We’d better stop drilling to save this bird

[Wehrwolfen]

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We’d better stop drilling to save this bird​

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by Jazz Shaw
December 2, 2012

Elections aside, things have been looking fairly bright for the future of American energy production. As we’ve reported here in the past, the US is on the verge of becoming the biggest oil and natural gas producer in the world, possibly leading to a new “golden age” for the United States. So now we just need to get down to business, developing these resources, creating tens of thousands of jobs and building the infrastructure we’ll need for…

I’m sorry… what was that? We need to stop again? Why? To save a… a… chicken?

A move by U.S. authorities to consider placing a small grassland bird native to parts of the oil and gas belt on the Endangered Species List has drawn the ire of some Western lawmakers.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday announced a plan to consider having the lesser prairie chicken listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

The lesser prairie chicken is a medium-sized, gray-brown grouse, smaller and paler than the greater prairie chicken, its close relative…

Lawmakers in major oil and gas producing districts immediately cried foul.

“A listing will have permanent economic consequences for the people of Texas who live and work in the Permian Basin and the Texas Panhandle,” said Representative Michael Conaway, a Republican.​

I don’t know if this is going to work, or if the people in the affected areas will stand for it without this turning into a massive political debacle for Obama and the Democrats. It’s true that Barack Obama doesn’t have to win any more elections, but his party will already be facing an uphill slog during the 2014 mid-terms. Dangling this sort of a treat in front of the public and then snatching it away at the last minute to save the lesser prairie chicken may just be a bridge and a half too far.

But if the Fish and Wildlife Service really wants to act as a fifth column agent to promote an anti-energy agenda, there’s one proposal they could consider here. The name “lesser prairie chicken” just doesn’t work for an ad campaign or a bumper sticker. First of all, it’s got the word “lesser” right up front and that’s just bad marketing. Also, you’re calling it a “chicken” instead of a grouse, which would be more proper anyway. Nobody wants to save chickens. They want to eat them.

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Read more:
We’d better stop drilling to save this bird « Hot Air

 

[OKTexas]

Rigs already have to shut down for three months a year in southern Wyoming during the mating season of another prairie chicken, they are required to lower the rig mast and cease operations. Like a horney bird cares.

 

[Mr. H.]

They were here first. We should all just commit suicide and be done with it.

 

[AmyNation]

So, because it's not an interesting animal like a Tiger, it doesn't deserve consideration?

 

[Mr. H.]

So, because it's not an interesting animal like a Tiger, it doesn't deserve consideration?

It's a living thing. We have no right to encroach upon its habitat. Mass suicide is the only answer.

 

[Toronado3800]

All things in moderation. Figure out how to pump the oil w/o ruining the planet.

 

[Cowman]

So, because it's not an interesting animal like a Tiger, it doesn't deserve consideration?

It's a living thing. We have no right to encroach upon its habitat. Mass suicide is the only answer.

What is this I don't even

 

[AmyNation]

So, because it's not an interesting animal like a Tiger, it doesn't deserve consideration?

It's a living thing. We have no right to encroach upon its habitat. Mass suicide is the only answer.

Lol!

 

[OKTexas]

All things in moderation. Figure out how to pump the oil w/o ruining the planet.

Ever been to an oil field lately? They're not like they were a hundred years ago.

 

[Mad Scientist]

All things in moderation. Figure out how to pump the oil w/o ruining the planet.

All things? Really? Like Heroin too?

See the great thing about limiting or shutting down Oil Production is it creates Artificial Scarcity for the Oil Monopolies (which they love) and at the same time they can blame it on Environmentalism. It's the perfect scam!

You guys ever done any research into just WHO funds the Environmental Movement? Of course you haven't!

 

[Wehrwolfen]

Its not like this is the only habitat that the pairie chicken resides. Prairoe chicken have survived prairie fires, farming and cows and sheep grazing the land. They prevail. Certainly it's no carrier pigeon, or Dodo bird, nor are they hunted.

 

[Toronado3800]

All things in moderation. Figure out how to pump the oil w/o ruining the planet.

Ever been to an oil field lately? They're not like they were a hundred years ago.

Really I HAVE NOT ever been to a big time field.

My 98 Lincoln is more environmentally friendly than my 68 Mustang but still....

 

[BreezeWood]

EarthLink - U.S. News

Carbon pollution up to 2 million pounds a second

The total amounts to more than 2.4 million pounds (1.1 million kilograms) of carbon dioxide released into the air every second.

Global Warming

time to save the chickens ...

 

[Mr. H.]

