But thousands of Coloradans are in a tizzy about new rules proposed by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission that would reshape the energy business in the state.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association is running a radio ad in the Denver area saying the new rules will cost 10,700 jobs. "Colorado can't afford the new job-killing rules," the ad's announcer says. A full-page ad in The Durango Herald and other newspapers said the same thing.

Two thousand gas industry workers showed up for a public hearing on the rules in Grand Junction this month.

The hoopla climaxes Monday, when the nine-member oil and gas commission starts to decide on the new rules, which were written by the commission's staff. The commission expects to deliberate on and off through mid-August.

The gas industry's critics have long waited for this day.

"This is pretty much a culmination of things we have been saying down here in La Plata County `85 for years, which is you've got to deal with this holistically. There are more things involved than getting the resource out of the ground," said Josh Joswick with the San Juan Citizens Alliance.

Environmentalists and wildlife advocates now see an ally in the COGCC, an agency they used to say was in the pocket of the energy industry.

After Gov. Bill Ritter was elected, he appointed a new acting director, Dave Neslin, who has led the agency's staff in drafting the 160 pages of rules. The nine-member commission will have the final say over whether to adopt the rules.

Ritter appointed the commissioners, too, based on a bill the Legislature passed in 2007 to introduce advocates for wildlife, agriculture and public health onto a commission that had been dominated by people with energy industry experience. Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, sponsored that bill.

The proposed rules require greater protections for wildlife and water supplies. They also address air pollution and odors and the disclosure of chemicals used in drilling and completing wells.

Meg Collins is president of COGA, the industry group leading the charge against the proposed rules. She thinks the commission is trying to do too much, too fast.

"It's huge. When the oil and gas commission last did a rewrite of the oil and gas regulations it was '94, and it took five years," Collins said.

Gas companies especially dislike the proposed rules to protect wildlife. In some cases, drilling could be halted for 90 days to protect sensitive wildlife species. But drillers might be able to work around the ban by consulting with the Division of Wildlife.

Locally, the DOW is worried about mule deer in January through March and elk in late spring.

COGA says the rules could cost $18 billion over 10 years in lost gas production.

Joswick says the industry threatens doom every time the rules change, but drilling activity is setting state records right now.

"You have people who have cried wolf so many times over the years, why should we believe them now?" Joswick said.

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