There’s no tiptoeing around it: 2017 was a tough year. From natural disasters to political fiascos, this year has been marked by tough news and divisiveness.

But we’re happy to say that we made progress for protecting Colorado’s land, air, water, and communities. We’re proud to celebrate the end of the year by looking back at some of our biggest wins for the environment.

In order to win even bigger next year, we need people like you to stay with the fight. Engage. Volunteer. Donate. Be active. Together we can build on all the successes of this year to make even greater impacts.

Thanks to you, we:

Fought for Our Public Lands

• Celebrated the first-everColorado Public Lands Day,with 137 events across the state and more than 2,000 participants. Big names like Governor Hickenlooper, Senator Michael Bennet, and the Colorado-based band Elephant Revival spoke out in support of public lands.
• Mobilized 12,800 of our members to speak up for Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, which saved the monument from the Trump administration’s attempt to shrink it.
• Successfully influenced the Outdoor Retailer trade show to move to Denver. Our efforts helped show why Colorado has a better attitude toward protecting public lands than Utah, where the show was previously held until outdoor companies became fed up with Utah’s anti-public lands politicians.

Mobilized Action for Our Climate

• Worked with Governor Hickenlooper to commit Colorado to fighting climate change! In July, Hickenlooper announced major steps to fight climate change, putting the state on track to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement and joining Colorado into the U.S. Climate Alliance.

• Helped pass two bills in the Colorado Legislature that support low-income families with energy efficiency programs. These programs will save money for families and businesses while reducing air pollution.
• Remember when Colorado got a bunch of money from a settlement with Volkswagen? Due to the testimony and comments from our members, Colorado’s plan to use that money is the best in the country for promoting electric vehicles and clean air!

• Led the People’s Climate March in Denver with over 5,000 participants, in spite of freezing temperatures and snow! Our team made sure that our march, which was in conjunction with 370 marches across the country, elevated diverse voices and values.
• Stopped Congress from rolling back methane regulations on oil and gas activity, with 5,500 comments from our members and 25 op-eds from supporters in local news outlets.

Protected Our Water

• Released the first-ever Rivers Report Card, which provides a clear picture of the threats to eight rivers in Colorado and focuses on solutions to protect them.
• Helped pass a bill to provide schools with funding to test for lead in their drinking water. This proactive measure will pay off in terms of safeguarding our children’s health.

Stood up for Our Communities

• Endorsed two environmental champions for seats in the Aurora City Council — and they both won! Crystal Murillo and Nicole Johnston will bring a much-needed focus on diversity and inclusivity to the Council, and will champion environmental issues.
• Brought local voices to a public hearing for the Suncor oil refinery in central Denver on whether to increase the amount of pollution it is allowed to emit. The refinery is surrounded by neighborhoods that are primarily Latino and home to low-income families. We helped 30 community members testify at the hearing and gathered 750 written comments.
• Graduated 48 Promotores, or Latino community members learning to organize and advocate for environmental concerns within their communities.
• More than doubled our membership to over 36,000 members!

This was going to be a “top ten” list, but we had too many great wins to count! Thanks again for sticking with us in good times and in bad, and helping us make all these successes possible. We’ll be fighting just as hard in 2018, which will be a huge year for Colorado, not only because of the looming elections but also because of the many opportunities to protect the state we all love.

Although our conservation values are facing gridlock and animosity at the federal level, we’ve made it through tough political times before. And even though we’re up against wealthy interests, our power goes deeper than money: we’ve got people on our side.

Together, we will keep up the fight.

The post Our Biggest Wins in 2017 appeared first on Conservation CO.

January 10, 2018 marks the start of Colorado’s legislative session. And for the next four months, we’ll need to work together to determine our path forward to protect our air, water, public lands, and communities.

We are facing a turning point for our environment. As attacks come down from the federal level, the choices our lawmakers make today will determine whether we will take the lead or fall behind. We can influence those choices — and we must — if we want to protect our way of life.

Over the last 50 years, Conservation Colorado and our members have helped pass hundreds of pieces of legislation at the state Capitol. Starting today, we will spend the next four months working with legislators to support proactive legislation for conservation and to defeat bills that are bad for our future. You — our members & supporters— are the power behind these efforts. By joining us and raising your voice on the issues you care about during the legislative session, you can be a crucial part of our success.

