Anti-fracking campaigns are so 2014 and have been losing momentum ever since Rep. Jared Polis struck a deal with Gov. John Hickenlooper to remove them from the ballot last year.
Activists with “Stop the Frack Attack” March on Denver Photo Credit: Energy In Depth
But out of state interests seem to have missed the memo as they descended on Denver yesterday to protest oil and gas development as part of the “Stop the Frack Attack National Summit.” Our friends at Energy In Depth were on hand and note the irony:
….when a speaker asked the crowd, “How many of you are from out of state?” attendees erupted into cheers. And while the group managed to draw roughly 100 participants, judging from the cheers of out of state folks, we’re guessing the showing was pretty sparse from Colorado (which, of course means they all got into planes and cars burning fossil fuels to get here).
Thankfully, Coloradans aren’t buying what fractivists are selling. All recent attempts to gin up meaningful opposition to oil and gas development have fallen flat, as communities across the state continue to work with local operators on Memorandums of Understanding. The result is that we haven’t seen a successful fracking ban initiative on the ballot anywhere in the state for well over a year.
With the price of oil remaining low and fewer permits being submitted, we expect people will actually start to miss the benefits of having a strong energy sector when those severance tax receipts take a hit next year.