Analysis

This week, Western Wire Managing Editor Michael Sandoval appeared on Scott Hennen’s “Energy Matters” to discuss North Dakota and the state Congressional delegation’s request for $38 million for reimbursement for law enforcement and safety measures during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests of 2016-17.

Environmental group Greenpeace recently graded the 2020 Democratic presidential field and western candidates did not fare well, while those in the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest received extensive praise from the group. Greenpeace scored the candidates on their willingness to support the Green New Deal and phase out fossil fuel production. The group also examined the candidates’ specific plans on addressing climate change and achieving 100 percent renewable energy.

Last week, Western Wire Managing Editor Michael Sandoval joined Jon Caldara, President of the Denver-based Independence Institute, a free market think tank, to discuss emails and the Polis administration, along with the long-awaited and delayed oil and gas health risk assessment from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Oil is a growth business, despite the change in the world’s energy mix. With exports from the Bakken formation centered on western North Dakota already heading to Asian and European markets, the future for North American shale and onshore production, for at least the next two decades, appears promising, according to Barry Biggs, Vice President of Onshore for Hess.

Western Wire Managing Editor Michael Sandoval had a full slate of radio appearances this week to discuss a series of emails obtained by Western Wire through an open records request between two of Colorado’s top health officials outlining a series of meetings with state agency staff to discuss a raft of potential policy issues, beginning with suggestions forwarded by a climate action organization formerly headed by one of the officials.

In a surprise move, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) reversed course on a key environmental issue—ground-level ozone—that could have serious repercussions for incoming federal highway dollars and restrict economic development in the Denver metro area. Last year, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s administration acknowledged the ozone nonattainment designation, saying the …

For once, industry and activists are both on the same side: no comment on the bill. Or for those over 40, where’s the beef? Colorado caught a sneak peek at the Democrats’ expected oil and gas legislation when Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, House Speaker K.C. Becker, and Gov. Jared Polis pulled the curtain back just slightly to offer a preview of their upcoming comprehensive oil and gas legislation, but provided little in the way of concrete, nuts-and-bolts details that both industry observers and anti-oil and gas activists could dig into without a bill.