This year we have two major priorities: protecting our communities from unchecked industries and preparing for Colorado’s growth. Not only are these some of the most pressing issues facing our state today, but they are also opportunities to make meaningful policy changes.

What do these priorities mean? Let’s take a closer look.

Protecting Our Communities

Colorado’s industries have a responsibility to clean up after themselves and conduct business without harming our neighborhoods or our health. We are working to make sure that industry in Colorado operates responsibly. We will fight to:

→ Put in place safeguards that promote health and safety for communities affected by oil and gas operations.

• Oil and gas development continues to encroach on our neighborhoods. It’s important that the state steps in to make sure development is not done at the expense of the health and welfare of our communities. We’ve seen time and again that the oil and gas industry will use its lobbying power at the Capitol to protect itself, not Coloradans.

→ Address the root causes of climate change.

• With recent events such as a 30-year-low for snowpack, increasing wildfires, and reduced air quality, we need to get serious about addressing our changing climate. It’s up to the state to take action to reduce carbon pollution in all sectors of our economy, from transportation to energy generation.

→ Update our mining policy to protect taxpayers and water quality while preventing future disasters.

• We all remember the Gold King Mine spill that poured over 3 million gallons of acid sludge into the Animas River and turned it a rusty shade of orange two years ago. We’ll be aiming to set up protective measures for mine permits that will protect our drinking water from toxic pollution.

Preparing for Colorado’s Growth

As our state population booms, we continue to face growing pains like higher energy consumption, congested roads, and increased pollution. We’re fighting for forward-thinking solutions to those challenges that are good for our people and our environment. This year we’re working to:

→ Make our transportation system cleaner, more efficient, and accessible for all Coloradans.

• Our expanding population means that traffic and air pollution are expected to get worse unless we focus on making electric vehicles and public transit more readily available and affordable for everyone.

→ Increase the use of renewable energy with a focus on reducing the disproportionate impacts that air pollution from energy production has on communities of color in Colorado.

• Clean energy like wind and solar is increasingly cheaper than coal. It can create jobs and cut air pollution while saving money for families and businesses.

→ Protect our state’s outdoors so every family can get outside and so our unparalleled wild places are conserved as our population expands.

• Colorado is known for its outdoors — we need to promote and also conserve these outdoor places so future generations can enjoy the same quality of life.

→ Secure funding for sustainable solutions to address the increasing demands on our water.

• Water is at the core of Colorado’s economy and identity, but because we live in a semi-arid state, we need to conserve this limited resource.

As the state legislature convenes, we’ll be supporting bills that advance these priorities and are good for our air, land, water, and communities. Once the session is over, we’ll release our annual Scorecard to report how legislators voted on key issues and to share our conservation wins.

Even in a tough time for our environment, we can make huge progress at the state level! Will you help us jump-start this legislative session by reminding your legislators to prioritize these important issues? Click here to take action!

The post Why Colorado’s Legislative Session Matters for Conservation appeared first on Conservation CO.

The post Environmental Groups Applaud House Committee Passage of Bill to Put Public Safety Above Oil and Gas Profits appeared first on Conservation CO.

Colorado oil and gas lobbyists and money keep Senate Republicans in their pocket

In 2017, during Colorado’s legislative session, a deadly explosion killed two people in Firestone, CO. The explosion was due to an uncapped flow line from an oil well.

After such a tragedy, most Coloradans believed the oil and gas industry would work harder to keep people safe. But recently, several former Anadarko employees came forward during an investor lawsuit against the company, saying Anadarko can’t be trusted to maintain their equipment to protect health and safety, calling their operations in Colorado “a ticking time bomb.”

In 2018, on the one-year anniversary of the Firestone tragedy, state legislators had repeated opportunities to enact safeguards for people’s health and safety as the Colorado oil and gas industry moves closer and closer to our neighborhoods and schools. They didn’t take that opportunity. Instead, we saw one commonsense measure after another get shut down by the strength of the oil and gas industry’s lobbying.

Here are some of the stories that unfolded at the state Capitol:

Killed: a bill to keep oil and gas drilling away from kids

Currently, Colorado’s laws require oil and gas activity to be 1,000 feet away from school buildings. But there is no legal limit to how far this industrial activity should be from school playgrounds, outdoor lunch areas, modular classrooms, or athletic fields. HB 1352 would have required oil and gas activity to be 1,000 feet away from school property boundaries. This is in line with what all other industries have to do near schools, like liquor stores.

