Oliver let GOP U.S. Senate staffer misrepresent Udall on Roan, make inaccurate claim about ANWR oil reserves

Summary: Amy Oliver of 1310 KFKA and the Independence Institute failed to challenge two false claims made by guest Sean Conway, chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R), on energy issues. Conway asserted that U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D) "want[s] to prohibit all development on the Roan Plateau" and stated that there is "more oil in" the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge "than in Saudi Arabia."

On her May 9 1310 KFKA broadcast, Amy Oliver, director of operations for the "free-market" Independence Institute, uncritically allowed frequent guest Sean Conway to misrepresent Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and current U.S. Rep. Mark Udall's position on energy development on Colorado's Roan Plateau by stating that Udall "want[s] to prohibit all development" there. In fact, on April 17, U.S. Rep. John Salazar (D) introduced on behalf of himself and Udall legislation "[t]o provide for orderly and balanced development of energy resources within the Roan Plateau Planning Area of Colorado."

Conway further asserted inaccurately, referring to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), that "there is more oil reserves (sic) in ANWR than in Saudi Arabia." In fact, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), "Saudi Arabia contains about 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves," while at the upper end of its estimates, EIA gives "a 5 percent probability that at least 16 billion barrels of technically recoverable undiscovered oil are in the ANWR coastal plain."

Conway, who is chief of staff for Colorado U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R), included Salazar among Colorado members of Congress who "want to prohibit all development on the Roan Plateau."

From the May 9 broadcast of 1310 KFKA's The Amy Oliver Show:

CONWAY: Your caller just said, "When are we gonna get Congress out of the business of regulating and allowing us to produce this oil and gas domestically?" In Colorado there's a big division. In fact, in the United States Senate race this year, there's gonna be a big distinction between Mark Udall and his approach in terms of trying to deal with $4-a-gallon gasoline and Bob Schaffer's -- i.e., the Roan Plateau. You even saw a transformation with Governor [Bill] Ritter on exploration, which still Mark Udall and John Salazar want to prohibit all development on the Roan Plateau in this state.

CALLER: Can we make that, you know, a large part of the campaigning, to point out the differences?

Contrary to Conway's assertion that Udall and Salazar "want to prohibit all development on the Roan Plateau," on April 17 Salazar "for himself and Mr. Udall of Colorado" introduced H.R. 5851, which "provide[s] for balanced development of the energy resources of the Roan Plateau in a manner that minimizes the adverse impacts on fish and wildlife habitats and environmental resources and values while increasing the financial returns to the United States and the State of Colorado." Grand Junction's NBC affiliate KKCO 11 News reported April 5 after Udall toured the Roan Plateau that he voiced his support for phased development of the Roan, consistent with an approach that Ritter had advocated:

During a visit to Grand Junction Saturday, U.S. Representative Mark Udall took an airplane tour over the Roan Plateau.

The Congressman has been at the center of the firestorm surrounding natural gas drilling atop the natural landmark. Udall says he's in favor of drilling, but not at the expense of damaging the environment.

He says he supports the plan laid out by Governor Bill Ritter, which calls for leasing out sites in specific areas, and only leasing out so many at one time. That plan was rejected by the Bureau of Land Management, but Udall says he hopes push it through Congress and turn it into federal law.

"It's truly a unique resource," said Rep. Udall. "It really defines all of us who love Western Colorado. There's no reason we can't develop the gas in a responsible way and also protect surface areas at the top of the Roan."

In an April 18 article about H.R. 5851, the Rocky Mountain News similarly reported, contrary to the distinction Conway drew between the Ritter and Udall positions on Roan energy development, that the plan favored by Udall, John Salazar, and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D) "mirrors most of the provisions Gov. Bill Ritter has said he wants in place before more gas drilling begins."

Further distorting energy issues, Conway falsely asserted that "[t]here is more oil in ANWR than in Saudi Arabia," later restating the claim as "there is more oil reserves (sic) in ANWR than in Saudi Arabia":

OLIVER: And you know what, Progress Now -- I don't know if you've seen these, [caller] -- but Progress Now, which is the uber-leftist, just radical leftist group that is trying to smear Bob Schaffer. They have put "Big Oil Bob" -- they have it all over websites and everything else. You know what -- what's funny about it, I'm thinking, "Big Oil Bob," like, it should have some sort of negative connotation. I'm thinking thank you, thank you, thank you, for looking domestically at sources for energy as opposed to, you know, those who would like to, first of all, halt economic growth. I think that's the number-one reason why enviros don't want domestic drilling. As far as they're concerned, they don't care if we go backwards economically.

CONWAY: Well, here's a statistic that isn't said enough, so I'm gonna say it. There is more oil in ANWR than in Saudi Arabia. If you, do you hear that in the mainstream media? Do you hear that discussed?

OLIVER: No, 'cause you're gonna destroy the tundra. [laughs]

CONWAY: Think about that for a second. We are not allowing ANWR -- and we've all talked about the small imprint that that represents in terms of exploration, from domestic exploration -- and there is more oil reserves in ANWR than in Saudi Arabia. But environmentalists say, "Oh, it'd only be a trickle." Well, if it's only a trickle, why are we so dependent on imported oil from Saudi Arabia?

OLIVER: Well, the other thing you hear, "It's gonna take forever." Hey, [caller], good call.

Conway did not cite the source for his "statistic" about oil reserves in ANWR compared with those in Saudi Arabia. According to information from the EIA, estimated oil reserves in ANWR are a fraction of Saudi Arabia's proven oil reserves. Regarding ANWR, the EIA states:

The 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the largest unexplored, potentially productive geologic onshore basin in the United States. The primary area of the coastal plain is the 1002 Area of ANWR established when ANWR was created. A decision on permitting the exploration and development of the 1002 Area is up to Congress and has not been approved to date. Also included in the Coastal Plain are State lands to the 3-mile offshore limit and Native Inupiat land near the village of Kaktovik.

The USGS estimated:

• a 95 percent probability that at least 5.7 billion barrels of technically recoverable undiscovered oil are in the ANWR coastal plain,
• a 5 percent probability that at least 16 billion barrels of technically recoverable undiscovered oil are in the ANWR coastal plain, and
• a mean or expected value of 10.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable undiscovered oil in the ANWR coastal plain. [emphases added]

In contrast, the EIA notes of Saudi Arabia:

According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Saudi Arabia contains about 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (including 2.5 billion barrels in the Saudi-Kuwaiti Divided, or "Neutral" Zone), or around one-fifth of proven, conventional world oil reserves. Around two-thirds of Saudi reserves are considered "light" or "extra light" grades of oil, with the rest either "medium" or "heavy." Although Saudi Arabia has over 100 oil and gas fields (and more than 1,500 wells), over half of its oil reserves are contained in only eight fields, including the giant 1260-sq mile Ghawar (the world's largest oil field, with estimated remaining reserves of 70 billion barrels) and Safaniya, including Khafji and Hout (the world's largest offshore oilfield, with estimated reserves of 25-35 billion barrels). [emphases added]

—E.B. & J.F.B.