Why is finding common ground in the oil and gas patch so uncommon? Energy companies are pushing to extract oil and gas resources wherever they can to fuel America’s economy. Drilling for fossil fuels is what they do and a lot of them are very good at it. Environmentalists see a different energy future. They see large energy resources in energy efficiency. Doing more with a barrel of oil is the fastest, cheapest way to increase our domestic energy supplies and bring down energy costs. For the past eight years, big oil and environmentalists have retreated into opposite corners of the ring.

I work as an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). I’ve been doing this job for fifteen years in the nation’s capital. I bring certain values to the job. Anyone reading this would call me an environmentalist, but that isn’t the first word I’d use to identify myself. I’d start with mother. I’d say friend second. While I hold certain values and I represent certain interests professionally, I define myself by the role I play in the communities of which I am part — working together with others to build a mutually supportive and respectful place to exist.

This is an identity I know that I share with most employees of oil and gas companies. Yet, in Washington, D.C., we occupy opposite corners of the ring. We’re like the same poles of two magnets which as a kid you tried to bring together, but they kept pushing away from each other. We are forced to articulate our organizational positions. When we meet in the middle of the ring, it is to throw a punch, rather than to shake hands. There is a lot of talking that goes on in Washington. But it is a lot of blowing hot air from both sides. There is lots of posturing, but little true dialogue.

The common ground and the mutual understanding will be found outside Washington. It will be found in the schools, the churches, and the diners in the towns where the oil and gas companies have come to drill. I had the chance to visit some drilling operations in Colorado’s Raton Basin. I saw that exploration and production can be done in a way that preserves the landscape and the lives of the people living there. I met people like Vince and Dwayne — gas company workers trying to do right by the landowners and the community they are part of in Trinidad.

I talked to folks there trying to make ends meet — find housing, put food on the table and shoes on their kids. It takes time and commitment to understand the values and interests of those on the other side of the fence from us. But if we share mutual respect for each other and are looking for solutions that satisfy as many interests as possible, it is time well spent.

Take the issue of air pollution from oil and gas exploration and production. The pristine air of the West is getting dirty. Residents in places like Pinedale, Wyoming, are being warned to stay inside because of unhealthy ozone conditions outside. Colorado’s Garfield County is seeing ozone levels rise as oil and gas drilling increases. Ozone forms through the chemical reaction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in the presence of sunlight. Breathing ground level ozone can cause a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. Drilling rigs, compressor stations, dehydrator heaters, dehydrator gas processing operations, and diesel combustion in haul trucks all produce NOx and VOC emissions.

People are scared. They want to be able to count on having clean air to breathe. The federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service should not run away from the problem; neither should the oil and gas companies. The opportunity exists now to assess the emissions that are occurring and limit them before violations of federal air quality standards occur. Once an area is designated as non-attainment under the Clean Air Act, the state must develop a state implementation plan (SIP) to control emissions. It will be easier, cheaper, and healthier for everyone to take on the ozone problem now and nip it in the bud. Unless we come together now, matters will only get worse for everyone.

I was reading the current issue of ONEARTH magazine, an independent quarterly publication of NRDC (available at www.onearth.org). An article about Montana caught my eye. The title of the article was “Montana Gives Peace a Chance.” The article described how a group of longtime, often bitter adversaries — including an owner of an alternative energy design company, a saw mill owner, a fishing and hunting guide and two snowmobilers — were able to come together around a shared vision of wilderness that served all their diverse interests. It was clear from reading the article that agreement did not happen over night and the bill creating the wilderness has not yet become law.

The story, however, gave me a glimpse of what may be possible in the oil and gas patch. It is a coming together that would feel good to be part of. It is a coming together that promises to deliver a sustainable solution. It is a coming together that is going to happen in places like Libby, Montana, or Rifle, Colorado — not Washington, D.C. Perhaps over time, the common ground won’t be so uncommon after all.

Sharon Buccino is a Senior Attorney and Director of the Land program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Ms. Buccino has worked in NRDC’s Washington, DC, office since 1993.