In support of this bill, dozens of students and parents came to the state Capitol and testified in committee, asking lawmakers to protect them and future students from the impacts of oil and gas, ranging from air pollution to dangerous explosions. In addition, 55 students, teachers, and parents signed on to an open letter to lawmakers to make their voices heard on this issue.

In an emotional moment, a young activist spoke out of turn when a legislator asked if an oil and gas explosion has ever happened near a school. “Why does it need to happen first?” she flatly responded.

Those powerful voices speaking up for this bill didn’t stop a Senate committee from killing it and continuing to put our kids at risk.

Killed: three bills with small changes that would have made a big impact

One bill — HB 1071 — was an attempt to clarify the mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC). It currently states that the COGCC is in charge of fostering and regulating oil and gas in Colorado. This bill would have changed this contradictory mission to prioritize health, safety, and the environment over industry profits.

Another, HB 1157, would have ensured the industry is tracking and reporting all spills, fires, explosions, injuries, and deaths due to oil and gas well operations and production facilities. This bill would have made incident reports mandatory and required more detail for major and minor accidents, improving transparency to the public.  

Third, HB 1419 was a bill to require pipeline mapping and transparency so we all know where oil and gas operations are taking place — exactly the kind of information that would have prevented the Firestone tragedy. It would have also prevented leaks, groundwater contamination, and explosions by ensuring wells are strong and up to industry standard.  

All three of these bills were killed by Senate Republicans who continue to pander to oil and gas companies.

Killed: a bill to expand local government authority

While local governments (like cities, counties, or towns) cannot permanently ban oil and gas development in Colorado, they can put in place temporary halts on the industry. SB 048 would have protected the authority of local governments to regulate oil and gas facilities, allowing governments to determine oil and gas regulations according to the needs of residents. As is the story with most of these bills, this bill was killed in a Senate committee.

But there’s good news, too. We managed to block the passage of SB 192, a bill that would have forced local governments to pay oil and gas companies for any loss in profits due to a temporary moratorium or ban. This would have added a financial penalty to any local government trying to do the right thing by their residents. We helped keep this bill from going anywhere!

Protecting homeowners from forced pooling

Forced pooling is when an oil and gas operator wants to acquire rights to extract oil and gas, but a mineral rights owner — like a homeowner — does not want drilling in their backyard. In Colorado, if there are 100 homes in a development and one of them agrees to lease the mineral rights for oil and gas development, all 99 of the other homes are “force pooled,” and the operator can develop there.

Currently, forced pooling laws and practices are unfair to the mineral rights owners and are advantageous to oil and gas operators. Highly technical notices are sent to property owners who are given only 30 days to respond. People with little or no experience with the oil and gas industry are forced to make a tough decision without enough time or clear information.

One bill (HB 1289) would have prevented local government and school district minerals from being force pooled. This bill was blocked.

Finally, one bill that provided some improvements for mineral owners’ property rights passed this year. This bill (SB 230) was a compromise that will provide some immediate relief to homeowners by extending the amount of time homeowners have between getting notified about forced pooling and their hearing, and providing more easily understandable information about the process of being force pooled. Even with the passage of this bill, property owners still face an uphill battle when it comes to negotiating with industry. Compared to the many other commonsense bills that were killed this year, this one is a small step.

While it can be easy to feel disappointed that these bills we all fought so hard for did not pass, even bringing up these issues at the Capitol is a step in the right direction. Thank you for standing with us to fight for these bills, especially if you sent a message, called your legislator, came to testify, or took action in another way to protect our communities.

The best way to change this story next year and into the future is to elect more pro-conservation champions into office. This November, many of our state senators and all of our state representatives will be up for re-election. Help us build the majority we need to pass more life-saving bills that put our communities over the industry!

Find out how your elected officials voted on key environmental bills during this legislative session using the 2018 Conservation Scorecard. View it online or download it here.

The post Proof that oil and gas money has a stranglehold on Colorado’s state capitol appeared first on Conservation CO.

Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo, Colorado, is in many ways a vision of times past. The steel mill that the city was built around looms over downtown. Unions are big, newspapers are small, and locals are dedicated to their old watering holes. But in this union town that has often been seen as a bellwether of politics, change is coming.

In the next few years, the steel mill could be powered by renewable energy from solar panels and battery storage right down the road. Two coal-fired power plants in Pueblo could be shutting down early in favor of renewable energy — and if it happens, energy customers will save money because of it.

