Who Killed the Vote on Fracking and Squashed Democracy?

[Oscar]

Who Killed the Vote on Fracking and Squashed Democracy?

[ http://ecowatch.com/2014/10/03/fracking ... 8-85909581 ]

Joel Dyer, Matt Cortina & Elizabeth Miller, Boulder Weekly | October 3, 2014 10:09 am | Comments

***Check URL for internal LINKS in this article.****

At first glance, determining who to blame for the fact that Colorado voters will not get their chance to decide for themselves who controls oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in their neighborhoods seems simple enough. On Monday, Aug. 4, as the result of a political compromise with Colorado’s Democratic Governor, John Hickenlooper, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Boulder) agreed to withdraw his support for the citizen initiative process that could have placed two anti-drilling/fracking initiatives (Amendments 88 and 89) on the November ballot. The initiatives, which had each garnered well in excess of the 86,105 signatures needed to be placed on the ballot (provided the signatures held up), would have amended the state constitution to give more control over drilling and fracking to local communities and/or establish a 2,000-foot setback from occupied structures for oil and gas drilling operations.

Because Polis was funding the organization charged with getting the ballot measures before voters (Safe. Clean. Colorado.) he appears to have had the final say that day as to whether citizens would get to vote on fracking in November or instead, whether he would pull the measures as part of a compromise with Gov. Hickenlooper. The logic here is that if Polis didn’t have the final say on pulling the measures, then how could he be negotiating with the governor using the measures as his trading chip?

As Colorado and the rest of the country where the oil and gas industry has moved in now know, Polis chose the latter and pulled the measures at the last minute in exchange for several concessions from the governor including the appointment of a 21-member taskforce made up of oil and gas industry insiders, mainstays of the Democratic Party loyal to the governor and citizens or representatives of environmental groups who support more regulation of the oil and gas industry and fracking but who have publically not endorsed bans and moratoriums. The governor also agreed to drop the state’s lawsuit against the City of Longmont for having established oil and gas regulations considered stricter than the state’s and promised to enforce a 1,000-foot setback as the norm rather than the exception. The deal also hinged on two initiatives put forward by oil and gas backers and funded by the industry being removed from the ballot as well.

The anti-fracking supporters who had gathered signatures and spent years knocking on doors for the opportunity of a statewide vote were blindsided.

- - - SNIP - - -

But is that really it? Is it really accurate to blame Polis and Hickenlooper for the fact that the measures died before they made the ballot?

On Aug. 7, in a Boulder Weekly column we promised to use every resource at our disposal to investigate and shed light on why the citizens of Colorado had been denied their opportunity to vote on the critical matter of who controls drilling and fracking in their communities and neighborhoods.

We have done our best to keep that pledge and believe that the following report will shed more light on why a statewide drilling/fracking vote in Colorado will not happen this November.

It is a long and complex story to be sure. . . . .

REST OF THE STORY:

[ http://ecowatch.com/2014/10/03/fracking ... 8-85909581 ]