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</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2022.09.14%20Hearing%20Report_PR%20Firms%20Preventing%20Action%20on%20Climate%20Change.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2022.09.14%20Hearing%20Report_PR%20Firms%20Preventing%20Action%20on%20Climate%20Change.pdf</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><div style="">2. Third-Party MobilizationThe general public is less likely to be convinced by a narrative that appears only to serve a specialinterest, especially one with significant reputational liabilities, such as the oil and gas industry. PRfirms consequently work to make the industry’s positions seem widely supported by a range ofostensibly unrelated groups, manufacturing the appearance of representing the broader publicinterest.32 This tactic can take the form of third-party spokespersons, “generating favorable mediacoverage, attributing advertisements to [a] third-party group instead of to the organization, creatingsupportive social media, and mobilizing “astroturf” groups of public supporters.”33 Oil and gascompanies have also created and funded nonprofit entities, which they used to organize oppositionto climate policies.34 Through these front groups, the industry has funneled tens of millions ofdollars to public relations firms to manage media campaigns.35A prominent example of such an approach is the successful defeat of a 2016 effort to put on theColorado ballot two initiatives that would have altered Colorado’s constitution to (1) give localmunicipalities the ability to ban fracking, and (2) prevent oil and gas development within a 2,500-foot buffer zone from occupied buildings and parks, waterways, playgrounds, and other “areas ofspecial concern.”36 Seeing an existential threat to its “license to operate,” Noble Energy, a majornatural gas company operating in Colorado (later bought by Chevron), hired PR firm StoryPartners to help it prevent these safeguards from becoming law.The Committee has obtained documents that reveal, in the PR firm’s own words, how StoryPartners successfully designed and executed its multipronged plan to defeat the initiatives at thesignature-gathering stage (Appendix 5). Story Partners achieved this through tactics includingastroturfing and careful analysis of which kind of message was most likely to persuade people thatthe ballot measure would economically harm not only Noble Energy and “the industry at large,”but the general public as well.37 This campaign and its techniques are discussed in greater detail inthe final section of this memorandum.Third-party mobilization can also directly reach policymakers and their staff. Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine, House Natural Resources Committee staff received a series of seven
...p 11Staff from “HBW Resources” sent the emails and identified themselves as representatives of CEA,describing it as “a nationwide grassroots organization that supports energy policies ensuringabundant, affordable, reliable, and sustainable domestic energy supplies.” CEA claims to havemore than 550,000 individual members and to represent “a broad list of organizations that includefarmers, academia, conservation groups, truck drivers, laborers, trades-people, energy producers,manufacturers, business owners to so much more.”51
Watchdog organization Energy and Policy Institute calls CEA an industry front group, and itspositions align closely with fossil fuel interests. CEA has been accused of engaging in astroturfingon behalf of the major extractive energy industries.52 The organization received a score of “E-”from LobbyMap (on an “A+” to “F” scale) on their climate policy’s alignment with the goals ofthe Paris Agreement, reflecting CEA’s work to obstruct climate policy and energy transition at thestate and national level.53HBW Resources, a self-described “government affairs, advocacy, public relations, andcommunications firm,”54 appears to run CEA. The organization is run out of HBW’s Houston-based office.55 IRS forms indicate that CEA has no paid staff and its chief officers include HBWemployees, such as CEA President and Director—David Holt—and Vice President—MichaelWhatley.56 Since 2010, HBW Resources has been CEA’s highest paid contract by far. Over thistime, 53% of all of CEA’s expenses were paid to HBW, totaling nearly $17 million.57 Large sumswere also paid to two PR firms currently under investigation by this Committee, FTI Consultingand Story Partners.58p 12The source of CEA’s funding is unclear. Since 2010, CEA has reported revenues of over $34.7 million made up almost entirely of contributions and grants.59 As a registered 501(c)(4) organization, CEA is not required to disclose its donors. 60 However, CEA’s members include major oil corporations such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell USA.  61 
3. Delegitimization of Opposition Delegitimizing competing narratives is the final major strategy PR firms use to shore up the fossil fuel industry’s messages.62 PR firms use a range of tactics to undermine other narratives and their messengers, from disputing the facts to attacking individuals and organizations’ “reliability and reputations.”63 The following case study illustrates the extreme and unethical methods some PR firms use. Industry Defeat of Colorado Anti-Fracking Ballot Measures...
