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Ness’s views go beyond alternative facts

Dexter Perkins

Grand Forks

The boogie man is coming and the sky is falling. That pretty much sums up the recent news from Ron Ness, President of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.

Ness claims environmental extremists plotted and stopped the Senate from repealing a rule that limits natural gas releases by oil companies. This rule, says Ness, will be devastating to the North Dakota oil industry.

Fortunately, our Senator Heitkamp made the right vote on the natural gas rule. Unfortunately, Senator Hoeven did not. He, once again showed that he will do whatever the ND oil industry asks him to do, even if it is bad for North Dakotans and all U.S. citizens.

Although it is quite popular for politicians and lobbyists to make up alternative facts these days, Ness’s exaggerated claims amount to silly nonsense. In the first place, Republicans who have generally always gone along with what the energy industry wants are in control of the U.S. Senate. It is unlikely they listen to radical environmentalists. Yet, the Senate voted to keep the rule. In the second place, although oil companies may elect to adjust some plans, the rule will have almost no long-term impact on North Dakota because North Dakota petroleum producers have already taken significant steps to control natural gas releases. Additionally, the rule can be waived, if need be, in the rare instance when an oil well would not otherwise be economical to produce.

Perhaps of greater significance, Ness has simply dismissed the reasons why the rule was put in place. It was not done in a hurry, but only after many years of investigation and consideration by the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM studied countless scientific reports, and spent more than 3 years visiting different parts of the country to see the impacts of natural gas pollution. And, because of concerns about U.S. security, leaders in the U.S. military and veterans groups lobbied both the BLM and the U.S. Senate to make sure that the rule stayed in place.

During the last 20 years, in part because of Bakken oil production in North Dakota, the United States has moved toward energy security by developing domestic petroleum resources and developing alternatives energy sources such as wind and solar. Much of the development has occurred on federal public lands and it is only appropriate for the federal government to make sure that development takes place in an appropriate way.

Petroleum companies are not evil or stupid but have, for a long time, often found it easiest to concentrate on producing oil, and to discard natural gas by releasing it into the atmosphere or by burning it at well sites. They have the tools needed to capture the gas but have elected not to. This has cost the United States a great deal of money while wasting potentially valuable energy resources that could help us maintain energy security in the future.

At the same time, private property owners, native American, and U.S. taxpayers have been deprived of huge amounts of royalty payments every year.

Venting and flaring of natural gas also has other costs. It creates air pollution that directly affects human health, and that contributes significantly to the ongoing problem of global warming. Natural gas is a much stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Ness argues that the Federal Government should back off and let North Dakota regulate gas production in our state. He is ignoring the fact that much of the oil production is not on state or privately owned land – it is on tribal and Federal land. And, he is using tricky double speak because he knows that the oil and gas regulations in North Dakota were written by the oil industry and so let the industry do pretty much whatever it wants. He also knows that even the very weak rules we have are rarely enforced.

It is likely that the Trump administration will ask the BLM to revise the rule. As they consider it, reasonable and honest debates about energy policy will be good to have. But, wildly exaggerated editorials simply polarize issues and do not contribute anything positive. Additionally, by writing what he did, Ness has shown clearly why the petroleum industry has little credibility with the public.

Perkins has a doctorate degree and works at the Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering at the University of North Dakota.

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