Cliff Willmeng, Boulder County Fractivist
National fractivists have found their Trojan horse in the newly-formed Colorado Community Rights Network. According to a story by The Daily Camera’s John Aguilar, frackivists from Pennsylvania have created a new group the Colorado Community Rights Network, as an attempt to corrupt co-opt libertarian language in their continued attempt to stifle one of the strongest growing industries in Colorado.
“A movement is underway to put a ballot measure before Colorado voters in November that would give local governments across the state the power to protect the health and safety [we at the the Peak would appreciate if Aguilar would cite the source of this assumption stated as fact] of residents by banning or restricting oil and gas drilling and other industrial activities currently permitted by state law.”
What Aguilar fails to mention in his article is that the Colorado Community Network is a front for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. One would think Aguilar, who we assume has access to this new-fangled thing called Google, would let us kind Coloradans know this sudden upstart of spontaneous Colorado community uproar is not spontaneous nor grounded in Colorado. In fact, these are the very same people who were behind the bans on fracking enacted in Boulder, Lafayette, Longmont, and Fort Collins (we would add Broomfield, but we don’t condone cheating).
An op-ed in Aguilar’s very own paper back in October by Lafayette Mayor Carolyn Cutler leads us to believe this was the CELDF’s plan all along as they intentionally pushed this legislation when they already knew it was illegal and would result in high legal fees for these local communities to fight the state in court.
“Lafayette’s Question 300 was adapted from an ordinance written in Pennsylvania by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). CELDF and the Lafayette organizers expect our amendment to face legal challenges. One goal of the CELDF is ‘Exposing the oppressive conniving of state and corporate power publicly, in sharp contrast to the people’s aspirations and sense of public justice.’ They expect expensive court battles and do not expect most to be won. Losses are more illustrative of their message.”
So, first fractivists push legislation they know is won’t pass legal muster, wasting funds from the state and local communities, so they have a basis to create an amendment that would have huge consequences for all communities in Colorado?
One would have thunk that out-of-state special interests would have learned their lesson by now with the nasty Second Amendment fights and subsequent recalls. But, hey, if fractivists want to pull the Democratic party even further to the left, who are we to stand in their way?
If that SoB gives me the finger, I'll feed it to him.
why do they neglect to tell you that the water needed to produce one gallon of ethanol is 18000 times what is needed to frack one gallon of gasoline? study u of texas
these clowns should be run out of Colorado on a rail or tarred and feathered. let them destroy their own state and leave ours alone, nothing but socialist democrats pimping for obama
Cliff Willmeng may represent Boulder residents' "supposed educated response to other thoughts about fracking!" but he most certainly does not represent mine!
http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/10/big-money-and-radical-activists-lurk-behind-fracking-bans-across-front-range/
Cliff Willmeng may represent Boulder residents' "supposed educated response to other thoughts about fracking!" but he most certainly does not represent mine!
http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/10/big-money-and-radical-activists-lurk-behind-fracking-bans-across-front-range/
So did Bloomberg…….and it only cost him $650,000,000.00
This is not a Liberal vs. Conservative issue but a home rule issue. While private property rights includes mineral rights it also includes surface rights. Land surface uses have a great impact on property values – hence "the people" in a given community should have a say in the whole Fracking issue as well the current state dictates controlling everything. Also what about the astronomical amounts of water needed for Fracking in a semi arid state like Colorado? This is not a simple issue..
The opportunity cost of lost development while fractivists litigate against the majority is staggering. They don't do damage in a vacuum.
So, first fractivists push legislation they know is won’t pass legal muster, wasting funds from the state and local communities, so they have a basis to create an amendment that would have huge consequences for all communities in Colorado?
One would have thunk that out-of-state special interests would have learned their lesson by now with the nasty Second Amendment fights and subsequent recalls. But, hey, if fractivists want to pull the Democratic party even further to the left, who are we to stand in their way?