P 14...reaffirmed Noble Energy as a strong partner in the community.”74 Meanwhile, print and digitaladvertisements “creatively told the story of the unintended consequences of the proposed ballotmeasures,” and “informed voters of the products and services dependent on oil and natural gas,both from a funding point of view and from a resources perspective.”75 These narratives positionNoble as a socially responsible member of the community, while eliding the full environmentaland public health burden the fossil fuel industry creates in Colorado.These advertisements against proposed fracking restrictions ran “under the brand of the SouthMetro Denver Chamber of Commerce (SMDC),” and “concurrently under the banner of theConsumer Energy Alliance (CEA),” creating the illusion of third-party mobilization.76 Notably,“guerilla marketing teams attended dozens of Colorado events and engaged hundreds of thousandsof citizens.”77 Story Partners’ budget for this campaign is not public information, but CEA’s taxfilings show that the organization paid the PR firm $535,442 in 2016 for “communications,”presumably for this effort.78Story Partners called the campaign a “huge success,” and “an enormous, measurable achievementfor Noble Energy.”79 The PR firm noted that a survey, “after just two months of campaign activity,indicated that support for the specific ballot measures dropped to its lowest point in our research,and opposition to the measures had increased. For the first time, support for the measures wasunder 51 percent, and it was clear the campaign messages were working and recalled.”80 The PRcampaign had successfully stopped climate legislation.Two years later, there was an effort to revive the buffer zone ballot measure. Proposition 112 (akainitiative 97) was a 2018 Colorado ballot initiative designed to mandate that new oil and gasdevelopment, including fracking, be sited a minimum distance of 2,500 feet from occupiedbuildings such as homes, schools, hospitals, and other areas designated as vulnerable. The measurewas brought by grassroots environmental group Colorado Rising.81Industry pushback was coordinated, sophisticated, and heavily funded. Oil and gas firms funneledmillions of dollars into coordinated PR campaigns to defeat Proposition 112.82 Oil and gas industry[CRED protect colo]P18attempted to end their contract while demanding additional payments.96,97 When Colorado Risingcontracted with another signature-gathering firm, the firm broke the contract several days later. Ina recorded conversation shared with the Committee, a subcontractor admitted to taking a bribe of“a lot” of money to stop working with Colorado Rising. He also stated the people who paid himoff had asked him to give them the signatures he had gathered for Proposition 112, but he did notconfirm or deny that the request came from Protect Colorado, the Pac/West front group. (Appendix7(a))98Volunteers for Colorado Rising also experienced harassment in their volunteer and personalcapacities. Members of the opposition attempted to infiltrate their campaign trainings, showed uprepeatedly at their press conferences and outside their campaign office to monitor them, andmonitored the campaign’s delivery of signatures to the Secretary of State’s office. In her personallife, the witness was followed around town by unidentified men – who also showed up to recordColorado Rising press conferences – and received unsolicited texts from one of the people whoattempted to infiltrate their campaign (Appendix 7(b)).99 Another lead volunteer receivedharassing mail at her home address (Appendix 7(c)).[gun in waistband?]100CONCLUSIONFor decades, the oil and gas industry denied or downplayed climate change and its role in causingit. Now that fossil fuel companies and trade groups can no longer get away with outright denial,they pay millions to PR firms to wage sophisticated and varied campaigns that go far beyond meremarketing. These efforts include falsely depicting industry as joining the fight against climatechange, engineering astroturf “citizen” groups to advocate for industry interests and defeatlegislative proposals, and using unscrupulous tactics to sabotage genuine policy solutions andattack community advocates. These modern techniques are arguably far more insidious than thedenialism of the past, thanks to the pivotal involvement of PR firms.[long appendix rich st'd CEA, threat ltr]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style=""><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.boulderweekly.com/news/the-intimidation-of-democracy/">https://www.boulderweekly.com/news/the-intimidation-of-democracy/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;">[no pix sign don't give addy; don't sign; lotta POC kids in athletic clothes?]]</div><div style="font-size: medium;"><div class="td-post-header td-pb-padding-side" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 35px 19px 0px 20px;"><header style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 12px; line-height: 1.05; letter-spacing: -0.02em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The intimidation of democracy</h1><p class="td-post-sub-title" open="Open" sans="Sans" arial="arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" padding="padding" border-bottom="border-bottom" dashed="dashed" border-top="border-top" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13px 0px;">People gathering signatures for setback initiative claim harassment<div class="meta-info" open="Open" sans="Sans" arial="arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" px="px" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" opacity="opacity" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="td-post-author-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin-right: 3px;"><div class="td-author-by" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;">By</div> <a href="https://www.boulderweekly.com/author/ricomoore/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; text-decoration-line: none !important;">Rico Moore</a><div class="td-author-line" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline;"> -</div></div> <time class="entry-date updated td-module-date" datetime="2018-07-26T14:58:36+00:00" style="box-sizing: border-box;">July 26, 2018</time></div></header></div><div class="td-post-content td-pb-padding-side" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 20px 19px 0px 20px; line-height: 24px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(230, 230, 230);"><p class="p1" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">People gathering signatures for Ballot Initiative 97, which would increase the minimum distance between oil and gas development and homes, schools and other vulnerable areas to 2,500 feet, are claiming protesters are being organized to stifle their efforts and deter citizens from signing.