Recorded on March 15, 2024

Episode 104 of the PetroNerds podcast is a PetroNerds special focussing on the proposed bill and ban on oil and gas permits in Colorado by 2030, an effective ban on all new oil and gas drilling. Trisha Curtis is joined by guest Chris Brown, VP of Policy and Research at the Common Sense Institute (CSI). Trisha just joined CSI as an Energy Fellow and helped contribute to a very recent and timely report authored by Chris on Senate Bill 24-159 in Colorado.

Trisha and Chris talk about the bill, the impact to jobs in Colorado, the severe impact to tax revenue in Colorado, the detrimental impact to the economy, the knock on impacts that cannot easily be captured through modeling, the fact that it will increase not decrease CO2 emissions, and broader policies and costs being paid for by Coloradans and Americans from poor energy policies. While this podcast is focussed on this proposed bill to ban oil and gas drilling and completion permits in Colorado in the name of reducing CO2 emissions, the discussion goes beyond Colorado and is a lesson for all states.

Oil production in California declines steadily, thousands of barrels per day each and every month, due to onerous regulations and anti oil and gas policies in California, directly contributing to rising energy costs, brown outs, higher costs of living, higher gasoline and diesel prices, higher electricity prices, and severe energy insecurity. This is the same route and path Colorado is on. Colorado citizens, businesses, business leaders, and those in and outside of the oil and gas industry need to appreciate that the war on oil and gas is a war on energy security and energy reliability and it is not reducing Colorado or global CO2 emissions. Xcel is proposing another rate hike on natural gas despite natural gas prices being well below $2/mcf.

Consumers are not reaping the benefits of low domestic US energy prices in their electricity bills because utility companies are passing along the expensive cost of unreliable so called renewables to their consumers. Electricity bills have risen dramatically in the past few years, directly contributing to rising and sticky inflation and higher costs for consumers. Xcel is directly asking for the rate hike to pay for more expensive renewables.

Folks need to push back and demand fairer prices and greater consumption of natural gas and reliable energy in the utility pool.

Denver Gazette Article: https://denvergazette.com/news/business/stopping-oil-drilling-would-be-an-economic-catastrophe/article_15aefc28-e253-11ee-9520-a3b919c953b7.html

Report: https://commonsenseinstituteco.org/impact-of-sb24-159/

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