Current:Home > Contact-usColorado Court Strikes Down Local Fracking Restrictions-LoTradeCoin
Colorado Court Strikes Down Local Fracking Restrictions
View Date:2024-12-23 15:33:47
The Colorado Supreme Court struck down local fracking restrictions in two cities—Longmont, which had passed a ban, and Fort Collins, which had issued a five-year moratorium—issuing a one-two punch to the state’s anti-fracking movement.
Regulators at the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, not local communities, have the exclusive authority to regulate oil and gas activity in Colorado, the Supreme Court judges ruled Monday.
The Colorado decision echoes a similar ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court last year, which overturned a fracking ban in the town of Munroe Falls.
“This decision fits with the trend across most states, which is for state governments to preempt local control,” said Hannah Wiseman, an environmental law professor at Florida State University. “The exceptions have been New York and Pennsylvania, but most other states in which this issue has arisen have preempted local government, either through legislation or through courts interpreting existing legislation.”
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), the state industry trade group that sued both cities, celebrated the news. “This decision sends a strong message to anyone trying to drive this vital industry out of the state that those efforts will not be tolerated,” COGA president Dan Haley said in a statement. “Bans and moratoriums on oil and gas are not a reasonable or responsible way to address local concerns.”
Environmentalists decried the decision and vowed to keep fighting for local control.
“The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision has not only tarnished the scales of justice, it places the citizens of communities at risk from a largely unregulated system of harmful pollution,” Shane Davis, a leading activist in the state, told InsideClimate News in an email.
“It’s beyond comprehension and it’s unconscionable,” Kaye Fissinger, a Longmont resident and activist, told InsideClimate News. “If anyone thinks we are going to lie down and play dead because of this ruling, they’ve got another thing coming.”
Colorado ranks sixth in the nation for natural gas production and seventh in crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The state’s energy boom is largely due to the combination of fracking and horizontal drilling to extract previously hard-to-access fossil fuel resources.
With that boom, however, came concerns about how the expansion of oil and gas development would impact public health, the environment, noise pollution, road quality and property values. Longmont, about 15 miles northeast of Boulder, took the bold step of banning hydraulic fracturing and the storage and disposal of fracking-linked waste within its boundaries in 2012. It was quickly sued by the oil and gas industry. In 2013, Fort Collins passed a five-year fracking moratorium and was also served with a lawsuit by the industry.
A Colorado district judge ruled against both communities in 2014. After Longmont and Fort Collins appealed their previous decisions, the state appeals court successfully petitioned the high court to take on the controversial cases.
Fissinger and other activists are now looking to push for local control in a different way: the November ballot. A green group called Coloradans Resisting Extreme Energy Development has proposed two ballot initiatives on fracking. Their first proposal is to amend the state’s constitution to give local communities authority over fossil fuel activities, including the power “to prohibit, limit, or impose moratoriums on oil and gas development.”
Their second proposal seeks to expand the state’s setback rule. Currently, oil and gas operations in the state must be 500 feet away from homes and 1,000 feet away from any hospitals and schools. Activists propose a 2,500-foot separation from those buildings, as well as from bodies of water.
Similar ballot initiative efforts were blocked by a last-minute political deal struck between Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper and key donors of those campaigns in 2014. Environmentalists are hoping to avoid a repeat.
“If the system won’t protect us and the environment,” Davis said. “We will change the system.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper as a Republican. He is a Democrat.
veryGood! (49421)
Related
- Wheel of Fortune Contestant Goes Viral Over His Hilariously Wrong Answer
- Unprecedented ocean temperatures much higher than anything the models predicted, climate experts warn
- Blake Lively Hires Expert From Gwyneth Paltrow's Utah Ski Trial for New Betty Buzz Ad
- Elton John testifies for defense in Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial
- Travis Kelce's and Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Houses Burglarized
- The wildfires burning in the Southwest are bad but 'not unprecedented'
- 10 Cruelty-Free Beauty Brands We Love to Love
- Australia says most Great Barrier Reef coral studied this year was bleached
- Republican Dan Newhouse wins reelection to US House in Washington
- This Earth Day, one book presents global warming and climate justice as inseparable
Ranking
- 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant makes viral mistake: 'Treat yourself a round of sausage'
- Is your house at risk of a wildfire? This online tool could tell you
- A New Big Bang Theory Spinoff Is on the Way: All the Details
- Hydrogen may be a climate solution. There's debate over how clean it will truly be
- New Mexico secretary of state says she’s experiencing harassment after the election
- True Detective Season 4 Teaser Leaves Jodie Foster and Kali Reis Out in the Cold
- Nepal tourist helicopter crash near Mount Everest kills 6 people, most of them tourists from Mexico
- Love Is Blind’s Bartise Bowden Shares Adorable New Footage of His Baby Boy
Recommendation
-
King Charles III celebrates 76th birthday amid cancer battle, opens food hubs
-
Why Jana Kramer Is Calling Past Blind Date With Brody Jenner the “Absolute Worst”
-
Céline Dion Releases New Music 4 Months After Announcing Health Diagnosis
-
Influencer Camila Coelho Shares Sweat-Proof Tip to Keep Your Makeup From Melting in the Sun
-
'Joker 2' actor pans DC sequel as the 'worst film' ever: 'It has no plot'
-
Large swaths of the U.S. set daily temperature records
-
These 15 Cheap Beauty Products Have Over 10,000 Five-Star Reviews on Amazon
-
15 Comfortable & Stylish Spring Wedding Guest Heels for Under $50