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Colorado Rising, a group promoting Initiative 97, has alleged that signature-gatherers are facing targeted protests verging on harassment in Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins and Greeley. They’ve documented on audio and video recordings protesters interrupting conversations, and have engaged police in several situations to determine whether protesters are committing criminal acts of harassment.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Colorado Rising informed the Colorado Secretary of State about volunteer signature-gatherers feeling intimidated, but since the office has no investigative authority, according to Ben Schler, internal operations and legal manager, it refused to look further because it felt the claims would be criminal matters, thus referring Colorado Rising to District Attorney’s offices.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing one such case to determine whether or not charges should be filed. Public Information Officer Catherine Olguin declined to provide further information because the investigation is still active, but said a meeting on the matter was held on July 23.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">It’s not definitive who is funding and organizing the protesters, but Boulder Weekly talked with signature-gatherers, protesters, and oil and gas representatives, and reviewed several documents that begin to uncover how and why the signature-gathering effort for Initiative 97 is being disrupted. [pix]<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">micah Parkin, executive director of 350 Colorado, claims there have been more than 100 incidents of people being harassed and intimidated while gathering signatures.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">“We’ve had young women frightened and crying after being followed by these men for hours and all the way back to the office,” Parkin says.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Parkin says petitioners have been advised to cite state law that prohibits people from interfering with elections or “willfully suppress(ing) any initiative or referendum,” when confronted with protesters.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The protests appear to unfold the same way, according to those who’ve come in contact with protesters: First, signature-gatherers set up somewhere and begin to collect signatures. Eventually, protesters in groups of two or three approach the location where signature-gatherers are working, often with poster board rolled up. The protesters unroll their protest signs and stand near the signature-gatherers, attempting to discourage potential signers by saying things like, “Don’t sign,” “Bad for business,” or, “Protect Colorado jobs.” Other protest signs have read, “Would you give this guy your information?” and “Protect Colorado Families.”<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The protests appear to be effective in deterring both potential signers and those collecting signatures.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Parkin relayed the story of Gina Hardin, a 62-year-old Denver woman, who, Parkin says, in the act of gathering signatures for Initiative 97 at a Denver farmers’ market, was followed and harassed for hours by two men. In an affidavit, Hardin says that shortly after she arrived at the market, two men in their early 20s approached her, each carrying a poster board, one saying “Keep CO Economy Strong,” and the other saying, “Bad for Business…” According to the affidavit, Hardin says the two were initially polite, “saying they were being paid by the Denver Economic Development [mumble].” But, she said, their physical position became intimidating and subsequently impeded her ability to gather signatures.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The two then allegedly followed Hardin as she crossed streets trying to get away from them. She called 9-1-1 and asked for an officer to come. “The men were humored by this,” Hardin stated in the affidavit. An officer then came and said it was unclear whether the men were violating any law with the exception that they had admitted to him that they were following her. The officer then left, and the two men redoubled their harassment and became more aggressive, according to Hardin’s affidavit.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">“They stood between me and whoever I was trying to talk with, speaking loudly over me and putting their posters in front of me and between the person I was attempting to speak with and me,” Hardin said in the affidavit. She said she then fled to her home, calling police again on her way. An officer was waiting for her at her house.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Another similar incident hints at what might be motivating protesters.