A Boulder County-based citizens group opposed to fracking filed a package of ballot initiatives Tuesday that would circumvent a compromise sought by Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder.
Coloradans Resisting Extreme Energy Development submitted paperwork for 11 potential ballot questions to provide mandatory setbacks for wells from homes and schools, more local control on drilling decisions or an outright ban on the process of hydraulic fracturing.
Eight of the 11 are variations of proposals for mandatory setbacks.
Each of the constitutional amendments would need signatures from 98,492 registered Colorado voters to get on November’s ballot.
A review-and-comment hearing on the language of the ballot questions is set for at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5 in Room 109 at the Capitol.
“If the state will not adequately protect Coloradans and communities, then we, the people of Colorado, must do it, and that requires a change to Colorado law,” Tricia Olson, CREED’s executive director, said in a statement.
“Our beautiful state should not be overwhelmed by wells, pads and other industrial oil and gas operations plunked down next to neighborhoods and schools.”
Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence, a group that supports energy development and opposing ballot measures, saw the potential amendments as devastating.
“These measures are so radical they would kill jobs, ignore established laws, devastate Colorado’s economy and create a patchwork of rules and regulations throughout the state,” spokeswoman Karen Crummy said in a statement.
To keep two ballot initiatives off the 2014 general election ballot— one to quadruple the setback to 2,000 feet and one for local control — Hickenlooper forged an agreement with Polis, who had sided with anti-fracking groups, by creating a task force to seek a compromise.
Fracking opponents were disappointed in February when the task force’s recommendations left regulation that allowed more local input but failed to give more power to local governments
“Most of the people who oppose fracking were against that compromise,” said Karen Dike, one of the lead proponents of the fracking amendments.
Dike said of the Hickenlooper-Polis deal: “The compromise did nothing to protect local communities.”
Polis said after the task force report was released, “Unfortunately, the oil and gas industry proved they weren’t interested in a compromise or solving the problem.”
Dike said CREED does not yet have a major source of funding to aid the campaign to collect signatures but hopes to pick up support as the process advances.
Based on the task force’s recommendations, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission held two days of hearings in November to discuss possible new rules, such as when drilling projects warrant regulatory scrutiny, whether state regulators have the power to limit the length of time drilling occurs and the necessity of new rules. The commission has not released any new rules.
“It’s no surprise the ghosts of Christmas past have returned and are trying again to take the state backward,” said Dan Haley, CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, an oil and gas trade group.
“Even though the governor’s task force, which was designed to give local governments a greater voice in oil and gas development, is still being finalized, there are groups out there that ignore the reality of our energy needs and simply want to ban the product from ever leaving the ground.”
Hickenlooper has a wait-and-see view on both the initiatives and the rules that are being drafted.
” We haven’t seen the initiatives , However, we made enormous progress in the regulation of oil and gas , ” he said in a statement to the Denver Post .
“These are challenging public policy and legal issues that require us to balance many interests and rights. We continue to address these concerns in our current rulemaking. ”
