Friday, July 6, 2007

Left at the Station?

There is at least an even chance that Mark Udall's opposition to drilling for gas on the Roan Plateau will backfire, thanks to a proposal by State Senator Josh Penry and State Representative Al White. They want the royalty revenue from the venture to fund the state's colleges and universities.

Most Coloradoans don't want to pay higher taxes, though that is the Democrat solution for every problem. If the state has a growing need for higher education funding, and it does, why not marry that need with a natural gas windfall?

Mark Udall will claim that drilling on the Roan Plateau will desecrate it, and that argument will carry weight with those who don't understand that the drilling will be limited to 350 acres at a time. No new 350 acre plot can be opened, under the plan, until the previous one is restored.

The Colorado Springs Gazette stopped just short of calling Udall an environmental extremist over his position concerning the Roan. Now, the Colorado Senate News is informing us that the Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News, and the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel have expressed varying degrees of support for the Penry-White proposal.

This train is pulling out, and Mark Udall stands a good chance of being embarrassed, being left at the station if he doesn't get on board.

No comments: