Energy, Utilities & Water  February 6, 2019

Democrats plan bills to protect environment

DENVER — Even with rare control of the Colorado House, Senate and governor’s office, Democrats appear to be taking a rather disciplined approach to introducing legislation regarding climate change and oil and gas drilling.

Foote

So far the key legislation regarding O&G drilling appears to be a bill that will be introduced by Sen. Mike Foote, D-Longmont. The bill, which had not yet been introduced by the last week of January, will establish local control over drilling locations.

“We have been working on local control for some time, and I know there are a lot of local communities interested in this issue,” Foote said. “Local governments decide land use, and oil and gas drilling should not be the exception.”

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Polis

Gov. Jared Polis has already indicated he would support such legislation in his first state of the state address. “We stand up for our communities and their right to have a voice when it comes to industrial activities within their borders,” Polis said.

Currently, the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission has final jurisdiction over drill location, and on Jan. 14 the Colorado Supreme Court made a crucial decision upholding the commission’s mandate. Essentially, the commission was sued for not taking human health and environmental concerns into consideration for drill location; the commission held that was not part of its mandate and the court upheld the commission’s stance.

Essentially, Foote’s legislation would make that ruling profoundly less important, because towns, cities and counties could essentially eliminate drilling on locations deemed unsuitable. “We need to make sure that oil and gas drilling occurs in areas that really are industrial areas,” Foote said.

Prestidge

Scott Prestidge, the director of communications for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, said he could not offer comment on a bill the organization has yet to see, though he did offer a statement that COGA President Dan Haley had previously made.

“Local governments have a significant amount of local control on several fronts. And many of the communities where we operate will tell you right now that they have the ‘local control’ they need,” said Haley in this statement. “For the communities that desire a greater level of local authority within the statewide regulatory framework that already exists in Colorado, we’re open to those discussions and look forward to a positive exchange of ideas.”

Hansen

In less controversial measures, state Rep. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, has his hand in at least a couple of measures. One bill that has already made it out of committee upgrades the state’s Solar Community Gardens, allowing increased power generation for these shared resources.

Hansen is also expected to weigh in on how the state may move away from outdated or unwanted power grid assets, such as coal-burning power plants, a process known as assets securitization.

Winter

Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, said she is working on a bill that will address setting new state goals in carbon reduction. She was still working with stakeholders and legislative leaders on language in late January.

“Both the governor and myself ran on the climate change issue,” Winter said. “Climate change is huge for both of us, and this is a high-priority agenda item.”

Donovan

Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, will also be weighing in on the climate front, working to make sure that legislators in the future have the data they need to set carbon reduction goals. The bill will require the Air Quality Commission to collect data on greenhouse emissions in order to create baseline information on how much carbon is being produced.

“We need to see the baseline; it’s hard to achieve goals without the data,” Donovan said.

In all, Winter said she believes Democrats have set achievable bills on the table without overreaching their current mandate.

“I think that local control over health concerns for O&G will be reached,” she said. “If we get carbon goals and other things done on renewable energy — that’s massive change and a big step forward.”

DENVER — Even with rare control of the Colorado House, Senate and governor’s office, Democrats appear to be taking a rather disciplined approach to introducing legislation regarding climate change and oil and gas drilling.

Foote

So far the key legislation regarding O&G drilling appears to be a bill that will be introduced by Sen. Mike Foote, D-Longmont. The bill, which had not yet been introduced by the last week of January, will establish local control over drilling locations.

“We have been working on local control for…

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