With a billboard-sized “tax collection” notice in hand, Western Colorado Alliance held a day-of-action aimed at the oil and gas lobby in Colorado. Western Colorado Alliance is a group landowners and taxpayers who want to ensure that their natural resources are being properly managed. That is why they have gathered outside the Western Slope office of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.

“Western Colorado Alliance is out here today because we believe it’s time for the oil and gas companies to pay their fair share as they develop taxpayer-owned resources on our public lands. Instead of fighting against common sense regulations that would reduce natural waste and pollution, the oil and gas lobby should support solutions that will protect the health of our children, stop the needless waste of American energy, and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue,” said Troy Redding, an organizer with Western Colorado Alliance.

“More than 25.7 million acres of public lands are leased for oil and gas development in the U.S. including public lands surrounding our Western Slope communities such as Battlement Mesa. During development, oil and gas companies vent, flare, or leak millions of tons of methane which is the main component of natural gas. We believe that this wasteful and irresponsible practice must come to an end.”

With rare exception, the federal government does not collect royalties on wasted natural gas. In fact, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that oil and gas companies could economically cut at least 40 percent of that waste and generate $23 million annually.

That lost revenue is why Western Colorado Alliance and other conservation organizations have organized events across the country in support of the Methane Waste Prevention Rule. They are calling for the oil and gas lobby to pay “back taxes” for the $230 million in lost royalty revenue over the last decade due to wasted natural gas by their member companies.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adopted the Methane and Waste Prevention Rule to cut that waste in 2016. After intense opposition to federal methane rules by the oil and gas industry Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke moved to roll back the BLM methane waste rule. This spring, agency recently closed a comment period where they failed to hold a single public hearing anywhere in the U.S. A revised rule that removes many of the protections in the 2016 regulation is expected to be released in early August.

In addition to methane, toxic chemicals such as benzene and other ozone-forming pollutants are released during the extraction process. Ozone, or smog, can trigger asthma attacks and worsen respiratory diseases such as emphysema.

“Americans are paying twice because of the oil and gas industry’s irresponsible practices. First with our tax dollars and second with our health. Companies have a responsibility to stop the waste and protect our air,” Redding concluded.

Other press coverage:

• KKCO: Protesters call for continuation of methane waste prevention rule
• Western Slope Now: Local group rallies to protect methane rule