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Today’s headlines read
“ Colorado Supreme Court rules against Cities’ Fracking limits”
But that’s not entirely the case.
When John Hickenlooper had the opportunity to appoint a Democrat to the Colorado Supreme court, a.k.a the deciding vote,
he chose a Republican, giving the Oil and Gas industry all the power it would need to defeat local ballot initiatives.
He knew what he was doing, just like when he went on the the news in 2013 and threatened to sue any city that passed a ban on Fracking.
“Nothing makes me less happy then to have to be in a lawsuit with a municipality,” Hickenlooper said.
If that’s true, the governor is an unhappy man these days. Four months after suing the city of Longmont for banning fracking, the state now plans to go after Fort Collins after its city council gave initial approval of a ban on fracking this week.
So this guy, who happens to have been a former Oil and Gas geologist, starts a lawsuit against the towns who passed Fracking bans democratically on their ballot,
and then appoints a Republican to tip the scales on the State Supreme court,
and Voila. The principles of Democracy are sold out.
And he's a Democrat.
Usually, when you meet a ‘celebrity’ it is something you look upon fondly. But I am sad to say that the reason I got to meet Josh Fox of Gasland and Bill McKibben of 350.org, was not for a ‘party’ or good time. They were here to stand in Solidarity with the people of Colorado facing threats from their own Governor.
I have ridden through these towns, and seen Ranches and farms, in rural Red Republican areas with home-made signs and banners that read
‘Stop Fracking’
People of all parties, all backgrounds, know that to raise cattle, to raise crops, you need clean water.
Their names are Carol, Steve & Jackie, Susan, Marilyn & Robert, and Christine. They share a bond. Two bonds, actually: They all own, or owned, farms. And those farms, along with their own health and the health of their farm animals, have all been ruined by fracking. More than 600,000 fracking wells and waste injection sites have popped up across the country, according to ProPublica. The oil and gas industry, along with federal regulators, would have you believe that injecting trillions of gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth is harmless. But tell that to Jacki Schilke of North Dakota, who lost two dogs, five cows, chickens – and her health – after 32 oil and gas wells sprouted up within three miles of her ranch. Or Christine Moore, a horse rescuer in Ohio, who sold her farm after a well went up five miles from her farm, creating an oily film on her water and making her too sick to care for her horses.
Longmont and Fort Collins, home to multiple farms, ranches and Horse pasture, and to Colorado State University. Yes, neighbors, your sons and daughters may have to breathe fumes if they attend CSU, just like what’s already happening at University of Northern Colorado.
There is a statewide ballot initiative this year to give local governments the right to decide if Fracking is allowed. We will be supporting it.
But there is something seriously wrong with our Democracy.