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Two protesters in front of Boulder Public Library told a Boulder Police Department Officer that they were employed by an organization that supports fracking, according to an incident report filed by Boulder Police Officer K. Williams. The two protesters informed Williams that they were engaged in counter-protest to express their First Amendment rights, according to the report. Williams further reported that the individuals indicated they were tasked with going to various locations in the city, where contact with the public was likely.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Regarding the incident, signature-gatherer Ken Bonetti stated in an affidavit that soon after he began taking signatures for Initiative 97, “Two young males arrived with two large hand-lettered signs, one sign saying something to the effect [of] people should not trust me and another about the need to protect Colorado jobs.” Bonetti said that they stood between one and two feet of him, sometimes directly in front of him, and told a passerby not to trust him or sign the petition.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">In the affidavit, Bonetti said that the two men told passersby that if they signed the petition Bonetti was circulating, their information would be made public. “I felt this was a blatant attempt to intimidate voters during a legally sanctioned electoral activity,” he said, according to the affidavit. Bonetti then relocated to the area outside the Boulder Public Library, and 30 minutes later, the same two men arrived and resumed disrupting his petitioning efforts, according to the affidavit. Bonetti, “fed up and quite annoyed by the men,” then reportedly called the police and requested an officer be sent to the scene.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">According to Williams’ report, the officer advised Bonetti and the two protesters that given the context of the disagreement, no criminal charges would be pursued at the time. “I explained due to First Amendment considerations the incident would be documented, researched and forwarded to the appropriate legal resources for additional review if and as necessary,” Williams wrote. [pix]<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">according to internal documents reviewed by Boulder Weekly, the political committee Protect Colorado appears to have requested that individuals, known as “ambassadors,” report the specific location of individuals gathering signatures for Ballot Initiatives 94 (concerning a severance tax increase) and 97, as recently as June 20. There could be as many as 1,800 ambassadors, according to a 2015 presentation given by former Anadarko lobbyist Chris Castilian.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Protect Colorado was co-created by Anadarko and Noble Energy to defeat oil and gas ballot measures in Colorado. Protect Colorado has received nearly $11 million in contributions since the beginning of 2018, with the majority coming from Anadarko, Extraction Oil and Gas, Noble Energy and PDC Energy.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The internal documents reviewed by BW, which are in the form of e-mails, request that ambassadors report signature-gathering activity to Protect Colorado by directing people to send information to an e-mail address or via a text line, using the code word “CANVASS.” (We tested the text line, and got an immediate response: “Where did you see a canvasser in your area?”)<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">In response to our request to confirm the documents and answer what Protect Colorado does with locations of signature gathering, the group offered this statement via Karen Crummy:<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">“We are exercising our First Amendment rights, which includes asking people to think about and read what they are signing. We have also asked the public and oil and gas employees to let us know when they see individuals gathering signatures on the 2,500-foot setback measure. This is standard practice in modern campaigns.  We get asked about the activities in the field and want to understand what is going on. Monitoring opposition is important. The proponents of these bad measures monitor us as well.”<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Advocacy groups funded by and sympathetic to oil and gas interests, such as the Colorado Economic Leadership Fund, have also been running ads on TV urging people not to sign the petitions.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Indeed, the stakes are high for those with financial interests in the oil and gas industry.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Initiative 94 proposes an increase in severance taxes paid by the oil and gas industry for minerals extracted from Colorado, stating, “In Colorado, the oil and gas industry pays an effective severance tax of only 1.5 percent; but, in the neighboring states of Wyoming and New Mexico, the oil and gas industry pays an effective severance tax of 6.5 percent,” according to the initiative. It continues, “It is the intent of the people of this state to require the oil and gas industry to pay its fair share in severance taxes and stop exploiting Colorado’s natural resources and people.”<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">According to the Colorado Legislative Council Staff’s fiscal impact statement, if passed, Initiative 94 will increase oil and gas severance tax revenue by $148.3 million in FY 2018-19 and $307 million in FY 2019-20, with ongoing increases in future years. The increased revenue would be used to establish all-day kindergarten in Colorado public elementary and secondary schools; and medical care and treatment for people suffering negative health impacts caused by oil and gas production in communities impacted by oil and gas production.