How is this all possible? It’s happening because of the Colorado Energy Plan, a proposal to shut down two coal-fired power plants and replace them with renewable energy like wind and solar that will save customers money and clean our air. The plan is being proposed by Xcel Energy, the state’s largest energy provider, and is being considered by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Today, Xcel Energy submitted to the PUC its plan to create a cleaner energy mix in Colorado. Their plan, called the 120-day report, outlines a few options for energy portfolios to replace the coal-fired power plants they’re closing. The preferred option — the one most likely to happen — is even better than we’d hoped.

The post Colorado’s Clean Future appeared first on Conservation CO.

As the Trump administration rolls back federal standards, Colorado takes another step in the effort to clean up our air.

DATE: June 19, 2018

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper today announced an executive order directing Colorado air quality officials to begin a process to adopt state advanced clean car standards in response to the Trump administration’s expected rollback of federal rules. The governor’s executive order will make Colorado the first state in the interior of the country to chart the path of enacting these standards, and it will give Coloradans strong safeguards from air pollution caused by gasoline and diesel vehicles.

By initiating this public rulemaking process, Colorado could join 13 other states and the District of Columbia as leaders in clean car technology and clean air. Ultimately, the implementation of the standards will save Coloradans money at the gas pump, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce pollutants from millions of vehicles.

Advocates for the environment and public health have released the following statements:

“Motor vehicles are a significant contributor to air pollution and climate change. As the federal government continues to roll back environmental protections to appease industry interests, it’s up to the states to take action. Colorado can’t — and won’t — be left behind. Governor Hickenlooper’s executive order ensures that Colorado is a leader in the nation and shows that Coloradans are committed to cutting air pollution for the sake of our health, economy, and environment.”  – Maria Handley, acting executive director, Conservation Colorado.

“Transportation is the number two source of greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado — and number one source of emissions in the nation. Adopting clean car standards means fewer bad air days and a better quality of life for citizens across our state.”  – Garrett Garner-Wells, director of Environment Colorado.

“Inefficient cars are just wasteful – they cost consumers every time we go to the pump and they hurt our health when they produce unnecessary pollution. Clean car standards result in more fuel efficient and cleaner vehicles, which benefit our wallets and our personal health. As technology advances, we need to take advantage of even cleaner, more fuel efficient cars. That’s why we applaud Governor Hickenlooper’s action to make Colorado a leader around fuel efficient, cleaner cars.”  – Danny Katz, director of CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group).

“With the Trump administration abdicating leadership on cleaning up tailpipe pollution and saving consumers money on gas, states need advanced vehicle standards to ensure their citizens get to drive the cleanest, most affordable cars on the market. This action will help ensure Coloradans still get clean air and cleaner cars.”  – Noah Long, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Governor Hickenlooper deserves credit for taking bold action to make Colorado the first state in the Mountain West to adopt the Clean Car Standards. As the federal government continues to favor corporate interests over the public good, Governor Hickenlooper’s action will help save families from paying extra at the gas pump and help keep pollution out of our Rocky Mountain air.”  – Zach Pierce, senior campaign representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Colorado.

Background:

Thirteen states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) and the District of Columbia have adopted a set of state clean car standards designed to reduce the emission of smog-forming pollutants, particulate matter, and carbon pollution and to support the development of zero-emission vehicle technology. These states represent nearly 40 percent of the new vehicle sales market. Governor Hickenlooper’s executive order puts Colorado on the path to join these states by initiating a public process with the Air Quality Control Commission.

A recently released report details some of the health and economic benefits of adopting the Advanced Clean Car Standards. Denver was ranked the 11th most polluted city in the nation for ozone levels, and vehicle emissions are one of the largest contributors. Adopting the advanced standards will not only protect Coloradans from illness, but it will save money. According to the report, with the clean car standards in place, by 2040 Colorado would save roughly $16 to $37 million in health care costs; reduce the number of work days lost due to illness from air pollutant emissions; and save $260 million per year in social costs from long-term damage caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The governor’s executive order comes in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ongoing efforts to roll back 2012 federal clean car standards designed to improve air quality and protect public health. The federal emissions standards have been good for Colorado, both in terms of cost savings and better air quality:

• According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, no other federal policy is delivering as much oil savings, consumer benefits, and carbon emission reductions as the 2012 Federal Vehicle Emissions Standards.
• According to AAA, the average cost of owning and operating a vehicle in 2017 is $8,649. Because of the federal clean cars standards, the average Colorado household was expecting to see $2,700 in savings by 2030 from lower gas bills.
• Transportation is the #2 source of greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado, and the highest in the nation. The federal standards were set to reduce carbon emissions in Colorado by 4.5 million tons per year.
• In the Denver area, emissions of smog-causing air pollutants from vehicles is set to increase by about 15 percent if the federal standards are rolled back. For Coloradans, especially the 343,000 people who are living with asthma, more air pollution means more coughing and wheezing, increased risk of infection, and permanent damage to lung tissue.

