Colorado air quality regulators will move forward with a controversial, first-in-the-nation rule to curb greenhouse gas releases from oil and gas operators based on the intensity of emissions relative to their production. In the face of opposition from some local officials and environmental groups, the Air Quality Control Commission voted on Friday to set a […]
Matt Jones
Colorado oil and gas emissions rules begin to tighten, but gaps open over what is monitored, by whom and where
Colorado is moving to tighten air emissions from a range of oil and gas activities – including hydrofracturing or fracking – with a general consensus among industry, environmental and community groups. In two days of testimony before the state’s Air Quality Control Commission there was general support for proposed rules covering fracking and drilling, internal […]
Colorado increases tax on oil and gas operators to fund a $3.4 million shortfall in regulators’ budget
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Tuesday raised the tax it levies on oil and gas production in the state to fill a $3.4 million hole created by declining commodity prices – with the support of both industry and environmental groups. The support on the part of industry was the product of the […]
Colorado is quickly becoming a patchwork of oil and gas rules after a major law change
When county commissioners met this summer to ponder local control of oil and gas operations in Boulder County, residents came with signs proclaiming “I am over O&G’s $ influence.” In Weld County there were “Recall Jared Polis” T-shirts — a sartorial critique of the governor who signed the new oil and gas legislation. The audience […]
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 […]