DENVER | Gov. John Hickenlooper said Wednesday that legislation should result next year from a commission he has created to study hydraulic fracturing in Colorado.
Hickenlooper called for a commission to study fracking as a compromise to prevent four competing ballot proposals from being on the November ballot.
“Its success is dependent upon it ending in regulation,” Hickenlooper said about the commission. But he added that if nothing materializes, “it doesn’t mean that they can’t still do things that are constructive.”
The Democratic governor made the remarks after speaking to industry leaders at the annual Energy Expedition Summit in Denver.
The commission, which will include industry and local government officials, will make recommendations for lawmakers to consider during next year’s legislative session. It was a way to get groups to drop their dueling ballot initiatives.
Two of the initiatives would limit fracking, including increasing the distance between homes and rigs. The pro-industry initiatives would require fiscal-impact statements on future ballot questions regarding energy development, and prevent municipalities banning fracking from collecting state revenue that comes from drilling.
Hickenlooper told industry officials at the event that “both of these made perfect sense” and he would’ve preferred to have them on the November ballot. But he added that, “At a certain point, you have to accept that you give something to get something.”
The anti-fracking measures were financially backed by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, creating a rift within his party and raising concerns that the ballot questions would hurt fellow Democrats in November battling with Republicans who support drilling.
Fracking is a technique that blasts a mix of water, sand or gravel, and chemicals into underground rock formations to release trapped oil and gas.
Hickenlooper was joined at the event by Republican Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who said fracking has helped fuel his state’s economy.
“Hydraulic fracturing has been a Godsend,” he said.
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Find Ivan Moreno on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IvanJourno
Would help if some would read and learn about Fracking. Find out it started many decades ago, advanced after civil war, and really opened up oil-gas drilling and development at deep levels never tapped before. Horizontal drilling further expanded the fields and collecting. And the additions to Fracking water is Borax and other substances most of us have under our kitchen sinks to make slippery. Also finding less water used then domestic use for lawns and golf courses, even more than agriculture. Even some companies capture the water used, to use again. Check N.D. and the development from Cleveland Ohio, through Pennsylvania, to W.Va. with all the fractionating plants, and separating the oil-gas to its separate gases and fluids. Then transported to users for industry and fuel, with other uses. By the way, Methane Gas is present in all mines, oil and gas development, since it is formed with decay of rock and soil. I worked in coal mine in Leesville Ohio in my youth, and know of that from practical experience as wire hanger, electrician wiring a section of mine at age 18, with older men as helpers.
One very large improvement would be the Citizens (?) Imitative that is embedded in Colorado Constitution. Legislators should consider a change similar to system in Ohio (possibly other states). Citizen Initiative (Ohio) that passes, require the legislators than to consider and draft a law that is well thought out, and avoids the unintended consequences, with a time limit to do that. If problems then occur, it can be amended, or corrected to remove that problem. Colorado system that embeds it into Constitution, is awfully difficult to change, remove, or amend as needed.