Rep. Polis Revisits Backing “Radical” and “Extreme Measures that Would Drive Oil and Gas Out of Colorado”
Wednesday January 27, 2016
National activist organizations backing a slate of ballot initiatives to ban fracking in Colorado may be rekindling a partnership with an old ally. Millionaire Boulder Congressman Jared Polis, D-Colo. hinted this week that he may throw substantial financial support behind one or more of the initiatives activists are pushing to ban fracking.
Back in 2014, Polis had been advocating for a pair of statewide initiatives but he eventually pulled his support for them after Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) described them as “radical” and “extreme measures that would drive oil and gas out of Colorado.” In fact, Gov. Hickenlooper joined with a bipartisan coalition – including a huge swath of Colorado’s business community – to oppose those measures. The coalition was so broad and deep – reflecting the tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenues supported by the oil and gas industry in Colorado – Polis ended up backing away from his support of those measures in exchange for creating the oil and gas task force that would craft recommendations.
Now, on the heels of a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) rulemaking on those recommendations, Polis hinted to the Denver Post, that he may revisit his support of those initiatives. As the Denver Post reports:
“The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has “failed” to protect homeowners and communities from the impacts of drilling, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis said late Tuesday, leaving the door open to his throwing his support behind anot...