U.S. Senate
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(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
Governor
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(D) Joe Neguse
(D) Phil Weiser
(D) Jena Griswold
60%
60%
40%↓
Att. General
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(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Alexis King
(D) Brian Mason
40%
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Sec. of State
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(D) George Stern
(D) A. Gonzalez
(R) Sheri Davis
40%
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State Treasurer
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(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%
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CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
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CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd*
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(R) Lauren Boebert*
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90%
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CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank*
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CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
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CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
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CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(D) Joe Salazar
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State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
January 22, 2014 08:27 AM UTC
10 Comments
The people and environment of Colorado are being played for suckers.
Do you mean by COGA, or Hick?
With all due respect to CT, there are a lots of folks on the left who are worried that the AQCC rules will be used as cover for Hick's weakness on fracking, groundwater standards, etc. And they're probably right.
But as Pols says, that doesn't mean these rules are bad. Hick may have pulled jujitsu with intentional weak 1st draft rules, but the revised version is good. And COGA looks like a bunch of dumbasses for being to the right of their biggest clients.
As I understand it, the "ban fracking" folks see this as an acquiescence to the inevitability of failure and don't want to support the rules as a result. No one understands the fervor and passion of the folks in Longmont, Boulder, et al, than I.
I fully support their effort to get the state of Colorado to declare that the imperative to provide companies with access to a resource they can export for profit, DOES NOT supercede the rights of surface owners to be protected from industrial pollution. There are places that are too dangerous and too special to drill…period.
But this forgets the plight of the people (and, that is all of us) who are, this minute, dealing with the pollution created by the more than 50,000 wells that currently are producing billions of dollars of profit for an industry that comprises less than 4% of our state economy. People who live near these facilities face many chemical hazards and horror stories told to me by countless citizens over the years paint an awful picture. Limiting emissions does not weaken the argument that the people of Fort Collins have a right to make the decision to protect themselves from water pollution and industrial mayhem. In my view, we need both.
This rule making is historic, and deserves the interest and support of every air breather in our state. To my knowledge, no governmental entity has ever considered the regulation of methane, ever…anywhere.
Ground level ozone damages living tissue…that is not debatable. We cannot continue to allow current levels of fugitive emissions to continue. The big producers are in support because it means more profit for them. We need to help them convince the rest of their industry that it is the right thing to do, as well.
COGA and industry, certainly. CPA represents a lot of the majors, and they are right up there in the fight. The longer industry can drag out discussions, studies, etc. the more wells they get in now. Simple mathmatics I suppose, but we are fools to think the public would be in the equation at all if left up to industry.
Yeah, you'd think the boss of Anadarko could make some phone calls.
Yes
I've heard it said, without any citations, that the real culprit here are the wildcatters. The big players are see value in cutting down on emissions. The wildcatters, on the other hand, just want to find the oil/gas and then sell the well to the big guys for production.
That might explain why Encana et al. are on board while COGA isn't.
COGA pushes the hard line because they're paid to. It's as simple as that.
It is, in large measure, the stripper well operators that are crying the loudest. Stripper wells are those older wells that are past their peak production, and are operated by second tier companies that buy them from the major companies who have paid to have them drilled. Stripper wells don't have to pay severance taxes on their production, as I recall. Plus, as you say, the drillers really don't want any such rules, because they get paid by the foot.
One of the dynamics of this situation that exacerbates the disagreement is the way in which Gov. Frackenlooper negotiated the deal. As I understand it, the govs' office worked out the deal with the three big production companies before COGA and the CPA were even told. Much anger and strife resulted, I am led to believe. The internal industry struggle between the bigs and the littles may explain any inconsistency in the industries' message, as the COGA and CPA leadership try to walk this tightrope.