With new issues raised by the addition of Mary Ellen Denomy to today’s task force agenda, plus previous revelations by Complete Colorado that Task Force Co-Chair Gwen Lachelt would prefer to ban fracking, plus the addition of DU’s resident fractivist environmental law prof, Kevin Lynch, who is an intervenor in the Longmont attempt to ban fracking – is it time to pop this circus tent? In case you’ve forgotten just how radical Lachelt really is, here’s an excerpt from the Complete Colorado piece that reveals how, um, inspired she is by fractivism:
Gwen Lachelt, a La Plata County Commissioner tapped by Gov. John Hickenlooper to head the state’s fracking commission, provided a venue for the planning of the “day of action” according to one of her Earthworks colleagues, heavily promoted the anti-fracking rally on her own blog, and served as the master of ceremonies for the event on July 28, 2012.
As the crowd loudly chanted “ban fracking now” for approximately 30 seconds, Lachelt, then Earthworks’ Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) director, asked the crowd, “Are you fired up?”
“Yes!” the crowd enthusiastically responded.
But, it doesn’t end there. Lachelt frequently claims that she is not opposed to fracking, but that it must be done with so many regulations that no rational person would ever consider taking it on right. That’s a lie. Her own buddy talks about her efforts to ban fracking in La Plata County, according to Complete Colorado:
“A clarification. It is untrue to state that no task force members have endorsed bans for moratoriums on oil and gas drilling. Gwen Lachelt pursued a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in La Plata County. It was after the moratorium effort failed that Wester[n] Colorado Congress and San Juan Citizens Alliance pivoted to work on creating and strengthening regulations,” the posted “Dan Olson” wrote.”
It’s pretty safe to say that Lachelt is overseeing the most disingenuous “task force” ever. Is she legitimately going to suggest a reasoned approach when she has advocated to ban fracking in the past? Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who see this task force as a three-ringed circus. A cartoon was submitted to us that pretty much sums up what nearly all of Colorado is thinking.
How is a woman who doesn’t even own minerals allowed to speak on behalf of mineral owners? How is an environmental lawyer an expert on takings claims? Will anything the task force recommends be actionable with a split legislature? And, more importantly, with Speaker Dickie Lee Hullinghorst aligned with fractivists, can she put forth anything less than radical without expecting pitchforks? So, what is the point? We still have failed to identify a problem that this task force is trying to solve. Well, a problem other than the fact that overgrown child Jared Polis is annoyed that someone fracked within a 100-mile radius of him. Is it time for this task force to move on to the next city?
I do see how wonderfully ironic it is to see people like Pete Kolbenschlag complain when the author points out the obvious. I understand the concept of a co-chair Pete and we also understand the difference between an industry representative and the Governor picking an anti-fracking activist to chair a task force. Why would Hickenlooper not appoint an objective, uninterested party to gather the facts and present them in an unbiased fashion? I will tell you why… Because in their backroom meeting, out of the public eye, Hick told Polis that he could take care of it in a different way and to trust him. Hick and Polis created their own dog and pony show without any public input as to its formation so that they could steer the outcome to their favor and give the appearance of being objective when it is anything but. So before you start pointing fingers at one party or another maybe you should not assume the public is predisposed to listen to your ravel either. I looked at your website. Maybe you should have been appointed as the chairman given your company and the agenda you're promoting. Don't confuse smearing with telling the truth.
You fail to understand the basic idea of a co-chair, i.e. the employee of the Exxon- Mobil subsidiary. Since you surely know about that, you are clearly liars that believe in their hearts you can only win by playing ugly, smearing opponents, and lying. Sad really, what you have become, the party of my forebears become shameless sycophants.