Posted on 01/18/2004 1:05:14 PM PST by CedarDave
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Otero Mesa an Ideal Location for More Oil, Gas Wells
By Bill McCaw
Artesia Businessman
Have you ever been to Otero Mesa? Do you know anyone who has ever stepped foot on this piece of land that environmental extremists keep calling "pristine," "wild and important" and "incredible"?
No? That's what I thought.
Ninety-nine percent of the public couldn't point out Otero Mesa on a map even if they were given a cash prize for doing so. And yet, extremists are trying to convince the public that drilling for oil and natural gas on this "untamed" land will "destroy" our state's "natural heritage."
Don't be dissuaded by these scare tactics, because the people who make such absurd and exaggerated claims have a very narrow view of the world— a view that is not likely to match your own.
Five former members of the New Mexico Resource Advisory Council (RAC) of the Bureau of Land Management asserted in a Dec. 7 commentary ("BLM Panel Defied On Otero Drilling") that the BLM had sold out to the oil and gas industry and was poised to allow the "destruction" of this much-discussed but little-seen mesa.
According to the writers, "The BLM has ignored the wishes of New Mexicans." Really? Do these five people believe that they actually know the wishes of New Mexico citizens, the overwhelming majority of whom know nothing about Otero Mesa?
What they are really saying is that the BLM hasn't completely adopted their viewpoint. That makes it a bad agency that has sold out to evil people who want to produce oil and gasoline for your car and natural gas to heat your home.
By the way, without oil it would be impossible to manufacture your car, or your home, or your computer, or any of the other thousands of products (including food, water, clothing, etc.) you use every day.
"In the end," they wrote, "we have come to the conclusion that this area cannot be drilled in an environmentally sound manner."
Sound familiar? It should, because that's the way environmental extremists talk. They want to "protect" every square inch of land they can from any sort of productive activity to "save it" for future generations. That kind of thinking might be acceptable in the alternative universe they live in, but in the real world it's preposterous.
First of all, if the BLM allows for more oil and gas drilling on Otero Mesa, the land will not be "destroyed." Oil and gas activities will take place on a very small percentage of the 1.2 million acres, and roads and pipelines hardly qualify as "destruction."
Secondly, pump jacks and gas wells (gas wells are hardly visible once they are put on line) may not be the prettiest things in the world, but who or what will they be bothering? Only a minuscule fraction of the state's population has ever gone there or will ever go there.
Otero Mesa does have a raw beauty (name one place on the planet that doesn't), but in truth it's a forbidding, desolate landscape. In fact, out of all the places that could potentially hold large oil and natural gas reserves, it's difficult to imagine a more suitable location than one that is so uninhabitable.
These former RAC members also complain that Otero Mesa should not be open to drilling, "so a few oil and gas companies can profit."
The profound ignorance (or dishonesty) of such people is staggering. Oil and natural gas production typically accounts for nearly a quarter of the state's entire economy— that's tax money spent on the needs of all New Mexicans. The industry employs 26,000 people in high-wage jobs in places such as Farmington, Bloomfield, Artesia and Roswell that would otherwise have very little hope of generating a viable economy.
These oil and gas workers buy homes, cars, and every other product and service under the sun, which in turn creates jobs and opportunities for many more thousands of people.
And what do these extremists have against making a profit? Are they communists? Shouldn't bold companies that risk large sums of money in a quest to find oil and gas for all of us to use be rewarded with a profit? (A profit, by the way, that state and federal governments tax heavily and then spend on such things as education, police protection and roads.)
Finally, I would like to know how our former RAC members propose we deal with our country's growing dependence on foreign sources of energy. Every year we import more oil from the Middle East— a place in the world populated with no small number of people who hate us and our values.
Do Americans really want to continue down this dangerous path of having our national security and quality of life dependent on energy sources obtained from unstable and hostile nations? Or would we rather responsibly develop our own resources in places such as Otero Mesa where the economic benefit stays right here at home? Drilling on Otero Mesa won't "destroy" this land that virtually none of you will ever see. It will, however, contribute to the prosperity of New Mexico and the security of our nation.
Bill McCaw of Artesia buys up mineral rights and leases on properties with prospects of oil or gas deposits.
Copyright 2003 Albuquerque Journal
I knew this couldn't have been written by anybody in the northern half of the state.
I am surprised they even printed it.
Nuff said.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.
If this is taxes with reprsentation
Give me taxes without representation
I much prefer a tax on tea!
Instead of everything else.
Sound to me as if the one behind the Evowacs are stock holders of current oil companies. More supplies means lower fuel cost and lower stock and divided returns.
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