By David A Hill, Executive Editor

The announcement yesterday that ConocoPhillips will not renew its membership in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership will be predictably criticized by many environmental and climate change advocates as another example of “big oil” not stepping up to the plate when it comes to reducing global warming.

That would be a mistake.

The energy giant said it will instead focus on reducing near-term greenhouse gas emissions by developing its natural gas operations. Like other players, ConocoPhillips says the current energy bills under discussion in Washington are ignoring the critical role natural gas can play in reducing GHG emissions.

They’re right. Natural gas is an abundant domestic energy source that is cheaper and cleaner burning than other fossil fuels.

Said ConocoPhillips’ CEO, Jim Mulva, “The proposed bills to date have disadvantaged the transportation sector and its consumers, left domestic refineries unfairly penalized versus international competition, and ignored the critical role that natural gas can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

As one of the most important centers for domestic natural gas development, Colorado will be significantly impacted by whatever energy bill eventually emerges out of Washington. We hope it will be positive, but lately we’re not so sure.

Natural gas has been touted by the Obama Administration and Governor Ritter as a vital element of the New Energy Economy, a “bridge fuel” to a cleaner energy future. The action, however, hasn’t matched the rhetoric.

Expanding NG’s role in the nation’s energy landscape should be a policy priority because it is one of the least expensive and biggest-payback options on the table — and we can do it NOW.

One example that begs the issue is the need for CNG fueling stations along I-70 and elsewhere in the state. As an industry group points out in a recent letter to Rep John Salazar, you can drive from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains using compressed natural gas as fuel. A driver can fill up with CNG in central Utah and complete the trip to the West Coast. But in between are what the Western Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association is calling the “missing miles,” which happen to run through some of the West’s richest reservoirs of natural gas, where Interstate 70 bisects the Piceance Basin. CNG stations are nowhere to be found in the region.

This week the Obama Administration announced $8 billion in funding to resurrect the nuclear power industry, slated for construction of a new plant in Georgia. Major tax breaks are part of the deal. It is no secret the nuclear power industry has been notorious for faulting on taxpayer-backed loans, and building a new nuclear facility is a long and very expensive process.

Would it make more sense, instead, for the money to be spent funding more natural gas fueling locations, and converting city, county and state fleets to CNG power?

At Colorado Energy News, we think the answer is yes. This country is going to require development of all kinds of energy resources over the next couple of decades for us to become truly independent of foreign supplies, including more efficient and cleaner harnessing of traditional resources coupled with a growing renewable energy mix, efficiency measures and expansion of the power grid.

Clean energy proponents, however, (and you can count us among them!) must face the reality that even a massive influx of solar, wind, geothermal and other resources will not be able to replace traditional fuels for millions of Americans anytime in the foreseeable future. It is simply impractical to believe otherwise.

Let’s use what we have now — Colorado natural gas. It makes good sense.