Salazar and Udall: Roan Battle Not Over

Members Vow To Keep Fighting Administration

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Reps. John Salazar (CO-3) and Mark Udall (CO-2) released the following statement today after a last-minute cost estimate was added late last night to the Roan Plateau amendment, preventing its passage on the floor today.  The amendment would have halted the U.S. Interior Department, which oversees the Bureau of Land Management, from using any funds to lease lands on the Roan Plateau not already open to drilling.  The amendment would have been attached to the 2008 Interior and the Environment Appropriations bill that passed the House floor today.

“We are disappointed that the Bush Administration has stepped in at the last minute and apparently strong-armed the Congressional Budget Office into accepting very questionable numbers on the cost of our amendment.  Because of this curiously timed and highly speculative cost estimate, we were not able to get a vote on delaying drilling on the Roan Plateau in the 2008 Interior Appropriations bill.  In effect, the Bush Administration is using exaggerated estimates of uncertain oil and gas revenue as an excuse to force additional oil and gas drilling on the West, and while they have won today’s round, they will not prevail in the end.

“Serious questions remain about the federal plan to open up more of the Roan to oil and gas drilling.  It is clear to us that the public process must continue in order to protect the interests of affected communities and other users of these public lands.  Our amendment would have allowed that process to continue in order to strike an appropriate balance between energy development, conservation and recreation.  Unfortunately, the Bush Administration and its allies have abandoned a public process they claim to embrace and have instead chosen to stifle discussion.

“Had we been able to get a vote on our amendment, we are confident that we would have prevailed.  We would have been successful in spite of the misinformation put out by proponents of drilling.  While some on the Western Slope have aligned themselves with the energy industry and have given voice to the distortions generated by the industry,  we have chosen to side with the communities and the thousands of  constituents who have voiced their concerns about the impact it would have on them. This fight is not over –-there are other legislative strategies we intend to pursue-- and we also intend to send a strong message to the Bush Administration that the process they are pursuing on the Roan is seriously flawed and must be changed.”