Industry and Locals Battle over Fracking
Posted on Apr 21, 2014 9:13am PDT
The battle for the future of oil and gas drilling in the United States
is playing out in Colorado as both the industry and environmental groups
step up efforts to beat back the other side. Both sides have claimed successes
as public policy seesaws back and forth. Colorado boasts vast oil and
gas resources. The Niobrara shale is thought to have nearly 2 billion
barrels of oil. Just as places like the Bakken and Eagle Ford have boomed
because of improved drilling technology over the last half decade or so,
the Niobrara in Colorado has the industry rushing in. From 2007 to 2012,
Colorado's oil production increased 89% and its natural gas production
climbed by 38%. But, just like other states that experienced a drilling
boom, many local residents don't like it. There are an estimated 52,000
active wells in the state, so there is no question that the drilling presence
is being felt by local communities. Several high-profile voter referenda
on fracking bans highlighted the growing backlash. The towns of Fort Collins,
Lafayette, and Longmont passed fracking moratoria within city limits last
November, moves that the industry is seeking to overturn in court. The
Colorado Oil and Gas Association filed a lawsuit against Fort Collins
and Lafayette, calling the bans illegal.
Voter initiatives seem to be multiplying quickly. Colorado residents have
proposed 17 ballot initiatives to ban fracking, or to at least give localities
the right to decide. Colorado Congressman Jared Polis has supported local
control. But the stakes are only set to rise later this year with the
potential for a statewide ballot initiative that if approved would give
localities the ability to decide whether or not they would allow fracking
– a prospect that the industry obviously fiercely opposes. Meanwhile,
the industry realizes it needs to improve its public image, and has decided
to pour money into advertising and PR. An industry front group, Coloradans
for Responsible Energy Development, has spent $2.4 million on advertising
in the state between October 2013 and March 2014, an indication that the
industry both sees a huge opportunity exploiting the state's resources
and also sees an enormous threat from public opposition. CRED also has
sponsored an energy section in the Denver Post, which will publish articles
on the Colorado energy scene written by people not employed by the newspaper.
It appears intended to resemble regular newspaper content, but presumably
will cast the industry in a positive light.
What is going in the state may merely be a harbinger for a broader nationwide
debate on fracking. "There's going to be more and more discussion
about the local government-state tension" when regulating fracking,
says the Rick Ridder of Colorado for Local Control, a grassroots organization
pushing for greater local autonomy. Many states did not have laws setup
to govern hydraulic fracturing before the industry came in. The speed
with which the industry spread in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas,
North Dakota, and now Colorado, has often caught regulators by surprise.
In the absence of state regulations on fracking – let alone federal
standards – municipalities and local communities try to take matters
into their own hands. Oil and gas companies pushback, arguing that regulation
will kill the golden goose. The active push by local communities is what
makes Colorado interesting. With several municipal fracking bans in place
(their legality still pending), and with other towns pushing for greater
autonomy, the state is under pressure to either grant more leeway to localities
or enact stricter drilling standards. The industry, although fighting
back for now, may try to assuage the fears of the public, and make compromises,
as it did with methane emissions in Colorado. And the more noise surrounding
the issue, the more likely other states, or the federal government, feel
compelled to put more limits on fracking.