A new campaign ad that features the “Flat Earth Discussion Group,” cheese by-products and a man with a sock puppet takes a humorous look at Colorado’s fracking battle, but some voters aren’t laughing.
The Environmental Policy Alliance launched the 60-second spot this month as a way to counter what it says are are false claims from “radical activists” about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, an issue that has dominated Colorado’s political landscape for almost two years.
But in hyper-educated Colorado — which ranks second in the nation per capita for the number of people with college degrees — will the ad backfire?
No, said Anastasia Swearingen, senior research analyst at the Environmental Policy Alliance.
“We’re trying to bring attention to the fact that everyone from the Environmental Protection Agency to officials in the Obama administration to state regulators have all said fracking is safe,” she said.
But political consultant Eric Sondermann called the ad a “very, very risky strategy” at this point.
“Ultimately, this is a battle for which side comes across more reasonable and middle-groundish, and I’m not sure this moves the ball forward for the people who sponsored the ad.”
Two proposed ballot measures that deal with fracking and are being bankrolled by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, could be on the November ballot.
Signature gathering continues after Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, the legislature and impacted parties failed to reach a compromise that would have led to a special session.
WATCH: Video of the “flat earth” fracking ad currently airing in Colorado
Critics say the measures would cripple Colorado’s oil and gas industry.
The measures mandate a 2,000-foot setback for drilling rigs from homes and an environmental bill of rights to the state constitution.
The commercial opens with a picture of a house and a sign outside that reads, “Anti-fracking meeting tonight.” A narrator says, “Wonder who’s driving the conversation about fracking in Colorado?” It then shifts to four people sitting at a table, including one holding a sock puppet and one munching on spray cheese and cheese balls.
“Last week’s meeting on whether the moon is actually made of cheese was very enlightening,” a man holding a gavel says.
Sondermann said it’s easy but risky to turn fracking into a parody.
“If I was Jared Polis, I’d put the same kind of four people around the same kind of table but they’re all oil and gas executives, who are as equally easy to parody as a bunch of kooky activists,” Sondermann said.
Polis said the majority of Coloradans support fracking but don’t want it close to schools or their homes and want to have some say in the issue. He said only a vocal minority wants to ban all fracking.
The D.C.-based Environmental Policy Alliance calls Colorado ground zero for fracking.
The group bills itself as being “devoted to uncovering the funding and hidden agendas behind environmental activist groups and exploring the intersection between activists and government agencies.”
“Environmental activists delight in claiming a monopoly on science, but on the issue of hydraulic fracturing, these activists are more like Flat Earthers than scientific authorities,” Swearingen said.
State Rep. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, who has sponsored oil and gas measures and believes there are conflicting studies on whether fracking is safe, questioned the ad’s effectiveness.
“It’s not a very good tactic to insult people’s intelligence if you are trying to earn their vote,” he said.
Among those who took exception to the ad: Andrew Hudson, who operates an online jobs website and carries clout in the metro area as former spokesman for a Denver mayor, an airline and a transportation district.
“So I just saw an oil and gas industry ad aimed at Coloradans,” Hudson wrote in a Facebook post. “In it, they say that anyone who is against fracking is also a member of the Flat Earth Society. We’re nuts, crazy, mentally imbalanced.”
In reality, Hudson said the people who support the proposed ballot initiatives are “thoughtful, smart Colorado citizens.”
His post received at least 45 “likes” and 15 comments, including one from Kevin Daley, a disabled veteran.
“I saw it also,” he wrote. “They must think we’re idiots.”
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
