Bullying Tactics And High Stakes Ballots

Fracking Setbacks and Property Compensation Up For Vote

This year’s midterm election is one of the most important I can recall.

There is much at stake both locally and nationally. Here in Colorado, the governor’s race between Democrat Jared Polis and Republican Walker Stapleton has seized many of the headlines. We also have two ballot questions that impact our energy source and environment – and both are surrounded by controversy.

Initiative 97 involves the minimum distance requirements for new oil, gas and fracking projects.

The distance would require a setback of 2,500 feet from occupied buildings and areas designated as vulnerable. This would include playgrounds, sports fields, parks, public open space, amphitheaters, public and community drinking sources. (The current setback requirements are that drilling sites must be 500 feet from homes and 1,000 feet from schools and hospitals.) Federal lands, which make up one-third of the state, are exempt from this initiative.

Not an easy path

This initiative, sponsored by Colorado Rising, did not have an easy path to your ballot.

As the sponsors were racing the clock to acquire enough signatures, seven boxes of signatures went missing over the summer. A political consultant had taken the signed petitions after a contract dispute. Colorado Rising organizers were able to recover the boxes and submit enough signatures in time.

In addition, petition gatherers were targeted for harassment in numerous well-documented incidents. People, suspected to have been paid by the oil and gas industry, routinely intimidated both volunteers gathering signatures as well as members of the public who were pressured to not sign petitions.

I witnessed that harassment firsthand when I volunteered one morning to help gather signatures. Opponents waved large poster boards in my face and in the faces of people who were signing my petitions. At times opponents pushed their bodies up to mine to set me off balance. They followed me step-by-step and yelled over me while I was speaking with individuals.

Whether you agree with this initiative or not, our democracy is at risk when industry interests and massive amounts of money are used to intimidate volunteers and the public.

Colorado Rising based their 2,500-foot setback on “polling and health studies that show harmful effects such as cancer, difficulty breathing, low birth weights and birth defects, on people living within a one-half mile of fracking operations (especially vulnerable populations like children and the elderly) and public safety data regarding the impact zones of explosions, fires, leaks, and plumes. This will provide much needed protection for all of our communities.”

Both gubernatorial candidates oppose this bill. (Jared Polis, the Democratic nominee, supports language regarding setbacks be determined through the legislative process versus a ballot initiative.) Opponents also argue that a 2,500 setback would greatly reduce the surface area for drilling.

A thoughtful perspective

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a Park Hill resident who works in the oil and gas industry. He too worries about climate change and the future of this planet.

We sat down on a brisk fall morning, with some coffee and his energetic 4-year old, who just wanted her dad’s undivided attention. He asked his name not be used, but was able to provide a thoughtful prospective. He noted that fracking is a large and necessary industry that generates much contention, and pointed out that regulations in Colorado are more stringent than anywhere else in the country. The rules for Colorado were the blueprint for President Obama’s Clean Air plan.

“There are many in the industry who are completely open to coming to discuss measures that would ensure public and environmental safety while allowing the industry to remain in Colorado, where we have the best air quality regulations anywhere,” he said “The initiative, as written, is a heavy-handed solution and would inevitably lead to a lot of litigation.”

Our neighbor does not argue that the fracking industry would still be able to access natural gas with a 2,500 foot setback but the current wording in the bill that includes intermittent streams (dry stream beds) would limit counties such as Weld and Garfield from most or all fracking because there would be no place to put the drilling pad. He said he supports working toward a clean energy future and eventually believes that oil and gas will need to come to an end . . . however that end is not quite here.

Vote, engage, conserve

Another measure on the November ballot – Amendment 74 – also needs some airing. Amendment 74 was designed to amend the Colorado Constitution to require that property owners be compensated for any reduction in property values caused by state laws. This amendment, if passed, will be problematic and is widely believed will spend many days in the courts.

Currently the Constitution doesn’t allow private property to be taken for public use without compensation. Amendment 74 is so broadly written that it would require you, the taxpayer, to compensate private property owners for almost any decrease in the fair market value. Oregon voters passed a similar measure, and have since faced billions in claims.

Amendment 74 does not protect your property values and puts our city and state finances at risk.

On both sides of these issues I believe that most of us care about the future of this planet. One of the best things we can all do is to be active by voting, and engaging with your elected officials.

Hold your elected officials accountable for creating a clean and safe environment for all on this planet. Also, take the steps in your own households to minimize the amount of natural gas we use and go back to the simple act of conservation.

Tracey MacDermott is chair of the board of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. Active in the Registered Neighborhood Organization for many years, MacDermott was the 2012 recipient of the Dr. J. Carlton Babbs Award for Community Service. This year she received an INC Neighborhood Star Award, for her advocacy on behalf of Park Hill. She was trained as a Climate Reality Leader in 2017.