All things in moderation. Figure out how to pump the oil w/o ruining the planet.

Ever been to an oil field lately? They're not like they were a hundred years ago.

Really I HAVE NOT ever been to a big time field.

My 98 Lincoln is more environmentally friendly than my 68 Mustang but still....

Have you visited a small time field? Of the 300,000 plus oil wells in the United States, the average production per well is a staggering....

1.8 barrels.

ftp://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petrosystem/us_table.html

 

[arklatex]

Ever been to an oil field lately? They're not like they were a hundred years ago.

Really I HAVE NOT ever been to a big time field.

My 98 Lincoln is more environmentally friendly than my 68 Mustang but still....

Have you visited a small time field? Of the 300,000 plus oil wells in the United States, the average production per well is a staggering....

1.8 barrels.

The data is not accurate. That is assuming every well produces oil which is not true. There are more strictly gas wells than oil. Read the data and understand what it is saying. Also, the fact that animals are rare does not mean man had anything to do with it's decline. We are quick to say because of X then it is because of Y when in reality there or dozens of things that can apply. A classic example of assuming one and in reality it is something else is the case of the Spotted Owl. Assumption - declined due to logging. Action taken - kill logging operations, destroy economy of hundreds of towns, displace thousands of people and jobs. Reality - the Spotted Owl is a victim of an invasive species of owls that has recently, in the last 40 years, moved into the habitat of the Spotted Owl. The Barred Owl is a territorial bird and hunts down and kills the smaller Spotted Owl. New action plan - kill Barred Owls.

 

[Mr. H.]

I know the data and I know how to read.

The EIA can tell the difference between an oil well and a gas well. Can you?

1.8 barrels per day. Yes those are 2009 figures. Could be 2.0 barrels now.

 

[Wehrwolfen]

EarthLink - U.S. News

Carbon pollution up to 2 million pounds a second

The total amounts to more than 2.4 million pounds (1.1 million kilograms) of carbon dioxide released into the air every second.

Global Warming

time to save the chickens ...

Perhaps you should be discussing this issue with India, Pakistan, your friends the Chinese and the Russians? Especially since these are the countries that are manufacturing and out producing Carbon emmissions more than America. We know that China and Russia have destroyed their environment and have no intentions of following any environmental protocols. The U.S. petroleum industry at this point in time is the most regulated industry and you insist that the praire chicken is endangered by a 5 acre foot print of a drilling rig.

 

[Toronado3800]

Thanks for the link. I always knew there were tons of small wells out there in farm fields and the like. Those are the ones I have been close to.

It seems 1,000 or out of 1,600 MMbbls come from wells that make more than fifty barrels a day?

The 96% of wells account for 3/8 of production or the top 4% of wells account for 5/8 of production?

Is 50 BOE that about the cut off between large and small?

Do you have a link that gives a visual example of large and medium?

Really I don't go on tours of other industry's industrial sites that often, go figure. I know folks whine to no end when a coal or nuclear plant is going to be built in their zip code. Can't remember much for well talk.

 

[OKTexas]

EarthLink - U.S. News

Carbon pollution up to 2 million pounds a second

The total amounts to more than 2.4 million pounds (1.1 million kilograms) of carbon dioxide released into the air every second.

Global Warming

time to save the chickens ...

Perhaps you should be discussing this issue with India, Pakistan, your friends the Chinese and the Russians? Especially since these are the countries that are manufacturing and out producing Carbon emmissions more than America. We know that China and Russia have destroyed their environment and have no intentions of following any environmental protocols. The U.S. petroleum industry at this point in time is the most regulated industry and you insist that the praire chicken is endangered by a 5 acre foot print of a drilling rig.

I've been to many rigs where the pad was less than 2 acres, bearly had room to trun a truck around. Most in W. Texas are 3-4 acres unless they plan to put down multiple directional holes from the same pad, then they can get considerably larger.

 

[OKTexas]

Thanks for the link. I always knew there were tons of small wells out there in farm fields and the like. Those are the ones I have been close to.

It seems 1,000 or out of 1,600 MMbbls come from wells that make more than fifty barrels a day?

The 96% of wells account for 3/8 of production or the top 4% of wells account for 5/8 of production?

Is 50 BOE that about the cut off between large and small?

Do you have a link that gives a visual example of large and medium?

Really I don't go on tours of other industry's industrial sites that often, go figure. I know folks whine to no end when a coal or nuclear plant is going to be built in their zip code. Can't remember much for well talk.

Well apperance has little to do with production, whether it is tied into a pipeline or has on site storage or pump station would make the largest visual differences.