Gov. Polis has targeted the state’s oil and gas industry for a severe thrashing to prove his devotion to the Democrat Party’s end-of-times religion of climate destruction, signaling yet again his intention to challenge Joe Biden for president.
Kill the energy more, Polis decreed in an order to government bureaucrats last week to hurry up and regulate the industry out of business.
Smother energy with rules to crack down on nitrogen oxides and other oil and gas emissions by half over the next seven years.
Never mind that it will put Coloradans out of work and further drive-up heating and transportation fuel costs.
Polis wants to see this chart drop back to levels not seen since he declared himself dictator-in-chief during the troublesome years when he shut down the state.
And for all the good his crusade will achieve, which is not much considering the leading cause of the Front Range summer ozone season is pollution from other states and natural causes, explains Jake Fogleman at the Independence Institute:
Yes, ground-level ozone pollution is a problem. Yes, oil and gas production plays a role in Colorado’s detectable levels. But its contribution pales in comparison—by the state’s own admission—to that of out-of-state sources over which neither the industry nor state policymakers have any control.
A good explainer on why today’s EPA downgrade will be frustrating for many Colorado drivers and local industry.
We’ve consistently slashed emissions of NOx and VOCs over the last decade, yet our ozone problem is getting worse. https://t.co/zrXbF2sqwX— Jake Fogleman (@Jake_Fogleman) September 16, 2022
So while even the Biden administration courts more oil and gas production, and the Energy Information Administration projects the U.S. to remain a net exporter of petroleum products through at least 2050, the current administration in Colorado has made its position to the industry clear: the state is not open for business.
Polis’s willingness to sacrifice our energy needs on the altar of his own ambition is clear in his determination to decimate energy production and cripple our consumption.
The radical left of the Democrat Party is going to love him.