This week, the Broomfield city council gave unanimous approval on first reading to a six-month moratorium on processing oil and gas permit applications. And if you feel like this is a déjà vu moment, that’s because it is.
All aboard…again…
Broomfield already had in place a 5-year ban on oil and gas development. It got tossed out last spring when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that an identical ban in Fort Collins was illegal. With the prospect of development returning to the area, the small fraction of people who oppose responsible energy development decided that imposing another ban was obviously the right move…. Is it too cliché to point out that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
Fracking bans have been deemed illegal. Period. And the momentum has clearly shifted against this movement in other ways too, like with fractivists repeatedly failing to get their “ban oil and gas initiatives” on the ballot in 2014 and 2016.
Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, which sued Broomfield over its first moratorium, told the Denver Business Journal he was “disappointed” by the council’s vote. And said that, “If they choose to go that route, we will review all options available to us.”
He stopped short of saying the industry would sue, but it certainly doesn’t sound like that is off the table either. And if history is any indication, we all know how that will turn out. Anybody else also ready to get off this merry go round of crazy?