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">According to the same state research, Initiative 97 constrains well location and “thus potentially reduces future oil and gas development in the state, particularly in heavily populated counties,” adding production in the Julesberg Basin in northern Colorado will be the most affected. Thus, according to the statement, if passed the measure will reduce development and therefore the income of the oil and gas industry and services associated with it, along with any severance-tax-funded programs at the state level. But the statement concludes that since the economic conditions and geographic limitations affecting oil and gas production in Colorado are uncertain, the specific reductions in state revenue cannot be estimated.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Further, according to the statement, increasing the setback distance may preserve property values for homeowners most affected by oil and gas operations and, to the extent less development improves health outcomes for affected residents, may increase productivity and reduce medical costs.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"> [pix]<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">the effort to promote oil and gas activity at the ballot box isn’t only about protesting initiatives 94 and 97. Industry supporters have also begun circulating their own petitions.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">On June 20, the Committee for Colorado’s Shared Heritage was registered by Shawn Martini, formerly of HBW Resources, an energy and natural resources consulting firm. This political committee’s purpose is to pass initiative 108, which apparently seeks to economically insulate the oil and gas industry via takings claims, from any impacts from Initiative 97, and potentially Initiative 94.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Proponents of 108 include Michelle Smith of Quiat Companies, whom BW readers might remember as the “Front Range organic farmer” who appeared in a 2014 pro-fracking ad produced by Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development (CRED), pointing out the importance of mineral royalties from oil and gas to her “organic-based” farm. As of 2014, Smith and her husband also personally owned minerals — not beneath her farm, but in Garfield County. Chad Vorthmann, executive vice president of the Colorado Farm Bureau and proponent of 108, also serves on the advisory committee of CRED.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The oil and gas industry is also backing initiatives to insulate itself from potential impacts relative to local government regulations, including initiatives 178, 179, 180 and 181. [pix]<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">the lingering question isn’t who, but what: What impact will protests have on signature-gathering efforts as the deadline of August 6 approaches?<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">BW asked a citizen, who engaged one of the protesters and then signed the petition, about his experience. Robert Walton of Fort Collins said of the protesters, “Their sign said, ‘Don’t sign,’ and so I asked them, ‘Why not?’ And he said, ‘It’s bad for business.’” Walton says the protester was reading off the back of his sign, adding that he didn’t seem to know what he was talking about.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Walton says he asked the protester, “What businesses?” to which the protester replied, “Business.” Walton says he was never able to get another answer.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Walton asked the protester if he was being paid, and he said he was not, but Walton didn’t find him convincing regardless. “I was hoping to hear the other side of the argument, and I heard nothing of value from them at all,” Walton says, adding the protester seemed to have no knowledge of the topic at all.<p class="p3" open="Open" sans="Sans" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" em="em" webkit-font-smoothing="webkit-font-smoothing" antialiased="antialiased" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">If the oil and gas industry or its proponents are indeed going to such lengths in order to prevent Initiatives 94 and 97 from making the ballot in November, then they probably believe there is a strong chance that Coloradans will approve them. But in the meantime, signature-gatherers like Bonetti and Hardin will have to wade through the ruckus to get their petitions signed.</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;">=</div><div style="font-size: medium;"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">study frack</div><div style=""><h2 class="title" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px; font-weight: normal;">Research</h2><div class="container" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1215.35px;"><h2 align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;" /><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://studyfracking.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Economic-Impact-of-Fracking-Moratorium-Final-Report-March-2014-032414-3.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Hydraulic Fracturing Ban: The Economic Impact of a Statewide Fracking Ban in Colorado</a>. Colorado Leeds School of Business, March 2014.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study uses Regional Economic Models Inc.’s calibrated dynamic economic modeling system to demonstrate that a statewide fracking ban would harm Colorado’s economy.</blockquote><h2 align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;">Safety, Health & The Environment</h2><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://cogcc.state.co.us/Announcements/Hot_Topics/Hydraulic_Fracturing/Director_Neslin_Senate_Testimony_041211.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">
