May 02, 2014 12:02 PM UTC

Republicans Cry "Terrorism" As Local Control Negotiations Falter

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• by: Colorado Pols

SATURDAY UPDATE: Colorado GOP Chairman Ryan Call sounds the retreat, Boulder Daily Camera:

"Of course it's ridiculous that over differences of opinion on an important issue, people are calling each other names," Polis said. "There's plenty of arguments on all sides. We want to have a strong energy sector in Colorado, but we also want to protect homeowners, and we need to find a balance between the two."

Call, in a statement Friday afternoon, apologized for the tweet.

"It's a fact that Congressman Jared Polis' proposed regulations will put thousands of Colorado jobs and our state's economic future at risk," he said. "While I passionately believe that we must protect these jobs and energy development in our state, I understand that my comment has distracted from this important conversation.

"I apologize for that, and I sincerely apologize to Congressman Polis."

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UPDATE #2: The Denver Post's Kurtis Lee reports, prospects for a compromise dimming as GOP rhetoric against Rep. Jared Polis waxes incendiary:

"My constituents want to see this addressed. We're fully prepared to go to the ballot box on this," Polis said Friday. "It looks increasingly unlikely the legislature will succeed in addressing this issue."

Some House Republicans assailed Polis Friday for "economic blackmail."

"I am amazed that Democrats in the legislature are following along like a flock of sheep," said Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling. "We hope Colorado is paying attention — Polis' jihad [Pols emphasis] against responsible energy development is reckless, and the Democrats under the Gold Dome are committed accomplices."

Got that? Polis is a "terrorist" (below), waging a "jihad" against energy. No mistaking what they're getting at. In addition to being over-the-top offensive, as we understand it, a "jihad" is struggle against those who do not believe.

Kind of like the oil industry drilling in your neighborhood, right? It seems they've got it backwards.

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UPDATE: Getting ugly out there, Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call just Tweeted and then deleted:

So, um…no. Not really very helpful, chairman.

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​As the Denver Business Journal's Ed Sealover reports, a deal may be near on legislation to give more control to local governments to regulate oil and gas drilling in their boundaries–legislation that needs to be tough in order to placate supporters of a number of land-use local control ballot initiatives, including measures supported by Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder, working their way through the system:

Backers say they believe something is likely to come on Friday.

Rep. Su Ryden, the Aurora Democrat who will serve as the sponsor, said in an interview Thursday that she is hoping to write the measure as broadly as possible to not tie the hands of either governments or drillers, and to allow the parties to negotiate compromises that work for everyone.

While the bill will deal with allowing local governments to regulate noise and distances between wells and homes, it likely won’t be prescriptive on how little or how much they can mandate in most instances, she said.

“It’s sort of silent on a lot of things. It doesn’t really get specific on what those particulars might be, because it allows them to be flexible and negotiate,” Ryden said.

The stakes are high in these negotiations. In addition to conservationists who need to be happy with this compromise in order to consider abandoning their ballot initiatives, the oil and gas industry needs to either be willing to make real concessions or risk killing the whole thing. Overarching both of these factors is the practical for Democrats to avoid divisive infighting in an already difficult political climate, though we've heard pretty convincing arguments that the Democratic base would indeed rally around a local control ballot measure, without collateral damage to energy-friendly Democrats who stay neutral or oppose–the ties binding Democrats, according to this line of thinking, being stronger than any single issue.

That's the status as of now, and a deal will appear today, Monday, or not at all. Stay tuned.