Fort Collins oil and gas regulations: Is a near-ban enough to address resident concerns?
Coloradoan Conversations is the Coloradoan's opinion forum. Each week we'll pose conversation-starting questions online at Coloradoan.com/opinion, moderate online discussion and then recap the best discussion points.
This week's Coloradoan Conversation:
Nearly a decade ago, Fort Collins voters passed a five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, within city limits with 56.5% approval. That vote, along with a ban passed in Longmont, was ultimately struck down by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2016, which ruled that the actions violated the preeminence of state regulations.
But pressure to further restrict oil and gas development near Front Range communities continued, and in 2019 the state afforded municipalities the opportunity to pass regulations that exceed state standards. This significant move was seen as a large blow to the state's oil and gas industry, but a win for environmental groups concerned about the industry's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and resulting climate change.
That fight over Colorado's energy future has largely been waged outside of Fort Collins, where there are only two active oil and gas wells and limited potential for new development. But with city leaders poised to adopt their own regulations on April 4, some groups are saying the regulations, which stop short of a ban, don't do enough to protect public health from future development.
Land use code revisions would effectively bar new development from 99% of the city's 57 square miles, leaving about 366 acres open to potential development. Environmental groups argue that's enough development potential to warrant additional requirements, including air quality emissions modeling and monitoring, infrastructure and service fees, pipeline leak detection and inspection, and more.
What's your take on the city's position on oil and gas regulations? New, restrictive regulations are all but guaranteed, but should they be strengthened further?
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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins oil and gas regulations: Is a near-ban the right tactic?
