Gov. Hickenlooper delivered a delusional prophecy this week when he stated that fractivists, many of whom are paid for their efforts, have simply abandoned their mission to ban the energy development.

Here is Hick’s pollyannic statement, as reported by the Durango Herald:

“At this point there isn’t the same energy or sense of frustration, the intensity of frustration, that there was a year ago,” Hickenlooper said.

“There will be proposals, but I don’t think there will be something that will be funded to any significant extent, and therefore I don’t expect something to get on the ballot,” Hickenlooper said.

Granted, Democrats appear to have instilled in Polis the fear of God election rejection to an advanced party position if he bankrolls another statewide ban referendum.

However, there are plenty of other wealthy Don Quixotes willing to go tilting at windmills, or in this case, drilling rigs.

Ironically, on the same day Hick was delivering his prognostications for a fractivist-free future, Karen Dike with Coloradans Against Fracking told Colorado Public Radio:

“The movement is far from gone. We have a large, active movement with businessmen, farmers, environmentalists, grassroots organizations… We’re looking at, ‘What can we do to remove fracking from Colorado? … Do we work city to city? Community to community? Do we just work on the election cycle, and look at, how can we elect people who are politically against fracking?'”

Despite Hick’s sprinkling of fairy dust, the issue of hydraulic fracturing continues to divide rich liberal whackos and moderate progressives within the Democratic Party.

It’s too early to tell how or who will fund the effort, but we’re fairly confident there will be an anti-fracking measure on the 2016 ballot.