Dan Haley, CEO and President of COGA (Colorado Oil and Gas Association) discusses some of the big efforts from the past year, including the fight against regulations and the push to educate people about the many changes innovations toward a more environmentally clean and friendly oil and gas industry.
Interview was conducted by The Crude Life Content Correspondent Genneca Houser.
Here are some show notes and time markers:
00:39 – Dan discusses the constant state of regulation that Colorado has been under since 2018 and before. Many of the regulations that were set at that time were put into play this year (2020).
02:00 – Dan talks about the movement against the oil and gas industry in Colorado and the motives and goals that have been brought up because of the movement. There are two main groups of individuals pushing back on the industry; one is a small group of activists who simply don’t want anything to do with the industry, and the other group are political leaders looking to ensure public safety through regulations.
03:09 – Climate change has gotten many people talking about the environment. Dan talks about how Colorado is “ahead of the game” in that area and the importance of having the conversation about what needs to be done as well as taking a look at what has been accomplished.
“We need to talk a little bit about how we are a part of the solution…” – Dan Haley (03:55)
05:28 – This last year has been focused primarily on the regulatory rule making taking effect for the oil and gas industry. However, new innovations have continued to be implemented including cost effective strategies to reduce greenhouse emissions, non-emitting pneumatics, electric drilling rigs and pumps, carbon capture storage and more. Work is always continuing to find ways to take the existing technology into a cleaner future.
06:44 – Dan talks about how Colorado Governor has set goals to have an “All renewable energy standard by the year 2040 and his views on how realistic those goals are.
“I think a 2040 renewable energy standard is impossible… why sell people on an impossible standard? Let’s talk about what’s real, realistic…” – Dan Haley (07:09)
07:50 – We discuss how “all energy sources have trade-offs” – in other words, every form of “renewable energy” has their own environmental impacts. Dan talks about potential detrimental impacts on the environment through other forms of renewable energy and how each utilize oil or gas in some form or another. At the end of the day, there are a great many things that we need the oil and gas industry for.
09:35 – Dan talks about the goal of COGA to not only educate the public, but also the workforce on the importance of the industry and the many innovations to make the industry safer. The pandemic has made it more difficult to get the message out, but it’s important to share why the oil and gas industry is good for our communities, state, country, and future.
11:29 – Dan talks about the Mardi Gras Ball this year. (Find out more on coga.org) It’s a virtual party online to raise money for the Colorado Energy Foundation, an arm of COGA. Energy Outreach Colorado and other non-profits have partnered up in the effort to put this event on.
12:47 – Dan shares some final thoughts about the industry and how we should work together to keep our oil and gas production within the United States. He states that it’s important to keep the United States in first place for oil and gas production because it’s “good for our economy, good for national security and really it’s good for our environment.”
Find more information about the Colorado Oil and Gas Association at www.coga.org
Find more information about Colorado Energy Foundation
Find more information about Energy Outreach Colorado
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