More whining from State GOP on oil and gas regs

Interesting article in the Rocky this morning on the changes that have taken place on Colorado's Oil & Gas Conservation committee since Ritter was elected. What needs to be kept in mind is that until Ritter was elected the "Conservation committee" was comprised entirely of industry insiders. Now that there is a bit of balance and the interests of the local communities have a voice Republican politicians are upset.

"Certainly, elections have consequences," said Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. "What we're seeing now is literally the regulatory environment in Colorado moving in a radically different direction."

Radically different it certainly is. When the regulatory system is, literally, a wholly owned subsidiary of the industry they are supposed to be overseeing any movement away from that is a radical shift. It's a radical shift towards the middle though, towards balance and common sense.
What McNulty is apparently oblivious to are not the consequences of elections but the causes behind election outcomes. Republican lawmakers spent years ignoring concerns of local communities and shilling for the oil and gas industry and now the GOP is out of power in this state. You cannot ignore the concerns of the people of the state and expect that there will not be any consequences for that behavior. Why did so many moderate Republican's on the Western Slope vote for Ritter? Issues like oil and gas regulation were certainly a significant factor.

Colorado has had one of the weakest oil and gas regulatory structures in the western U.S. for decades now. Bringing it up to the standards of our neighboring states is not going to drive the industry away and state GOP rhetoric on this issue amounts to little more than hyperbolic scare tactics.