Watching Government: Colorado’s Initiative 97

Aug. 13, 2018
Colorado Rising turned in more than 171,000 signatures to Secretary of State Wayne W. Williams (D) on Aug. 6 in support of its proposed November ballot initiative. It said Initiative 97 would establish “commonsense initiatives for our communities from the dangers of oil and gas development and fracking (sic).” Others saw it much differently.

Colorado Rising turned in more than 171,000 signatures to Secretary of State Wayne W. Williams (D) on Aug. 6 in support of its proposed November ballot initiative. It said Initiative 97 would establish “commonsense initiatives for our communities from the dangers of oil and gas development and fracking (sic).” Others saw it much differently.

“Coloradans will know exactly what is at stake: private property rights, more than 100,000 good-paying jobs, more than $1 billion in taxes for schools, parks, and libraries, and our nation’s energy security,” Colorado Oil & Gas Association Pres. Dan Hailey said.

“If approved by voters, 147,000 jobs would be lost—43,000 in the first year alone—and our state’s GDP would take a $218-billion hit. That’s not a joke to Colorado families,” Hailey warned.

“The passage of this ill-conceived initiative would be utterly destructive to Colorado. It would decimate the future of the oil and gas industry and wreak havoc on our state’s economy,” said Tracee Bentley, executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council, an American Petroleum Institute affiliate.

“Should Initiative 97 qualify for the ballot, there will not be an issue that would have a more devastating impact on the statewide ballot. This disastrous proposal will negatively impact every Coloradan’s pocketbook, will reduce the quality of life that we value in Colorado, and cost thousands of jobs,” Bentley said.

The two trade association officials’ assessments weren’t surprising. Neither was what the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission found on July 1 when it analyzed the proposal’s main feature: a 2,500-ft setback for oil and gas operations from “occupied structures” and “vulnerable areas.”

It said, “An estimated 54% of Colorado’s total land surface would be unavailable for new oil and gas development by adopting the buffer zone setbacks and federal land exemption proposed by Initiative 97. Of the nonfederal land in Colorado, 85% would be inaccessible using these same criteria.”

More land off-limits

COGCC found that 78% of Weld County’s surface land (85% of nonfederal land) would be off-limits to new oil and gas development if voters approve Initiative 97. It said that in Colorado’s top five oil and gas-producing counties combined, 61% of the surface acreage (94% of nonfederal land) would be unavailable.

“Vulnerable area” buffers, which the initiative defines to include a range of surface hydrologic features, would have a markedly bigger impact than “occupied structure” buffers on making surface lands inaccessible, the commission’s analysis said.