CONTACTS:                                                                                            

Jace Woodrum, Conservation Colorado, 720-412-3772

Danny Katz, Colorado Public Interest Research Group, 608-215-0929

Garrett Garner-Wells, Environment Colorado, 321-536-6019

Noah Long, Natural Resources Defense Council, 860-515-6885

Thomas Young, Sierra Club, 719-393-2354

The post Colorado Becomes the First Interior State to Pursue Advanced Clean Car Standards appeared first on Conservation CO.

I was twenty-six years old and standing – just barely – in New Mexico. My backpack was already digging into my shoulders. My feet, wrapped in shiny new trail runners, scratched nervously at the desert sand.

The hot air rippled like a curtain. Brown mountains rose in enormous triangles from the flat expanse; they could have been painted, like the backdrop of a play. Behind me stood a small barbed-wire fence: Mexico.

3,100 miles ahead shone a luminous bullseye: Canada.

There was a monument at the trailhead, a sturdy stone obelisk reading: Southernmost Point, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. The route was engraved on the side: New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana. It took seconds to run my fingers from beginning to end; I figured it would take five or six months by foot.

The shuttle to the trailhead had gone, and I was all alone. I was afraid to start hiking, afraid that I was really here and had no one to blame but myself. The path forward was littered with cholla cacti and wiry ocatilla, their tips like red arrowheads pointing at the sky.

I tried to imagine what I could not see: the promise of rivers and peaks, of strength and redemption. I pointed my body north and began to walk.

The Continental Divide Trail was created in 1978 under the National Scenic Trails Act, joining other long-distance hikes such as the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails. While those trails attract thousands of “thru-hikers” each year, the Continental Divide Trail only sees a few hundred. This is due in part to the challenges of the trail: remoteness, route-finding, weather, and everyone’s favorite fear, grizzly bears. The trail is also incomplete. Today, 20 percent of the trail is on roads, from bumpy dirt roads to actual highways, where hikers’ feet throb on the scorching pavement as cars whiz by. About a thousand miles in, I started sticking out my thumb.

Future hikers may not have to, thanks to the amazing work of land management agencies, the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, and other partners working to complete the trail. This means fun work like mapping and trail-building, but land acquisition comes first.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was created in 1964 to repurpose taxes from offshore oil and gas drilling to fund something that virtually every American benefits from: public land. Money from LWCF is used to purchase private land and give it back to the people – and it’s not just trails and forests; every state in the country has used LWCF to pay for parks, bike paths, and more. In this case, purchasing those last remaining parcels along the Continental Divide is instrumental in completing the trail from Mexico to Canada.

But these days, there’s not much that we don’t have to fight for. On September 30, LWCF is set to expire, and it will take an act of Congress to keep it afloat. If Congress doesn’t vote to save it, we could lose our most precious resources to the backlog of defunded yet essential conservation efforts. The Continental Divide Trail could forever remain a trail of broken links along the nation’s spine.

Hiking near Knapsack Col, Wind River Range, Wyoming

September 22 was the first day of fall. It was already bone-cold in Montana, ten miles from the border in Glacier National Park.

I woke up to water dripping through the seams of my tent. Everything was soaked: my clothes, my pad, my sleeping bag. I didn’t care. “Squirrel!” I yelled to my buddy, who had joined me for the last few days. “Wake up. Let’s get the heck to Canada!”

The trail had turned into a river of mud, two steps forward and big slides back. The rain made it worse. We followed a creek up, up, over a hill, gritting our teeth until finally-

Squirrel was ahead, and I heard him start to whoop. “Oh my god,” I whispered. I opened my throat to join in, but only air came out. I braced myself to feel – what was I supposed to feel?

A bleary parking lot emerged from the fog: a pit toilet, two flags, and a few lonely cars. Squirrel was staring up at the sign and shielding his face from the rain.