Natural Gas Drilling: Public Health and Environmental Impacts</a>. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, April 12, 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This testimony, given by David Neslin, former head of the COGCC, provides a strong overview of the numerous rules and regulations that the agency has adopted in recent years in order to ensure that hydraulic fracturing in the state occurs in a safe, responsible manner.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.oilandnaturalgasincolorado.com/OilandNaturalGasinColorado.html#/4" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Who Regulates Oil and Natural Gas Operations? An Education Message from Colorado’s Oil and Natural Gas Producers</a>.  Texas Oil and Gas Association, 2010.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">A report that provides fact-based answers to frequently asked questions about oil and natural gas production and regulation in Colorado.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://cogcc.state.co.us/Announcements/Hot_Topics/Hydraulic_Fracturing/GASLAND%20DOC.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">COGCC Gasland Correction Document</a>. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, October 29, 2010.<blockquote style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This document from the COGCC, Colorado’s oil and gas regulatory agency, corrects some of the errors in the film “Gasland,” including scenes where the filmmaker claimed that oil and gas development had caused several homeowners’ water to catch fire as it came out of the tap.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1317140158707" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Review of the Potential Public Health Impacts of Exposure to Chemical and Radioactive as a Result of Shale Gas Extraction</a>. Public Health England, October 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">In this report the Public Health of England, and executive agency of the Department of Health, uses data from fracking in the United States to better understand the public health impact of shale gas extraction in the UK. The report finds that potential risks to public health from exposure to emissions are low if properly regulated and run.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969713010073" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Evaluation of impact of shale gas operations in the Barnett Shale region on volatile organic compounds in air and potential human health risks</a>. Tox Strategies, Austin, September 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study provides an analysis of health risks from community-wide exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the Barnett Shale region in Texas.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.inglewoodoilfield.com/res/docs/102012study/Hydraulic%20Fracturing%20Study%20Inglewood%20Field10102012.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Hydraulic Fracturing Study: PXP Inglewood Oil Field</a>. Cardno ENTRIX, October 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report provides an overview of hydraulic fracturing in the Inglewood Oil Field in California. Included is analysis of health, land, water, noise, and pollution impacts.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://energyindepth.org/marcellus/data-shows-natural-gas-public-health-impacts-overstated/" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Data Show Public Health Impacts from Natural Gas Production Overstated</a>. Sue Mickley, M.P.H., and Uni Blake, M.S., Toxicology, October 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report provides counter evidence to numerous assertions that natural gas production and hydraulic fracturing cause risks to public health.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://energy.wilkes.edu/PDFFiles/Issues/EvaluatingTheEnvironmentalImplicationsOfHydraulicFracruringInShaleGasReservoirs.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Evaluating the Environmental Implications of Hydraulic Fracturing in Shale Gas Reservoirs</a>. ALL Consulting, 2008.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report provides an overview of the fracking process, and assesses potential impacts that it has in relation to seismicity, water, air, and other areas of interest, as well as the impact that fracking technologies can have for developing shale reserves.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.gwpc.org/sites/default/files/Shale%20Gas%20Primer%202009.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer</a>. Groundwater Protection Council, April 2009.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report provides an overview of shale gas development, including fracking, and assesses impacts on issues like safety, air, water, and regulations. The report concludes that fracking is a safe process and provides protections for health and the environment, while allowing for greater production of shale gas resources.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.shalegas.energy.gov/resources/081811_90_day_report_final.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Shale Gas Production Subcommittee Interim Ninety Day Report</a>. U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, August 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report provides recommendations for implementation of measures provided in its previous report that can be taken to “reduce the environmental impact and to help assure the safety of shale gas production.”</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://shalegas.energy.gov/resources/111811_final_report.