Hours after the Ritter administration filed a last-minute protest against a federal plan to tap vast natural gas reserves under Colorado's Roan Plateau, the governor drew a stinging rebuke from Republicans who have championed the site's development.

"With gas at $4 a gallon, our economy struggling, and tens of thousands of Colorado homes about to have their lights turned off because they can't afford their utility bills, the governor's decision to protest drilling Colorado's largest untapped natural gas reserve is just irresponsible," said Grand Junction Republican Sen. Josh Penry.

"We need leadership and tough choices to get us out of this energy debacle," Penry said.  "(Gov.) Bill Ritter's decision to take his marbles and go back to the Governor's Mansion because the federal government didn't do everything he asked is not leadership."

Penry and several other Senate and House GOP members have been calling on the governor as well as Colorado's congressional Democrats to stop trying to block the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's plan for energy exploration on the Roan. The Bureau's plan has been years in the making, the Republicans point out, and already has incorporated wide-ranging input from Colorado's state government and other stakeholders on environmental and other considerations.