When the legislature created the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 1951, our population was 1.326 million, and hydraulic fracturing was just an entertaining side project for a few swashbuckling geological engineers with a keen interest in explosives. Today, the state’s population has swelled to 5.761 million, oil and gas production has grown rapidly, […]
fracking
Posted inEnergy, Environment, News
4.5 magnitude earthquake in western Colorado studied for link to deep injection well
GRAND JUNCTION — Federal officials are investigating whether a 4.5 magnitude earthquake near the Utah-Colorado border was caused by a well that injects salty water deep underground. The quake struck Monday near a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation facility in western Colorado that collects salt from shallow underground water and injects it 16,000 feet (4,900 meters) […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Krieger: Has the time finally come for oil and gas reform in Colorado?
One of my last columns for the Boulder Daily Camera told the story of a group of retirees and near-retirees in Broomfield who bought their dream retirement homes in the Anthem Ranch subdivision overlooking a spectacular vista of open space and Rocky Mountains. Describing these unlikely political activists, I made a reference to the movie […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: 10 things Colorado lawmakers should prioritize to be forward thinking on fracking
Colorado is poised to build a globally competitive clean energy economy that protects our quality of life and magnificent open spaces. Newly seated Gov. Jared Polis ran on a platform committing to an equitable transition to a clean energy economy. A booming oil and gas industry once largely confined to rural Weld County on the […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Growth, News, Politics and Government
Superior weighs drilling moratorium, open space purchase to stop U.K. company’s Rocky Flats plan
Superior’s board of trustees, searching for a way to block a proposed plan to drill 31 wells in the community, edged toward a six-month drilling moratorium and purchasing the drill site for public open space at a meeting Monday night. “We are unified in our opposition to this,” Mayor Clint Folsom said at the work […]
Posted in2018 Voter Guide, Business, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Proposition 112 fails, but big vote total signals oil and gas setbacks will be headed to the Colorado capitol
Proposition 112 — which sought to keep 2,500 feet between new oil and gas operations and any home in Colorado — did not win. But its proponents may not have lost either. The ballot initiative was voted down 57 percent to 43 percent, but it garnered more than 825,000 votes — a potentially powerful statement […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Walker Stapleton suggests Jared Polis is a socialist ahead of Bernie Sanders’ visit. Here’s how Polis and Sanders compare on the issues.
Bernie Sanders will campaign in Colorado this week for Jared Polis, a political union that is amplifying Republican critics who suggest the Democratic candidate’s policies are too extreme. Polis, a five-term Boulder congressman, agrees with the Vermont senator on major issues, such as the need for a government-run health care system, and he struggled in […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Crestone’s plans for oil and gas drilling on Boulder County open space could be delayed for years after state stops hearings
The state will not move on an application by Crestone Peak Resources to drill oil wells on Boulder County open space and land covered by conservation easements until a lawsuit between the county and the company are resolved—delaying the project for months, perhaps years. Ruling in favor of a motion by Boulder County a Colorado […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Boulder County fights with finesse — and an all-out assault — to stop drilling on public open space
It doesn’t look like much of a battlefield — cottonwood groves, a small reservoir and farm fields with traffic zipping through on Colorado 52 — but this 10-square-mile patch of ground is being fiercely fought over by Boulder County and oil and gas drillers. Both the county and Denver-based Crestone Peak Resources lay claim to […]