Posted on 06/23/2012 5:26:11 AM PDT by Olog-hai
A U.S. district judge ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Friday to re-assess its plan to allow drilling on some 50,000 acres on the Roan Plateau, which the energy industry says contains one of the largest natural gas fields in the continental United States.
Judge Marcia Krieger said BLM had failed to thoroughly assess all the environmental impact to the ecologically sensitive plateau in western Colorado before approving energy development on the mountain.
"Like many areas of Colorado, the area has been blessed with an abundance of two major resources, the uses of which are often in conflict," Krieger—who was appointed b President George W. Bush—wrote in her 38-page opinion.
"Its surface offers extensive and largely unspoiled … scenic, ecological and wildlife virtues. Below the surface… contains valuable oil and gas reserves."
The BLM failed to consider alternative plans, or fully address air-quality issues and the potential impact from ozone emissions, Krieger wrote.
The ruling was a victory, if a temporary one, for environmental and conservations groups who sued to halt the project. The BLM gave the initial green light in 2007 for oil and natural gas development on the plateau near Rifle, Colorado, about 175 miles west of Denver.
The Colorado Oil & Gas Association says the plateau contains enough natural gas to power 4 million homes for 20 years. …
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
This gives me an idea. I wonder if somewhere in Obamacare it says “the department will thoroughly assess the impact” somewhere.
If so, if it isn’t thrown out by the court, we can start suing like the greenies, every time they try to implement a regulation, we can find some judge who will say they didn’t do a “thorough” enough job.
We're halfway through 2012, it looks like the green light didn't mean go.
“We’re halfway through 2012, it looks like the green light didn’t mean go.......”
Yah...it meant “kick in some green for my campaign this fall...and maybe we’ll see what we can “do about it”
Liberals thrive on the undefined. Diversity, sustainable, poor, etc. all those words are undefined. If it doesn’t have a definition you cannot think differently, debate it or even be wrong.
That the earth is billions of years old, has seen incredible physical change and upheaval and vast extinctions proves that she’s “ecologically sensitive”. Words don’t have meaning so the controllers can control.
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