Green New Deal Policies Will Hurt the Colorado Oil and Gas Sector and the 232,900 Jobs It Supports

September 18, 2020

The eco-left with its never-ending crusade against the oil and gas industry is once again trying to force its radical policies on Coloradans. Having failed time and time again to gain perimeter setbacks for oil and gas drilling and removal of local control, you’d think these environmentalists would have thrown in the towel. Luckily, state residents voted against these de facto energy bans three times in the past 6 years and have proven they will not budge to support job-killing initiatives against the oil and gas industry that is so rich and prominent in the state.

Congressman Ken Buck, serving Colorado’s 4^th Congressional District, wrote a piece in The Denver Post on the Green New Deal policies being introduced in the state and how they will destroy Colorado jobs:

Coloradans know that our state is thriving because of local control over our oil and gas industry. But now in 2020, we’re faced with more heavy-handed regulations, and they sound like they’re right out of the pages of the Green New Deal. Gov. Jared Polis knows he can’t get a majority of Coloradans to agree to a ballot initiative, so he stacked a bureaucratic oil and gas commission with his cronies and ordered them to do his dirty work.

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As a part of the progressive overhaul of the oil and gas industry, COGCC has recommended a slew of concerning policy proposals, including a minimum 2,000-foot setback for oil and gas drilling in residential areas. Four of the five COGCC members have voiced support for this extended setback, which is four times the current standard for urban areas.

Gov. Polis and the progressives pushing these radical environmental policies have no science to back up the benefit of putting more regulations on the industry. Tami McMullin, a toxicology consultant formerly with the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, told The Denver Post her team of researchers reviewed air samples collected across Colorado for a 2019 state report and concluded, “Based upon the weight of evidence and the extensive body of monitoring data, there is no causal data demonstrating the need for further risk-reduction measures beyond those which are already being applied. Specifically, there is no credible evidence supporting the need for greater setback distances in order to protect public health.”

Colorado also excels at extracting clean natural gas. According to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), Colorado’s oil and natural gas industry saw a near 50% reduction in emissions between 2011 and 2017. Through the state’s local control of the industry, state officials worked with energy companies to innovate and create new technologies to reduce emissions.

Industry-led innovations have put Colorado on the precipice of extracting the cleanest natural gas molecules in the world. In fact, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), Colorado’s oil and natural gas industry saw a near 50% reduction in emissions between 2011 and 2017. This didn’t happen by accident. Local governments worked with energy companies, allowing them to innovate and create new technologies to reduce emissions and improve efficiency.

Colorado’s oil and gas industry supports an estimated 232,900 jobs that keep the lights on for families across my district and the state. These are good-paying jobs, resulting in $23.1 billion in wages. The industry also contributes approximately $1 billion in tax revenue annually, including $600 million that goes to K-12 public education.

We can’t begin to understand why the progressive left would push these radical policies in Colorado that would negatively impact the industry and 232,900 Coloradan jobs it supports. The lucrative industry brings clean, reliable, and affordable energy to households across the state. Why mess with what’s working?