Defense Fund (see "Colorado
Rules Target Methane Leaks," AOGR,
January 2014, pg. 232), he called EPA's
rule "the right thing to do because it dramatically reduces greenhouse gases associated with natural gas, which I think
is key to making sure natural gas is part
of driving our economy."
* While Gardner also saluted Colorado's methane regulations, he opposed
the EPA initiative, saying, "I would like
to see these decisions come from the
states instead of the EPA."
* Bennet said he also supported the
Clean Power Plan for limiting power
plant carbon dioxide emissions. He cited
technological advances that he credited
with increasing Colorado's oil and gas
production at the same time the state was
promoting wind and solar power. "I am
betting on the ingenuity of the people in
this room," Bennet declared, "I have no
problem believing we are going to deal
with (the Clean Power Plan) and address
climate change . . . in a way that actually
drives job creation."
❒

Sage Grouse Decision Only Half Right
An occasion that could have been
cause for rejoicing has been rendered
largely moot by the foundation on which
it rests.
That sums the assessment of oil and
gas industry associations reacting to the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's announcement that it would not list the greater
sage grouse as threatened or endangered.
Citing "an unprecedented, landscapescale conservation effort across the western
United States," Interior Secretary Sally
Jewell announced the USFWS decision
Sept. 22 at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal
National Wildlife Refuge in Commerce
City, Co.
The USFWS "has determined the bird
does not face the risk of extinction now
or in the foreseeable future, and therefore
does not need protection under the Endangered Species Act," Jewell said, adding,
"This is truly an historic effort-one that
represents extraordinary collaboration
across the American West."
One key to that collaboration, Jewell
acknowledged, are 98 land-use plans for

10 Western states "that place a greater
emphasis on conserving sage grouse habitat," and for which USFWS and the
Bureau of Land Management also announced records of decision on Sept. 22.
And therein lies the rub, says the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
"While today's not-warranted decision
is not unexpected, these new federal landuse plans ultimately will result in a far
greater economic impact for America's
independent oil and natural gas producers,"
responds IPAA Senior Vice President of
Government Relations and Political Affairs
Dan Naatz.
He adds, "At a time when America's
oil and natural gas producers already are
facing significant cost uncertainties, today's decision will . . . make it more
costly to operate and harder to provide
the benefits of abundant, affordable energy
to American families."
Land-Use Plans
The land-use plans, which were an-

130 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

nounced in late May, focus sage grouse
protection on minimizing new or additional
surface disturbance, improving habitat
conditions, and reducing the threat of
rangeland fire (AOGR, July 2015, pg.
167). They adopt a tiered approach of increasing restrictions in areas identified
as General Habitat Management Areas,
Priority Habitat Management Areas and
Sagebrush Focal Areas.
Specific to oil and gas, BLM and USFWS say they will:
* Prioritize future leasing and development outside of Priority and General
habitat management areas;
* Require no-surface-occupancy
measures for new leases in Sagebrush
Focal Areas, and with exceptions, in Priority Habitat Management Areas;
* Establish minimum buffers around
sage grouse leks, in which disturbances
must be limited or eliminated; and
* Require mitigation "that provides
a net conservation gain" for operations
on existing leases in habitat management
areas.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2015

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