I am an ex-resident of Colorado who hopes to return there someday. I read with amazement the op-ed written by A.M. Mickey O'Hare (Herald, May 31) concerning the new gas and oil rules. As the resident of a state that can't seem to properly regulate its resource-extraction industry to protect public resources and private property, I applaud what Colorado has done with the new gas and oil rules.
It's always interesting to me that someone whose profits increase with less protection of public and private property can seriously assert that we should collectively help him make more profit by relaxing protective regulations. That would be a hidden public subsidy of private profit. It is the antithesis of free-market capitalism and should be avoided, as Colorado wisely has with its new rules. Congratulations.
Steve Brown, Elkins, W.Va.
