Working the refs...

Sports fans know the concept of working the refs. The coach gently, or sometimes not-so-gently, chides the refs/umpires throughout the game to be more fair in their calls hoping that later in the game the refs will lean their way on a call or two.

Republican lawmakers, on behalf of their industry friends, and oil and gas lobbyists have been working the oil and gas commission for a couple of weeks now . It appears to have paid off. The Rocky reports,

Proposed rules for oil and gas development address many of the concerns voiced by industry over the past several months, state regulators said as they unveiled the draft regulations today.

The much-awaited rules have been the subject of frequent complaints from industry officials, who said the state's early proposals would force drillers to wait too long to get permits approved, give neighboring landowners too much say in drilling and apply rules where none are needed.

But of 21 topics addressed by the rules, 17 have been modified to address industry complaints, regulators said.

"We've had a very rigorous dialogue ... and we've listened to all of (the concerns) and adjusted the proposal appropriately in response," said Dave Neslin, acting director of the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

The question now becomes, have new regulations been rendered toothless? They have just been released in the last 2 hours so no analysis is available yet. I don't have an issue with listening to industry concerns and finding acceptable compromises per se but the over-heated rhetoric in recent weeks, from the Senate GOP in particular, was not exactly a great tact if your desire was to reach some sort of middle-ground consensus. I'd prefer not to reward bad behavior.

Here's hoping the two Ritter appointed Executive Directors who sit on the commission were able to hold the line. Both the ED of the Department of Natural Resources (Harris Sherman) and the ED of the Department of Public Health and Environment sit on the committee. In addition Democrats hold a 4-2-1 (D, R, U) advantage on the committee.

cross posted at Colorado Pols