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Shale Gas Production Subcommittee Second Ninety Day Report</a>. U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, November 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report provides recommendations for implementation of measures provided in its previous report that can be taken to “reduce the environmental impact and to help assure the safety of shale gas production.”</blockquote><h2 align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;" /><h2 align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;">Water</h2> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.cred.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Oil-and-Gas-Water-Sources-Fact-Sheet-Final.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Water Sources and Demand for the Hydraulic Fracturing of Oil and Gas Wells in Colorado from 2010 through 2015</a>.  Colorado Division of Water Resources, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, January 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">Fracking in Colorado uses only 0.1 percent of total water used in the state. This report compares the quantity of water used by Colorado hydraulic fracturing to other Colorado water demands and outlines regulations for water use.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.coga.org/pdf_mythbusters/MythBusters_WaterUse.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">MythBusters: Industry Water Use</a>.  Colorado Oil and Gas Association, November 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This brief fact sheet debunks popular myths that hydraulic fracturing uses too much of Colorado’s water supply.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.gwpc.org/sites/default/files/state_oil_and_gas_regulations_designed_to_protect_water_resources_0.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">State Oil and Natural Gas Regulations Designed to Protect Water Resources</a>. U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report analyzes state oil and gas regulations to show individual states effectively regulate production to protect drinking water. States have been successfully regulating fracking for over 60 years.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://energyindepth.org/docs/pdf/Browner-Letter-Full-Response.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Response of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Petition for Promulgation of Rule Withdrawing Approval of Alabama’s Underground Injection Control Program</a>.  EPA, June 2005.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This is a letter in which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirms the lack of evidence connecting hydraulic fracturing to contamination of underground sources of drinking water.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwat.12095/full" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Constraints on Upward Migration of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid and Brine</a>. National Groundwater Association, July 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report analyzes the inability of fracking fluid to migrate through thousands of feet of impermeable rock upward  to shallow water aquifers.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5273/sir2012-5273.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Shallow Groundwater Quality and Geochemistry in Fayetteville Shale Gas-Production Area, North-Central Arkansas: Full Report</a>. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report, January 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report analyzes shallow groundwater quality in the Fayetteville shale-gas production area in north-central Arkansas. It’s yet another case that concludes water samples show no signs of pollution from increased production of natural gas wells.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/uic/pdfs/cbmstudy_attach_uic_exec_summ.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Evaluation of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs Study</a>. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, June 2004.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concludes that fracking injections in coal bed methane wells pose little to no threat to drinking water.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://cewc.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/OGJ-May-2012-Lifecycle-Analysis-of-Water-.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Life Cycle Analysis of Water Use and Intensity of Oil and Gas Recovery in Wattenberg Field, Colorado</a>. Colorado State University, May 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study analyzes data across all well types and concludes that shale gas extraction uses the lowest amount of water in comparison to other energy sources.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Gradient-Report_2.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">National Human Health Risk Evaluation for Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Additives</a>. Gradient, May 2013<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report assesses the potential impact of fracking fluids on drinking water and provides an overview of the fracking process in general.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://cogcc.state.co.us/RR_HF2012/Setbacks/COGCC_APPROVES_SWEEPING_NEW_SETBACK_RULES.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">COGCC Approves Sweeping New Measures to Limit Drilling Impacts</a>. State of Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, January 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This article outlines Colorado’s stringent measures and rules that limit the impact of drilling near residences and other occupied buildings.