[Credits: In this retelling of classic fable, Democrats will play the part of the lazy grasshopper, while the industrious ants will be played by the fracking industry.]
In the ultimate wanting to have their cake and eating it too, Democrats representing cities in Colorado that have banned fracking still want to receive the tax revenue that fracking provides.
Representative Jerry Sonnenberg’s bill that would prevent communities who have banned fracking from receiving the service tax that the oil and gas industry pays Colorado every year was voted down by Democrats along party lines in the House Local Government Committee earlier this week.
This is ridiculous. People who are actively trying to end fracking in Colorado have no problem accepting the dollars the said activity brings in.
We here at the Peak believe such commonsense legislation is vital especially in light of the proposed new amendment being put forth this year, which would allow cities across Colorado to ban whatever private enterprise they deemed unworthy of their community.
If such cities want to run their little fiefdoms as such in Colorado, then they should not be allowed to share in the spoils of the activities that they have deemed objectionable.
A counter argument offered was whether communities that have banned the sale of recreational marijuana should benefit from the taxes being brought in from there. We believe that is only right and fair. Yet, whichever idiot uttered such a counter must have known they made a mistake as soon as the words left their mouth, as the tax revenue brought in by marijuana is a pittance compared to the tax revenue brought in by fracking.
If communities in Colorado wish to run themselves as a self-contained utopia and remove themselves from streams of commerce, they should suffer the consequences of such decisions.
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