Fracking brought us together; it is our hottest issue right now.

What is happening in Boulder County?  We sit at the edge of the Wattenberg field, under which lies Niobrara shale.  This field has been called the “Neo-Bakken” for its similarities to the Bakken shale play in North Dakota, where intense oil and gas extraction has left communities in shambles.  Weld County has over 18,000 wells already, and the oil & gas industry is pushing into Boulder County, where the industry expects great promise on the edges of the field, based on the experience in the Bakken.

Despite industry propaganda and claims to the contrary, devastating truths are coming to light about unconventional petroleum extraction (which was not long ago dismissed as being too unpalatable to pursue due to its environmentally destructive consequences).

Big Oil, which already controls much of our government, has been wielding its pressure on states to gut any meaning from regulations, while keeping in place the image of being regulated, along with the liability shield offered by state regulations. States are then denying to counties and municipalities any local control over what happens in communities, as the states strip localities of even their traditional and statutorily recognized zoning authorities.
The federal government continues to pursue a senseless and unsustainable energy policy pushed by industry, while states do the same, so the only recourse for the people is with local governments, where some accountability remains among neighbors.

The people in Boulder County do not want fracking to spread west, bringing with it destruction of our roads (which we have to pay for), our air (which brings deadly diseases), our water, our soils, our agriculture, our scenery, our wildlife, our economy, our health, our climate, and our childrens’ inheritance.

It is up to us to back our county government in its every effort to protect the health, safety and welfare of our community, but they cannot do anything without the will of the people being made manifest.  Give them the political will to stand up for us, and to rule that fracking stops at the county line.

Write, e-mail, call:

Boulder County Commissioners, PO 471, Boulder, CO 80306

303-441-3500

email :  commissioners@bouldercounty.org

If we wait for the political will to develop at the state or federal level, it will be too late for us.  Let’s not be the next Pavillion, or the next Rifle, or the next Parachute, or the next Pinedale, or the next Dimock.