Like with most of what he says, Gov Polis' "end of the oil and gas wars" comes with caveats. Ambivalence about a bill. How to get more involved in halting the Dolores takeover.
When a younger Polis signed into law SB19-181 into law, he proudly declared an end to the oil and gas wars in this state.
Nevermind that this bill was signed in the wake of voters handily rejecting a ballot measure that would have done exactly what SB19-181 later ended up doing.
Nevermind that he has done little to try and moderate some of the fire-breathing environmentalist lawmakers in his party from continually attacking and nibbling away at oil and gas in this state.
Thanks to Polis' stern but loving and thoughtful leadership, we now live in a world where the interests of trying to have affordable energy are balanced against the interests of a pristine and untouched natural world.
Well, until now that is. As you can read in the Sun article by environmental advocate Booth below, environmentalists are back at it with a slew of anti oil and gas ballot measures.
I am no expert, but I think I have to agree here with the contention from the article that these measures are going to face a struggle to even get on the ballot. It's not a far leap from that to consider that these are bargaining chips.
You know, because with the current measures on oil and gas and energy making their way through the legislature what we definitely need is more balance in the direction of tighter environmental policy.
I'll keep my ear to the ground and update as I hear more.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/21/colorado-oil-and-gas-ballot-measures/
What do you think?
I first came across the bill linked below via the op ed that is linked with it. I keep putting it farther and farther down in my queue because other more urgent things come up, and that extra time has meant I've had some doubt creep in since first reading about it.
That is, upon first reading I think I had more clarity on being against his bill than I currently feel.
I am most definitely against any form of government coercion that falls outside the already established limits and outside the US Constitution, especially when that coercion happens to go against one's deeply held religious beliefs.
But when I read the actual language of the bill it seems like things aren't as cut and dried as the author of the op ed would have it. I'm not a lawyer and so I can't speak with too much confidence here, so let me say that the bill doesn't seem to be a simple case of the state forcing nonprofits to "toe the line": in the end it seems that the effect of this bill would hinge on how courts interpret the language in it.
Maybe that's the key here. If it ain't broke don't fix it comes to mind. What does this bill want to remedy? And will it do so at the cost of a bunch of legal activity to hash out the meaning of "viewpoint" for example.
Perhaps topics like those in this bill are better left alone. Not necessarily for the bad things it wants to prevent, but for the problems it would create in the attempt. Perhaps things are better left as they are.
What do you think?
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1124
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/opinion/colorado-lawmakers-to-nonprofits-swallow-the-state-ideology-or-else-opinion/article_03606540-d1fd-11ee-a273-c38ef1698dcd.html
Environmentalists are pushing on the Biden Administration to take public land around the Dolores River in Western Colorado and federalize it.
And they are trying to do it AROUND the people that actually live there. That is, this effort is led by environmentalists that are trying to exclude the people that actually live there.
I posted about this effort in the past (link to my earlier post here) and urged people to talk to Senators Bennet and Hick to push them toward a process of protecting the river that respects local input and goes through the legislature.
I wanted to update because I heard of some more things that I can share in case you are concerned at this effort and want to get involved.
The first is the public meeting you see in the screenshot at the top of this post.
The second is an online petition you can sign. It's linked first below. NOTE: buyer beware here. It's common that online petitions are used as much to get contact information as anything else. Maybe not a bad thing, just know what you're getting.
Lastly, there is a FB group and a non-FB group you can join to either stay up to date or participate more. Those are both linked below the petition.
Speak up. Share info. Get involved, your voice is needed.
https://www.change.org/p/halt-the-designation-of-the-dolores-river-national-monument?recruiter=27214554&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf&recruited_by_id=d98fd2a0-d201-012f-6a69-4040acce234c&share_bandit_exp=initial-37897782-en-US
https://www.facebook.com/people/Halt-the-Dolores-Monument/61556734877449/
https://www.sharetrails.org/help-us-oppose-the-dolores-river-canyon-national-monument/