“This is anticlimactic,” he said.

“No!” I cried. This was the punctuation mark at the end of a very long sentence. It had started five months and two days ago at the barbed-wire fence, or maybe earlier – the first time I scaled a mountain, or saw the Milky Way, or sat in the city listening to sirens howl and thinking, I wish I was far away.

Wherever it began, it snaked here over five million footsteps. Ten for the sirens, one hundred for an illness, one thousand for a broken heart – and all the rest for the people who told me I wouldn’t make it. The Continental Divide Trail was every oozing blister, every misstep that sent me face-first into the dirt. It was every time someone asked, Are you alone? and their tone said, You shouldn’t be here. It was every basin that drained my breath, all the mountains that washed over me and carried everything else away.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund isn’t just about land or water. It’s the currency of the human spirit, of challenge and healing. It keeps us alive and free.

“I knew the trail wouldn’t let us down easy,” Squirrel groaned.

My nose was numb from the rain. I scraped my teeth against the my peeling lower lip and looked out at the fog. I didn’t know how to get home or even where home would be. But I knew that I could keep moving, even if it took another five million steps to get there.

I said, “This is perfect.”

Canadian Boarder

Weminuche Wilderness, CO

Bootheel, NM

North of Berthoud Pass, CO

Read More

Colorado’s Air Quality Regulators Adopt New Vehicle Emission Standards

by Press Team | Nov 16, 2018

DENVER, CO — Today, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) voted unanimously to adopt the Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) Program standards for cars and trucks. Vehicle emissions are among  the largest contributors to carbon pollution in Colorado and contribute...

More than 100 Colorado businesses sign on to protect the Land and Water Conservation Fund

by Press Team | Sep 27, 2018

Today, the Colorado Outdoor Business Alliance released a letter signed by more than 100 Colorado businesses in support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), one of the nation’s premier conservation programs. The open letter encourages Colorado...

Trump Administration Guts Methane Waste Rule, Allowing More Pollution and Less Oversight on Public Lands

by Press Team | Sep 18, 2018

In spite of widespread public support of the rule, the Trump administration today took steps to repeal the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Methane Waste Rule. This 2016 rule was created to cut methane waste from oil and gas operations on public lands by requiring...

« Older Entries

The post A Thru-Hiker’s Story of Why We Need Conservation appeared first on Conservation CO.

This November, our ballots will be full of measures for voters to weigh in on. One of these – Amendment 74 – is an attempt by special interests to turn local decision making on its head.

Amendment 74 would allow any property holder, including corporations, to sue local and state governments over any regulation, from city planning to basic health and safety protections.

For the sake of protecting the Colorado we love, we cannot let this dangerous amendment pass.

What does it do?

The amendment is written to be purposely confusing and dangerously broad. Under the guise of protecting property rights, it would require the government – the taxpayers – to compensate property owners, including corporate interests and industry, for any decrease in the value of their property – including loss of profits – due to any government law or regulation. The cost of paying out the industries and special interests when enforcing codes and laws will eventually make enforcing even the most straightforward regulations too expensive. In short, it destroys the ability of local leaders to make decisions about what their communities look like.

This measure is unnecessary, too extreme, too broad, and was created by and for special interests.

→ It’s unnecessary because the Colorado Constitution already protects private property owners; it doesn’t allow private property to be taken for public use without compensation.

→ This ballot measure would expand part of our Constitution in a way that is incredibly broad and would have sweeping effects on local governments and communities across the state. By requiring local governments to compensate corporate interests, Amendment 74 seeks to make any regulation too expensive to implement.

→ The motive of this measure is clear: it’s paid for by oil and gas companies because it would give them complete freedom over where and how they do business.  

Here are three ways that Amendment 74 would hurt Coloradans:

1) Amendment 74 puts industry over people.  

While you won’t find any mention of oil and gas in the measure itself, Amendment 74 was written to prevent local governments from limiting oil and gas drilling in any way. Cloaked in language that would have you believe that all Coloradans’ property rights would be strengthened under this measure, Amendment 74 is exclusively backed by oil and gas companies. Protect Colorado, a front group created by the state’s largest oil and gas companies, has raised a staggering $13 million so far in support of 74. Its top three contributors  – Anadarko Petroleum, Extraction Oil and Gas, and Noble Energy – each donated more than $2 million to the cause.

So, what’s in it for them?

