The Obama campaign’s “Western Strategy” paid dividends in 2012, sending the President back to the White House for another four years and potentially sealing up the West for Democrats into foreseeable future. However, not three months after his reelection, President Obama was at odds with Western values in the first State of the Union of his second term.
President Obama announced plans for “speeding up new oil and gas permits” and proposed an alternative energy fund that would be supported by oil and gas revenues from drilling on public lands, goals that were welcomed by solution-driven Westerners. Yet the President failed to discuss the costs drilling and fracking have on our public lands that are an invaluable part of our quality of life in the West.
A recent poll sponsored by Colorado College’s State of the Rockies Project found that 63 percent of Westerners see themselves as conservationists. On the key issue of oil drilling on Western lands, 84 percent of voters favored strictly limited drilling on public lands (25 percent) or permanently protecting sensitive areas from drilling (56 percent), while only 16 percent said public lands should generally be open to drilling.
Western voters and communities deal with the positive and negative impacts of energy development everyday, and are keenly aware of the need for balance in the equation. More importantly, there is a way to protect land and quality of life while reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
The President touts an “all of the above” energy strategy, but must ensure that this includes conservation. Otherwise, it is simply “some of the above.”
Residents in the West are making their voices heard. Longmont, Colorado passed a ban on fracking within city limits in a November public vote, while Fort Collins has made moves to put a similar initiative on its April ballot. Other cities and towns in Colorado are following suit. Boulder, Loveland, and Erie have all issued drilling moratoriums, arguing that further studies need to be done before moving forward with extraction near homes and schools.
There have also been loud protests over Bureau of Land Management plans to allow drilling on prized lands in the North Fork Valley agricultural area, the scenic Roan Plateau, and Dinosaur National Park.
These voices are loud and clear, and should be heard without the need for focus groups and complex marketing data. The White House has a responsibility to Westerners and our way of life.