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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The fourth annual Energy Expo and Forum, held at Two Rivers Convention Center last Friday, demonstrated once more the powerful impact of the energy industry to western Colorado and the strong interest that local residents have in the its present and future.
Grand Junction resident Van Short is employed in the oil industry and was among the crowds at the expo early on Friday morning. “I came to see what the future holds for us, to see what else is going to be coming here besides natural gas. And you know, with everything slowing down so far, I’m just looking at different opportunities as far as employment.”
“I’m here because I work in an industry that gets a lot of its businesses from the gas and oil industries,” Michael LeVan, also of Grand Junction, said as he eyed the vendors who occupied booths in the main hall. “I just want to promote the growth of the Western Slope and what (the energy industry) can do to further feature our economy and our state.”
LeVan was especially interested in learning more about new technologies that the industry is utilizing in their operations. He’s been to all the previous Energy Expo events over the last four years and is unwavering in his support of it and the people who make it happen.
“This is our livelihood,” he said. “All of these new technologies that they have out there can just be beneficial, and if people got out here and actually saw the technologies that these companies are doing to extract the gas and oil, they’ll be a lot more support of it.”
Friday morning saw hundreds of visitors pack the cavernous speaker’s hall next door to the expo to listen to Michael Economides, an engineering professor from the University of Houston and a world-renowned expert on the petroleum industry. He was followed shortly thereafter by former Congressman Charles Stenholm of Texas and public policy expert Wendell Cox. Tracy Boyd of Shell Oil and George Glasier of Energy Fuels Inc. followed after the lunch break.
“I thought the speakers were very good,” Cody Lange, an electrical engineer, said. “I really liked how they presented where we’re going and (that) it’s very important for us as a society and as a global civilization to realize, yes, we have immediate concerns now but the concerns of the future are potentially much larger and need to be addressed. There needs to be a vision of where we want to go and how we really want our society to be, not just how it’s been.”
Samuel Baseler, a local activist, also found the speakers “really superb” but took issue with what he saw as a lack of discussion of other potential energy sources.
“I enjoyed listening to (the speakers), but my particular issue is that nobody talks about what’s termed ‘free energy,’” he explained. “There are technologies available right now, but nobody talks (about it). Not renewable energy, but free energy, and all one has to do is go to the Web site the orionproject.org. It would be a different mindset than oil and gas production and the economies of such things which our speakers elucidated particularly well.”
Overall, however, most agreed that the expo and forum was an enormous success and one that will continue to raise the visibility and influence of the industry on the Western Slope.
“In general, everybody seems pretty excited that they’re having (the expo and forum) again this year and are looking forward to a better economy,” Melanie Doody said. She worked with the conference organizers to distribute programs and assist visitors in finding their way around the event. “That’s what I’ve been hearing from everybody. It seems a little bit slower this year, but I believe that’s probably because of the economy. But it’s good. There’s a lot of good stuff and a lot of good booths to see.”
Grand Junction resident Van Short is employed in the oil industry and was among the crowds at the expo early on Friday morning. “I came to see what the future holds for us, to see what else is going to be coming here besides natural gas. And you know, with everything slowing down so far, I’m just looking at different opportunities as far as employment.”
“I’m here because I work in an industry that gets a lot of its businesses from the gas and oil industries,” Michael LeVan, also of Grand Junction, said as he eyed the vendors who occupied booths in the main hall. “I just want to promote the growth of the Western Slope and what (the energy industry) can do to further feature our economy and our state.”
LeVan was especially interested in learning more about new technologies that the industry is utilizing in their operations. He’s been to all the previous Energy Expo events over the last four years and is unwavering in his support of it and the people who make it happen.
“This is our livelihood,” he said. “All of these new technologies that they have out there can just be beneficial, and if people got out here and actually saw the technologies that these companies are doing to extract the gas and oil, they’ll be a lot more support of it.”
Friday morning saw hundreds of visitors pack the cavernous speaker’s hall next door to the expo to listen to Michael Economides, an engineering professor from the University of Houston and a world-renowned expert on the petroleum industry. He was followed shortly thereafter by former Congressman Charles Stenholm of Texas and public policy expert Wendell Cox. Tracy Boyd of Shell Oil and George Glasier of Energy Fuels Inc. followed after the lunch break.
“I thought the speakers were very good,” Cody Lange, an electrical engineer, said. “I really liked how they presented where we’re going and (that) it’s very important for us as a society and as a global civilization to realize, yes, we have immediate concerns now but the concerns of the future are potentially much larger and need to be addressed. There needs to be a vision of where we want to go and how we really want our society to be, not just how it’s been.”
Samuel Baseler, a local activist, also found the speakers “really superb” but took issue with what he saw as a lack of discussion of other potential energy sources.
“I enjoyed listening to (the speakers), but my particular issue is that nobody talks about what’s termed ‘free energy,’” he explained. “There are technologies available right now, but nobody talks (about it). Not renewable energy, but free energy, and all one has to do is go to the Web site the orionproject.org. It would be a different mindset than oil and gas production and the economies of such things which our speakers elucidated particularly well.”
Overall, however, most agreed that the expo and forum was an enormous success and one that will continue to raise the visibility and influence of the industry on the Western Slope.
“In general, everybody seems pretty excited that they’re having (the expo and forum) again this year and are looking forward to a better economy,” Melanie Doody said. She worked with the conference organizers to distribute programs and assist visitors in finding their way around the event. “That’s what I’ve been hearing from everybody. It seems a little bit slower this year, but I believe that’s probably because of the economy. But it’s good. There’s a lot of good stuff and a lot of good booths to see.”
