Three protestors were escorted out of a fracking debate in Sturm College of Law yesterday after interrupting Gov. John Hickenlooper for his support of fracking.
“There’s no safe way to regulate fracking, you’re a liar who works on behalf of the oil and gas industry,” said one protestor.
“You give lip service to green energy but you don’t do anything for it,” said another.
Hickenlooper dismissed the multiple interruptions. The 45-minute debate between Hickenlooper and Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones dealt with the issue of “fracking,” or induced hydraulic fracturing, in Colorado. The debate was moderated by Professor K.K. DuVivier, who specializes in energy and mining law.
Hickenlooper called natural gas the “the best opportunity we have for transitioning to a greener economy.”
“I’m not sure there’s anything else that in real time as rapidly can reduce the amount of carbon emissions as using natural gas in place of coal,” said Hickenlooper.
Jones argued that the time for transition has already passed.
“We aren’t going to stop drilling tomorrow, but we need to be working as hard as we can to get to a better place and we can’t get stuck on natural gas,” said Jones.
Jones also said that her constituents preferred the use of other energy like solar and wind power.
“People vastly prefer renewable energy, wind and solar over any other energy form,” said Jones. “Creating the opportunities for them to have that energy choice is where we should focus.”
Hickenlooper agreed, saying supporting renewables makes “perfect sense.” Hickenlooper also highlighted the benefits of fracking, pointing out the cleaner air resulting from changing from coal to natural gas.
“It’s not just inexpensive natural gas replacing coal, but replacing coal-fired electrical generating plants with natural gas is dramatically cleaner,” said Hickenlooper, who also argued that banning fracking is denying people what they paid money for.
“People that own the mineral rights underground are different from the ones that own the surface,” said Hickenlooper. “We have, for over 100 years, provided them the guarantee that they can access those minerals with minimum destruction on the surface.
Jones said the state shouldn’t be fracking first and asking questions later.
“Natural gas might have some advantage; that doesn’t mean that we have to allow to pollute our neighborhoods and put our children in jeopardy,” said Jones. “We need to have some possible protection from fracking.”
Jones voiced her concerns about fracking being too close to residential areas, saying the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission should restrict itself to how drilling occurs, not where.
“Pollution does not respect political boundaries,” said Jones. “Every child in this state deserves to breathe clean air and to drink safe water, regardless of where they live.”
Hickenlooper said that by 2015, only one-tenth of one percent of water in Colorado will be used for fracking. Jones argued that this same amount of water could supply Boulder for a year.
“[Farmers] are being outbid; there’s a small amount of excess water out there and the fracking companies are buying it up,” said Jones. “We’re making choices about Colorado’s future, whether or not we have an agricultural heritage based on what’s happening in fracking, and you need to be a heck of a lot more thoughtful about that.”
