http://denver.yourhub.comThe latest blog posts in The Denver Newspaper Agency YourHub.comen-usnews@yourhub.com(c) 2009, YourHub.com5I can't stand it! What's going to be next...a "What Would Jesus Do" interlocutory about climate change...a Bill Clinton/Al Gore parsing of the phrase "Colder than Hell?" Or is it "Hotter than Hell?" I'm confused. This morning's Denver Post carried a story on page 2B in the "Denver and the West...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Your-Voice/Blog~676663.aspx10/25/2009 12:49:47 PMLee Mossel The all consuming and increasingly rancorous argument over health care "reform" is claiming another victim...the equally important so called "American Clean Energy and Security Act." The US Senate is currently considering its version of the legislation but virtually nothing is being done due to t...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Politics/National-Politics/Blog~655924.aspx9/14/2009 9:05:06 AMLee Mossel Usually, I write about energy stuff but I can't seem to resist writing about the little "mini-vacation" my wife and I just took to Salida, Colorado. Incidentally, for you recent Coloradans or other non-natives, it is pronounced "Sah-lie-Dah" not "sa-lee-da". There are two very scenic ways to g...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Travel/Blog~652798.aspx9/3/2009 4:40:58 PMLee Mossel On August 27th, 1859, "Colonel" Edwin Drake stopped work for the day on the site of the United States' first oil well drilling "rig" near Titusville, Pennsylvania. The next day was Sunday and Drake, a religious man, didn't work on Sundays. His rig manager (a "toolpusher" in today's parlance), "Un...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Anniversaries/Blog~647897.aspx8/19/2009 10:57:44 AMLee Mossel Wanna hazard a guess? If you really want to know it was Les Paul. I can hear most of you saying, "Who?" Well, he died today at age 94. If you like guitar music, go to Google and check him out. He invented the electric guitar, dubbing, 8 tracks (I know, I know... what the hell is an 8 track?) a...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/General/Blog~646440.aspx8/13/2009 9:33:26 PMLee Mossel America's oil and gas companies range in size from one man operations to ExxonMobil, the largest corporation in the US. Virtually all across that size spectrum, oil companies have a "bad image" that is mostly ill deserved. Depending on the publication, "news" report or op-ed piece, oil companies ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Politics/National-Politics/Blog~645654.aspx8/12/2009 9:12:28 AMLee Mossel Who determines what is a "fair" amount of taxation? Who determines what is a "fair" profit? Is the US Congress the ultimate arbiter of "fairness?" Is the issue of "fairness" confused by the sheer size of the numbers? What's a "windfall profit?" Mostly rhetorical questions but important none-the-l...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Politics/National-Politics/Blog~640871.aspx7/28/2009 8:54:22 AMLee Mossel The SUNDAY POST of 06/21/2009 contained an "Op-Ed" page debate concerning the pros and cons of the proposed "Cap and Trade" scheme for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Amazing to me is that neither column made any comment on the viability of nuclear power generation or supported the imminent...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Politics/National-Politics/Blog~630108.aspx6/25/2009 7:57:50 AMLee Mossel In Sunday's DENVER POST, I read over twenty separate articles (I quit counting at 20!) that contained a reference saying that someone was 1) "not authorized to comment"; 2) "spoke on condition of anonymity"; 3) "requested that their identity not be disclosed"; or "was an unidentified source". The...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Politics/National-Politics/Blog~624561.aspx6/8/2009 4:13:12 PMLee Mossel It looks as if metro area US representatives Diana DeGette and Jared Polis, confident that the Democratic majorities in the US House and Senate can pass anything, will attempt to, once again, stick it to domestic energy development. In a June 5th DENVER POST article, DeGette announced sponsorship...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Politics/Local-State-Politics/Blog~624060.aspx6/6/2009 10:07:36 AMLee Mossel Colorado's natural gas producers are suffering through another pricing slump that is seriously affecting the state's overall economy. The lack of sufficient gas pipeline infrastructure which would allow natural gas in Colorado's western slope Piceance Basin to access national markets severely lim...