Colorado's high court to decide if cities can ban fracking

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Colorado's high court to decide if cities can ban fracking
Dan Elliott, Associated Press
Updated 3:42 pm, Monday, September 21, 2015

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether cities can ban hydraulic fracturing, stepping into a high-stakes battle over whether local governments can impose tougher oil and gas rules than the state.

The court will hear cases from Longmont, where voters banned hydraulic fracturing in 2012, and Fort Collins, where voters approved a 5-year moratorium in 2013.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association sued the two cities, and lower courts overturned the local restrictions, saying regulation is the state's prerogative. The cities and several environmental groups appealed.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, injects a high-pressure mix of water, sand and chemicals underground to crack open formations and make it easier to recover oil and gas. It's a widespread practice that led to an energy boom in Colorado, the nation's No. 7 energy-producing state, and elsewhere.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Colorado-s-high-court-to-decide-if-cities-can-ban-6519090.php

[William Seger]

1. I had to laugh at "Colorado's high court" but...

... it's another reminder that "state's rights" doesn't really mean giving power back to local control; it means giving power back to the people who control the state. A similar thing happened with the infamous Colorado Amendment 2 which prohibited local authorities from passing ordinances banning discrimination against gays.

(ETA: Driving through Colorado Springs today, I heard a guy on the radio say that in keeping with renaming mountains in deference to the natives, Pikes Peak should be renamed Mount Kushmore.)

[DhhD]

2. Secret Meetings of Bush-Cheney and Domestic Oil Companies create Energy Act of 2005.

http://desmogblog.com/2014/11/06/bush-family-inner-circle-office-denton-texas-fracking-ban-lawsuits

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/jeb-bushs-private-investments-in-fracking-dovetail-with-public-advocacy/2218495

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2010/06/09/7900/cheneys-culture-of-deregulation-and-corruption/

[madamesilverspurs]

3. I was going to say

that I'm not holding my breath for a positive decision. In truth, however, most days my breath isn't held, it's labored. My doctors have noted the negative impacts of fracking, especially for children whose lungs are still developing and adults like me with breathing difficulties; yet their concerns have been derided, dismissed, ridiculed, ignored, and in one case snorted at with an eye roll by one of the people entrusted with our governance. As one industry spokesman put it: "We can out-lawyer you."