Colorado’s first comprehensive oil and gas development plan — a new mechanism aimed at better assessing and managing the cumulative impacts of drilling — was approved by state regulators Wednesday, paving the way for more than 200 new wells in Weld County. Kerr-McGee, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., got a greenlight from Colorado Oil […]
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Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government
Report that oil field methane emissions are down by half is wrong, Front Range cities with own pollution monitors say
Air pollution from oil and gas operations is on the wane, the industry says. But communities along the Front Range — with their own air monitors — counter that they are finding repeated spikes of methane and other pollutants. “Ground-level methane monitoring shows no decline in levels,” Cindy Copeland, an air and climate policy advisor […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Equity, News, Politics and Government
First-in-the-U.S. rules that give oil and gas industry leeway in slashing emissions OK’d in Colorado
Colorado air regulators have adopted a sweeping set of rules to slash methane emissions from oil and gas operations, including a controversial, first-in-the nation program giving industry a freer hand in determining how to cut pollution. The “intensity program,” under which operators will have to reduce emissions by set percentages based on the amount of […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Oil and gas regulators dial back rules that keep industry from sticking Colorado with bill for orphan wells
Trying to balance a mandate to ensure the state is not stuck with abandoned oil and gas wells against the financial needs of the industry, Colorado regulators have issued a revised plan that has buoyed operators and left environmentalists in despair. Gone from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s initial draft rule for financial […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
A new rule to slash oil and gas emissions appeals to the industry, but Colorado activists worry it won’t work
The Polis administration is banking on an untested, first-in-the-nation type of regulation to sharply cut oil and gas sector emissions to meet state greenhouse gas targets — drawing praise from the industry, but roiling environmental groups and some local officials. The draft “greenhouse gas intensity target” rule, to be submitted to the Air Quality Control […]
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Nearly half of Colorado’s 52,000 wells produce little or no oil. Who’ll pay to plug them?
Sticking out like a sore thumb in the otherwise bucolic, rolling pastures and fields of hay, sit four rusting oil tanks, “Out of Service” stenciled on their sides, along with a scattering of other weathered and unusable equipment. For the better part of three years, Jon and Susanne Stephens have, without success, been trying to […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado doesn’t want to foot the bill for abandoned oil and gas wells. Here’s how it will avoid picking up the tab.
Colorado oil and gas regulators looking to avoid a rash of abandoned and unplugged oil and gas wells are proposing to increase financial guarantees by operators for each of their wells — a price tag that could add up to billions of dollars. The draft financial assurance regulations, released by the Colorado Oil and Gas […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Effort to force Colorado to cut greenhouse emissions faster exposes exasperation with Polis administration
For more than a year, frustrated Colorado lawmakers and environmental groups have struggled to push the Polis administration to move faster to meet mandated cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Now they are advancing a bill to set emission caps and deadlines — over the objections of the governor. The Senate Transportation and Energy Committee moved […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Coloradans, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
This Erie neighborhood is ground zero for Colorado’s collision of fracking and housing
Seattleites Sandra and Eric Duggan bought their house in Colliers Hill, a sprawling suburban development in Erie, sight unseen. Geoff Winterbourne purchased his Erie home while living in the San Francisco Bay area after a tour on FaceTime. “With the Colorado market the way it is, you only have three or four days to put […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado gave local governments more power to regulate oil and gas. And some are using it.
Empowered by a new state law and regulations, towns, cities and counties across the Front Range are flexing their muscle and moving to regulate oil and gas operations that come to town. Two years ago this month, sweeping legislation was signed into law reorienting Colorado’s approach to regulating oil and gas development. That in turn […]