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~619075.aspx5/24/2009 2:56:29 PMLee Mossel In an April 12th op-ed piece in the DENVER POST , Governor Ritter expressed a lot of smooth sounding platitudes about supporting Colorado's natural gas drillers and producers. Most of the article was concerned with "his" support of the industry and, in particular, his support of new gas pipe...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~605691.aspx4/20/2009 10:18:52 AMLee Mossel It is entirely possible that Colorado's extensive oil shale deposits will ultimately prove to be the key to ending America's need to import foreign oil. A bold statement, no doubt, but one that is nearing reality. Colorado's oil shale deposits are contained in the far reaching Green River For...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~599902.aspx4/5/2009 7:19:03 PMLee Mossel Due to two well publicized accidents and an unwarranted association of the words "nuclear power" with "nuclear bombs", the US is ignoring a major source of "green" energy and a powerful economic stimulus. Since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and the Chernobyl accident in 1986, virtuall...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~596415.aspx3/26/2009 11:18:14 AMLee Mossel As a geologist, I take a REALLY long view of the earth's history. I like to put the current furor over global warming, or cooling, in the perspective of history...the earth's history. The current "debate" has been going on for, maybe, 35 years but let's be generous and call it 46 years because...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~592935.aspx3/18/2009 10:21:52 AMLee Mossel Frosty Wooldridge's latest blog concerning Colorado's water problems and their relationship to population growth was apparently prompted by the March 9th DENVER POST article concerning Shell's application to use Yampa River water. Shell is applying to take 8% of the river's flow between April and...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~590490.aspx3/12/2009 11:29:21 AMLee Mossel Wow, that didn't take long! It took 40 days for our "President of Change" to revert to form, abandon a campaign promise made in the Presidential Debates and agree to a spending bill that contains over 8500 "earmarks" totaling somewhere between $3.8 and $7.7 BILLION. Sure...that only represents fr...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Politics/National-Politics/Blog~587529.aspx3/5/2009 8:42:52 AMLee Mossel Usually I try to write about something that has to do with the energy business but today I feel compelled to offer a few thoughts about the demise of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS. I moved to Denver in 1967 from Eugene, Oregon. At that time, Eugene was about 75,000 people counting the 12,000 atten...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~585140.aspx2/27/2009 8:46:24 AMLee Mossel How come I feel like the people who want to supply us with energy are in the opposite corners of the ring in a rigged cage match? The tough part is that various levels of government: local, state and federal have already picked a favorite and have fixed the fight. The REALLY tough part is that we...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~581813.aspx2/18/2009 9:51:12 PMLee Mossel A standard oil barrel contains 42 US gallons. A barrel of crude oil can be refined into several products including gasoline, diesel, heating oil, fuel oil, jet fuel, lubricants and even wax. Generally, 19 to 20 gallons of gasoline can be obtained from a barrel of crude oil. The price for a barrel...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~579260.aspx2/11/2009 2:17:40 PMLee Mossel It's hard to believe now but Denver really wasn't the first financial and energy center of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. That distinction fell to Bent's Fort located near the present town of La Junta in southeastern Colorado. Bent's Fort was extablished as a "commercial" hub, a trading ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~575930.aspx2/3/2009 10:25:56 AMLee Mossel Colorado's entry into the oil business was very early in the industry's history even prior statehood. Although it's not widely known, Florence Field, located near Florence, Colorado, is the second oldest oil field in the United States. Colonel Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well in the US in A...http://denver.yourhub.com/Arvada/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~572187.aspx1/25/2009 12:27:27 PMLee Mossel Our newspapers' business sections, on almost a daily basis, contain articles about Colorado's "energy crisis" or "new energy economy" or energy exploration, production or transportation. Usually it's about the cost of energy. Guess what...what's new is also old. Those subjects may not have garner...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Local-Business/Blog~570891.aspx1/21/2009 10:43:54 AMLee Mossel