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“Western Democrats have found success recasting environmentalism as a
defense of threatened water supplies, fishing spots and hunting
grounds. As a result, the party may hold the advantage this fall in
the region’s key Congressional races. The simultaneous rise of
Western energy production and the Western Democrat is no coincidence.”
“Republicans created a monster for themselves,” said Rick Ridder, a
Colorado-based Democratic consultant. “They put public policy in
direct conflict with their base voters.”
“…industry workers upbraided officials for considering rules that
could slow gas drilling along the Colorado-New Mexico border.
Century-old antigovernment emotions are now aimed at state regulators
– and much of the vitriol comes from working-class Democrats.”
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NYTimes
Drilling for Defeat?
By DAVID SIROTA
Published: May 18, 2008
Nearly two decades ago, Republicans won the West by linking Democrats
to environmentalists, who supposedly cared more for the spotted owl
and other favored species than they did for the jobs of loggers or
miners. But now, as a boom in natural-gas drilling reshapes the
region, Western Democrats have found success recasting
environmentalism as a defense of threatened water supplies, fishing
spots and hunting grounds. As a result, the party may hold the
advantage this fall in the region’s key Congressional races. The
simultaneous rise of Western energy production and the Western
Democrat is no coincidence.
The Rocky Mountain drilling boom has been aided by the 2005 Energy
Policy Act, which was once considered a partisan political
masterstroke. In providing incentives for energy development,
Republicans delivered a profitable gift to an industry that directs
most of its campaign contributions to G.O.P. candidates. That gift
was sweetened by the Bureau of Land Management, which, under
President Bush, has expanded the amount of federal land open to
energy development and increased the number of drilling permits.
But the acceleration of energy exploration has split the national
Republican Party from local Republicans upset by the downsides of the
energy boom. “Republicans created a monster for themselves,” said
Rick Ridder, a Colorado-based Democratic consultant. “They put public
policy in direct conflict with their base voters.”
In Wyoming’s Upper North Platte Valley, Jeb Steward, a Republican
state representative, helped lead the successful 2007 opposition to
the B.L.M.’s proposed sale of 13 oil and gas parcels. “We have
customs and cultures that have developed over a hundred years based
on the utilization of multiple renewable resources – agriculture,
tourism, wildlife, fisheries,” Steward said. “When B.L.M. proposed
issuing the leases, residents were asking, ‘What does this mean to
the lifestyles that we’ve all grown accustomed to?’ ”
One wing of the Bush administration appears to have heard the
message. In February, the Environmental Protection Agency asked the
Bureau of Land Management to revise its plan to allow nearly 4,400
new natural-gas wells on the Pinedale Anticline in Wyoming, citing
ozone pollution from drilling rigs. “We have to balance economic
success, energy development and the love that the people of Wyoming
have for their special places,” said Gary Trauner, the Democratic
candidate hoping to replace Wyoming’s retiring Republican
congresswoman, Barbara Cubin.
Energy is also likely to affect politics in two Western states where
the offspring of conservation icons are running for Senate. In New
Mexico, Representative Tom Udall, a Democrat and the son of Stewart
Udall, secretary of the interior under Kennedy and Johnson, may face
off against the Republican congresswoman Heather Wilson. Two years
ago, Wilson belatedly backed Udall’s bill to limit local drilling
after being criticized on the issue by a 2006 election opponent.
In Colorado, Representative Mark Udall, Tom’s cousin and the son of
the late environmentalist congressman Morris (Mo) Udall, is running
for the Senate against Bob Schaffer, a former Republican congressman
who works for a natural-gas company. Colorado has experienced a
sixfold increase in drilling permits since 1999, and the B.L.M. has
leased a New Jersey-size 5.2 million acres of federal land for new
energy exploration in the state. Already a conservative group has
broadcast television ads attacking Udall for trying to limit
drilling. But election trends suggest that such criticisms may be
losing effectiveness.
Of course, a recession – and corresponding fears of job losses –
could halt the political shift. At a recent hearing convened by the
Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, industry workers
upbraided officials for considering rules that could slow gas
drilling along the Colorado-New Mexico border. Century-old
antigovernment emotions are now aimed at state regulators – and much
of the vitriol comes from working-class Democrats.
But can they swing an election? According to Headwaters Economics, a
Montana-based research group, the energy sector currently employs
only 1.3 percent of the region’s work force. And mining generated
just 2.9 percent of all personal income in the five
natural-gas-producing Western states in 2006. By contrast, retirement
benefits, service jobs and professional industries generated about 55
percent of the region’s income. Many of these sectors have an
interest in reducing energy development. After all, retirees,
professionals and tourism businesses often come to the region for the
open spaces.
“Lots of drilling is great for the industry,” said Headwaters
Economics’ associate director, Ben Alexander. “But is it good for the
region as a whole?” The political battle for the West will be won by
whichever party offers the most convincing answer.
David Sirota is the author of “The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of
the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington.”
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“The tendency for success to breed complacency and recklessness
is as ingrained in financial markets as it is in any other walk of life.”
Banks:Barbarians atthe vault. The Economist,May 15th 2008
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