Ballot battle pits oil, environmental laws in Colo. showdown
BRIGHTON, Colo. — On stage at the Adams County fairgrounds, the MC wore cowgirl boots and a pink T-shirt that read “Mothers in Love With Fracking.”
In the audience, more than a thousand oil and gas workers looked on as local leaders issued dire warnings about the effects of a Colorado ballot measure that, if passed, could drastically reduce oil and gas drilling in the state.
Thousands of jobs: gone. Millions of dollars: lost. Conservative families: driven out.
“The wolves are at the front door,” insisted one speaker. “We need to tell them to frack off,” thundered another.
After years of bitter fights over oil and gas development, Colorado voters have managed to get a statewide anti-fracking measure on the November ballot. The initiative is unprecedented in its scope — potentially barring new wells on 95 percent of land in top-producing counties — and industry executives are watching with concern, fearful that it could encourage similar measures across the nation.
Only New York, Maryland and Vermont have banned fracking altogether. But none of those states have anything close to the reserves of Colorado, which is among the top six states in oil and gas production.
If passed, the measure — Proposition 112 — would require companies to place new wells at least 2,500 feet from homes, schools, waterways and other areas designated as “vulnerable,” two-anda-half to five times the current state regulation. Even as the measure faces fierce resistance, industry leaders and environmentalists alike acknowledge that it could succeed. One recent industry poll obtained by The New York Times showed 43 percent of voters in favor, with 41 percent opposed.
In recent years, Colorado oil and gas well operations have come so close to homes, schools and playgrounds that drill rigs, holding tanks, diesel trucks and floodlights are now common neighborhood features. In places like Weld County, the center of the state’s boom, residents increasingly fear they are exposing their children to chemicals. A series of deadly industry incidents has only heightened concerns.
“It’s really community members against Goliath,” said Russell Mendell, 33, a volunteer with Colorado Rising, the main group supporting the measure.