Broomfield, CO – The far left that hates the oil and gas industry is using legal tactics in an attempt to stop the permitting process for drilling and new wells.
You shouldn’t be surprised that the left’s legal case is based on SB19-181, the big oil and gas killing bill from the 2019 legislative session. Specifically, the lawsuit seeks to force the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to halt permits for Extraction Oil and Gas to drill on land they already own.
The lawsuit claims that the COGCC was tasked by SB19-181 to develop more stringent restrictions on drilling and permitting. It includes draconian approval and notification requirements for the oil companies. The logic the left is using is since the new regulations and rules have NOT been fully adopted, all drilling should be halted. We used “logic” sarcastically there.
We should note that the group suing is represented by former State Representative Joe Salazar. If you’re not familiar with Salazar, he was probably the most outspoken extreme-far-left Representative from the last decade – and that says a lot!
Here’s a quote from the article:
In a news conference Wednesday morning, Colorado Rising’s executive director, attorney and former lawmaker Joe Salazar said his clients are bypassing the COGCC’s appeals process and headed to court.
Colorado Politics, October 9, 2019
“It would be futile to appeal this to the commission. It’s very well known … that [Robbins and Polis] have said there would be no pause of permits.” The governor is “absolutely wrong” in allowing permitting to continue, Salazar said.
So, let’s get this straight. Salazar’s interpretation of the law is it should stop permitting. Well, we’ve written extensively on this subject, and we believe Salazar has a valid argument. This just emphasizes how bad the law is.
Side note: Halliburton (an oil and gas company) is laying off 178 employees in Grand Junction. Hmmm…is there a correlation between SB19-181 and oil and gas jobs disappearing? Nothing to see here, now back to the article.
The Democrats’ goal was and still is to eliminate the oil and gas industry. Prove us wrong!
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