Win For Workers: Colorado Won’t Halt Drilling For Now

May 22, 2019

In a win for energy workers, Colorado officials announced yesterday that they “had no plans to stop energy companies from drilling for oil and gas” for the time being.

As Fox Business explains, eco-activists have been demanding that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission stop drilling until new regulations are implemented. That commission has been tasked with implementing a new, anti-energy law passed by the state’s new left-leaning Governor Jared Polis.

The new law is supposed to shift “the state’s focus from production to protection.” Eco-activists think that approach will limit fracking in Colorado.

But it might not go as planned for them. Don’t forget, fracking is based on proven science and is safe. Colorado’s previous Democrat Governor, John Hickenlooper, even drank fracking fluid to prove it.

Time will tell whether regulators in Colorado stand their ground and protect jobs, but the facts are on the side of those promoting economic opportunity. Colorado has been an economic miracle during the past decade, and it’s due in large part to the energy industry. In 2010, Colorado was ranked 40^th in job creation. Today it has the number one economy in the nation.

Colorado’s economic boom has been fueled in large part by growth in the energy industry. Colorado doubled its natural gas output since 2001, and it is now one of the top five natural gas producing states in the country. The oil and gas industry now contributes $32 billion per year to Colorado’s economy.

That means tax revenue to support schools, healthcare and basic government services.

Workers should celebrate this week’s victory, but we must continue to remain vigilant. The eco-left will not be deterred so easily.