Cliff Willmeng isn’t letting the loss of Jared Polis’s millions deter him from his grand scheme to ban fracking through so-called “local control” — government by commune.
The wacky fractivist has turned to crowdfunding to bank his delusion dream, The Statesman reports.
He’s collected nearly $5,000, which is enough to print petitions for the 2016 ballot effort, but not nearly enough to pay “volunteers” to collect the needed signatures.
Political analyst Floyd Ciruli and Gov. Hickenlooper insist the movement to ban fracking has lost momentum. But despite Big Green’s losses in conservative states such as Texas and Oklahoma, they were victorious in the liberal states of New York and Maryland.
And here we sit in the sparkly swing state of Colorado, just ripe for membership pickings and fundraising schemes – a diamond mine, as it were, for wealthy environmental foundations to sink their millions into.
Big Green can no more pass by Colorado, than a drunk can detour around Bourbon Street.
While fundraising has never been Willmeng’s strong suit, there are anti-fracking groups circling that could swoop in with reinforcements, starting with Food & Water Watch, which has been active in fighting the oil and gas industry in Colorado.
Coloradans Against Fracking’s Karen Dike said her group is still weighing its role in the 2016 election, but insists “all options are on the table.”
A coalition of local anti-fracking groups such as Our Longmont and Protect Our Loveland, Coloradans Against Fracking is also working with national organizations, including 350.org and Earthjustice, as well as Food & Water Watch, Dike said.
She challenged the view that anti-fracking sentiment is on the wane in Colorado.
In spite of attempts by some Democrats to play down the anti-fracking wing of their party, the ambitions of Big Green and Cottage Green have clearly not declined.
We are literally their golden ticket for more money and power, and if it helps the Democratic contender in the 2016 presidential election, then state elections be damned.