If an oil and gas company wanted to drill near a hospital, school, or nursing home but was blocked by zoning laws, the company could sue the government for preventing them from making a profit. If this happened, the government would have to either pay the company or waive the zoning law. In most situations, city, county, and state governments would not be able to afford the payoff, so they would be forced to allow the company to drill wherever it wanted. 

The scariest part of Amendment 74 is how broad it is. Far beyond allowing the oil and gas industry to ignore policies designed to protect public health, it could:

• Allow gun shops, strip clubs, and marijuana stores to be built near schools despite neighborhood or family concerns;
• Allow industrial activities to be located right beside nursing homes, daycares, and hospitals;
• Undo noise regulations that ensure we all get a good night’s sleep;
• Undermine local decisions on landfills and hazardous waste storage, allowing them to be located virtually anywhere;
• Get rid of public health standards governing restaurants, tattoo parlors, or hospitals;
• Hurt safety rules like fire and building codes.

2) Amendment 74 is expensive for taxpayers.

Measures similar to Amendment 74 that were passed in other states show just how burdensome it would be to Coloradans. By forcing local governments, like cities and counties, to pay individuals who “suffered any burden” as a result of a regulation, these measures were prohibitively expensive to governments and taxpayers.

Over a three-year period in Oregon, a measure similar to 74 resulted in the filing of nearly 7,000 claims requesting a total of $19.8 billion in compensation. Faced with such a massive payment, cash-strapped governments were forced to waive rules for nine out of ten claims. This benefitted agribusiness, developers, and extractive industries at the expense of taxpayers.

If Amendment 74 passes, the power of our state and local governments will be strangled. We rely on our local governments to listen to community members and plan for the future of our neighborhoods. They do this in open meetings with public input to balance the needs of all residents. That long-held, trusted process would be upended under this measure.

3) Amendment 74 threatens the property rights of most landowners.

Under Amendment 74, Colorado landowners will suffer. Despite what proponents of 74 claim, waiving regulations would weaken, not strengthen, property owners’ rights. Since property values go down when an undesirable development – like a landfill – is planned near a community, one unregulated property owner has the potential to harm the property values of many.

This also happened in Oregon, where property owners could only sit and watch as an 80-acre gravel mine was built next to family ranches, 150 vacation homes were put up in a national monument, and subdivisions tore up agricultural land. As these landowners learned, waiving land-use rules not only generally damaged property values, it pitted neighbor against neighbor and put a stranglehold on local decision making. Two years after it passed, Oregon residents opposed the 74-like measure by nearly two to one.

With all the attacks on our environment occurring at the national level, it’s easy to lose track of the local ballot issues that Coloradans will be voting on this November. But this year, not paying attention could be dangerous.

Amendment 74 is not a measure about protecting private property rights. No, the purpose of this initiative is to bankrupt any local and state government that tries to regulate the oil and gas industry. It poses an unprecedented threat to our communities, our environment, and our way of life.

See Amendment 74 for what it is – a measure to deregulate and debilitate – and vote NO.

The post Amendment 74: A Hidden Agenda to Strangle Local Government appeared first on Conservation CO.

Fair Maps Colorado

☑ YES on Amendment Y

☑ YES on Amendment Z

These measures create fair and competitive congressional and state legislative districts. They will set up a new process that empowers independent commissions to draw district lines and keeps elected officials and lobbyists from drawing electoral districts because voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around.

Colorado’s population growth means we will likely have an eighth congressional seat by 2022. That means now is the time to improve our system for drawing districts. Together, these measures will help achieve fair and equal representation for all citizens of Colorado. Amendments Y and Z will:

• Create balanced independent commissions (4 Republicans, 4 Democrats, and 4 unaffiliated voters)
• Set clear criteria for map-drawing and prohibitions on gerrymandering
• Limit the roles of partisans and courts
• Heighten open meetings, public records, and ethical rules
• Secure fair and effective representation for all Colorado voters
• Maximize competitive districts

Click here to read more about Fair Maps Colorado

Stop Amendment 74 and Save Our Neighborhoods

☒ NO on Amendment 74 – “Just Compensation for Reduction in Fair Market Value by Government Law or Regulation”

If Amendment 74 passes, it will allow any corporation or property owner to sue local governments over any law they disagree with, opening the floodgates to frivolous and costly lawsuits. Taxpayers would have to foot the bill.

