Boulderites Back Proposition 112, But The State Disagrees

BOULDER, CO -- With an estimated 75 percent of the ballots counted, 70.45 percent of Boulder County voters had thrown their support behind Proposition 112, a statewide measure that sought to increase minimum oil and gas drilling setbacks to 2,500 feet from all occupied structures. It appeared that it would not be enough. Statewide, with 83.19 percent of the votes counted, 56.8 percent of Colorado voters had said 'no.'

Boulder's locally elected officials hadn't been shy to voice their approval of the measure. In June, when the intiative was just proposed, the Boulder County Commissioners came out with a public resolution supporting the effort.

"Since the flowline-related explosion last year that killed two men and injured one woman in their Firestone home," said Boulder County Commissioners in their June 2018 news release, "Colorado has experienced at least a dozen reported fires and explosions at oil and gas sites resulting in death or serious injuries...not only are chemical releases, fires and explosions an issue, but just last year in Colorado there were 619 reported spills, including 93,000 gallons of oil into soil, groundwater and streams, and 506,000 gallons of produced water spilled."

Boulder city council members Suzanne Jones and Sam Weaver, and Lafayette mayor pro-tem Jamie Harkins were among the many Boulder County officials to voice their support publicly and on social media for the initiative.

If you haven't voted yet - VOTE TODAY! If you are in Colorado, there is a lot on the line: NO on 74, YES on 110, YES on 112, and more. See here for the recommendations of @JonesZan, @Elise4BoCo and myself. https://t.co/qqFxzwcoRK …
— Sam Weaver (@sampweaver) November 6, 2018

Supporters of 112 faced a very well financed opposition. Opponents, largely corporate spenders from the oil and gas industry, spend over $30 million in their fight to defeat the measure.

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Neighboring Weld County – where commissioners issued a statement opposing the measure – illustrated the perspective of many of the measures opponents. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data puts the location quotient for oil and gas extraction jobs in Weld at 7.4, meaning that the percentage of that county's population employed by the industry is 7.4 times the national average. Boulder's is less than 2. Similarly, according to Colorado's state department of labor and employment, reported the Camera, there were 12,486 oil and gas jobs in Weld in the first quarter of this year, compared to less than 100 in Boulder County. An article in the New York Times earlier this summer reported that the fracking boom has flooded Weld with money and jobs. Don Warden, the county's finance director, was quoted as calling the shale below him "the gift that keeps on giving."

For now, those gifts will continue.

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