Colorado Gov. Against Ballot Initiative On Energy Regulation

The current drive in Colorado to regulate the oil and gas industry through ballot initiatives is not the best approach to use, former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter said at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) this week, according to the Denver Post.

Voter initiatives have been tried in six Colorado municipalities. Votes in five of the municipalities resulted in moratoriums on fracking, according to the New York Times. A sixth ballot initiative was tried in Loveland, Co. this week, and voters narrowly defeated the moratorium, according to the Coloradoan. The initiative would have put a two-year moratorium on fracking within Loveland’s boundary lines.

CRED, a non-profit organization that seeks to educate Colorado residents about a variety of industry sectors in the state, is trying to get out a simple message regarding energy and the environment: it is possible to have both.

When those who represent the energy industry sit down together with environmentalists and really discuss the issues, what results is something acceptable to both sides, Jon Haubert, communications director of CRED, told Rigzone.

“Both sides might walk away a little unhappy that they didn’t get all they wanted, but both sides can walk away with something they can live with. We can protect the environment while producing energy at the same time,” Haubert said.

Current Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is trying to find a more balanced approach – an approach that Ritter said he supported, according to the Denver Post.

Two energy companies attending the CGI – Noble Energy Inc. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. – also support Hickenlooper’s efforts. 

“I think communities do have a role and a say in what is going on,” Noble CEO Charles Davidson said at the CGI. “We need to move forward and set high standards because that is part of our license to operate.”

Kelly J. Brough, the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Tamra J. Ward, president and CEO of Colorado Concern, and John Brackney, president and CEO of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, all said in a guest column for the Denver Post last winter that a proposed Colorado initiative that will be on the ballot in November was “fraught with problems,” and that it was “a huge net that could snare thousands of responsible, productive and law-abiding businesses employing hundreds of thousands of Coloradans.” The initiative would transfer the power of regulating energy and the environment to local government control, and put an end to statewide predictability and consistency, and “create regulatory chaos,” they said.

In this week’s election in Loveland, voters “took the responsibility upon themselves to learn the truth about this important technology and take action on this important local matter,” Haubert said in a press release.

Prior to voting, Loveland residents learned that fracking has a 60-year history, CRED said, adding that the oil and gas industry has supported more than 110,000 jobs in the state while generating $29.6 billion in economic activity, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. The industry has also paid $1.6 billion in tax revenues that were used for schools, roads, infrastructure and necessary services.



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