When a similar measure passed in Oregon, there were nearly $20 billion in claims in just the first three years. These costly claims threatened funding for local schools, roads, and public safety. Oregonians ultimately repealed the law. Now Coloradans are facing a choice to repeat Oregon’s costly mistake or reject this risky amendment that will mainly benefit the wealthy developers and oil companies who wrote it. Amendment 74 is supported by out-of-state corporate interests who want to change the character of Colorado neighborhoods and our rural landscapes by giving developers loopholes to build anything they like, anywhere they like.

Although 74 claims to help property owners, property rights are already protected in the constitution. While 74 might sound good, it is really risky to amend the constitution with such a flawed measure. Once it’s in the constitution, the unintended consequences are permanent and can’t be undone.

Click here to read more about Amendment 74

A Dead End for Colorado

☒ NO on Proposition 109 – “Authorize Bonds for Transportation Projects”

Proposition 109 would dedicate existing state funds to projects that address road and bridge expansion, construction, maintenance, and repairs. These funds are not to be used for roads managed by local governments—88 percent of all roads—or public transportation. But Prop.109 takes $3.5 billion away from schools, public safety, and other vital services by forcing the state to reallocate existing resources and exclusively fund highway projects. We need a transportation system that invests in solutions, not one that will bankrupt our government and leave our roads in disrepair.

 

Let’s Go Colorado

☑ YES on Proposition 110 – “Sales Tax Increase for Transportation Funding”

It’s been decades since we last changed how Colorado funds transportation. Our streets and transportation systems need improvement, and it’s time to stop the “band-aid” approach. Proposition 110 is the statewide solution we need. It fixes our roads; ensures local governments have the resources to meet demands; promotes options like walking, biking, and transit that reduce congestion; and ensures that we protect the environment by investing in solutions that move people, not just cars.

We need a new funding source to fix our roads. A sales tax asks everyone to chip in, including the 80 million out-of-state tourists who use our infrastructure every year. This proposition will increase the state’s sales tax by 0.62%, a little more than half a cent on a dollar purchase, to fund transportation projects across the state.

Click here to read more about Let’s Go Colorado

Protect Colorado Neighborhoods

☑ YES on Proposition 112 – Setback Requirement for Oil and Gas Development

Prop. 112 requires new oil and gas development projects to be located at least 2,500 feet from occupied buildings and other areas designated as vulnerable. Conservation Colorado has long worked to ensure a responsible, transparent, and accountable oil and gas industry, which has included efforts to increase the distance between oil and gas development and the places where we live and where our children play. Yet, the industry has blocked even the most modest efforts to address the growing conflicts between its operations and our communities, such as keeping drilling and fracking away from schools. Ultimately we must prioritize the health and safety of our communities above all else.

Read more at Colorado Rising.

Healthy Parks and Rivers for Everyone – Denver Ballot Measure

☑ YES on referred measure 2A in Denver

This measure will increase the city’s sales tax by 0.25% (about $3 per month) in order to create a dedicated funding source to address the city’s $127 million park maintenance backlog and help add new parks, rivers, trails, and open space. Denver is growing quickly, but its investment in parks and trails is not keeping pace with growth. One of six of our parks is in poor condition and in need of repairs. Worse, our park system is inequitable, as wealthier neighborhoods can make private donations to address their park needs while low-income neighborhoods are left behind. 

The Denver City Council referred this measure to the ballot, and which will raise over $45 million in its first year alone to help make the dream of “a park in every neighborhood” a reality for ALL Denver residents.

Learn more at Yes for Denver Parks.

Read More

Our Biggest Election Season Yet

by Asheton Gilbertson | Nov 12, 2018

On Election Day 2018, nationwide voter turnout for the midterm elections was the highest its been in more than 50 years. In Colorado, an astounding 2.5 million ballots were returned, earning our state one of the top five highest-midterm-turnout rates in the country....

As Attorney General, Phil Weiser Will Fight for Colorado’s Way of Life

by Press Team | Nov 6, 2018

Conservation Colorado Executive Director Kelly Nordini released the following statement on the election of Phil Weiser as attorney general: Conservation issues played an incredibly important role in this year’s race for attorney general. From day one, Phil Weiser...

Pro-Conservation Leaders Regain Control of Both Legislative Chambers

by Press Team | Nov 6, 2018

Conservation Colorado Executive Director Kelly Nordini has released the following statement on the results of state Senate and House elections: Coloradans have spoken, and their values are clear: they want leaders who will take action to protect what makes our state...

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