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.ihs.com/images/MisMeasuringMethane082311.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Mismeasuring Methane: Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Upstream Natural Gas Development</a>. IHS, August 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report critiques the estimation process and methodology for measuring methane emissions during well drilling.</blockquote><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px; text-align: center;" /><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;">Air</h2> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/131202135150-WhyEverySeriousEnvironmentalistShouldFavourFracking.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Why Every Serious Environmentalist Should Favour Fracking</a>. Centre for Policy Studies, December 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report challenges environmentalists’ misconceptions about fracking and highlights the important environmental benefits of shale gas, including the reduction of greenhouse gases and PM2.5, a deadly pollutant.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.coga.org/pdf_studies/AirEmissions101.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Energy Facts: Air Emissions 101</a>. Colorado Oil and Gas Association, October 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This fact sheet provides an infographic that briefly explains what greenhouse gas emissions are, where they come from and who regulates them in Colorado.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.coga.org/pdfs_facts/HB%201365.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">HB 1365-Colorado Clean Air Clean Jobs Act</a>.  Colorado Oil and Gas Association, October 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This brief fact sheet describes Colorado’s 2010 Clean Jobs Act and its pollution reducing benefits.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/hf-report20121214.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Study of Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water: Resources Progress Report</a>.  Environmental Protection Agency, December 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This progress report outlines the EPA’s ongoing study of the effects of hydraulic fracking on drinking water. Information from this work cannot yet be used to draw conclusions, but it does provide insight into research methods, status updates, and QA activities.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/publications/pd/020/10-04/a-commitment-to-air-quality-in-the-barnett-shale" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Commitment to Air Quality in the Barnett Shale</a>.  Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Fall 2010.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">A study commissioned by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to test the air quality of Barnett Shale area in North Texas. Results show properly managed oil and gas production to be safe.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/aq/aqm/docs/Marcellus_NE_01-12-11.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Northeastern Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Short-Term Ambient Air Sampling Report</a>. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Agency, January 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Agency tests short-term air quality sampling in northeast region of Marcellus Shale. Results show no concentrations of any compound capable of triggering air-related health issues.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/aq/aqm/docs/Marcellus_SW_11-01-10.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Southwestern Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Short-Term Ambient Air Sampling Report</a>. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Agency, November, 2010.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection samples short-term air quality in southwestern region of Marcellus Shale. Results show no concentrations of any compound capable of triggering air-related health issues.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://globalchange.mit.edu/files/document/MITJPSPGC_Rpt234.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Shale Gas Production: Potential Versus Actual Greenhouse Gas Emissions</a>. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, November 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study challenges current estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fracking by analyzing venting, gas flaring and reduce emission “green” completions, all of which are used by the industry to cut GHG emissions.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/6/3/034014/fulltext/" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Marcellus Shale Gas</a>. Carnegie Mellon University, August 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study compares greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) before and after the development of Marcellus shale natural gas and finds these emissions to be similar to current domestic gas and lower relative to coal.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.anga.us/media/press/CA5D12D3-CFB5-F2B6-3989B7E2306C8C06/files/task%202%20api%20anga%20survey%20report%20final%2021sept12%20clean2%20ae.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Characterizing Pivotal Sources of Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Production</a>. URS Corp., LEVON Group, American Petroleum Institute, America’s Natural Gas Alliance, September 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This expands upon the EPA’s previous study to include more wells and companies, which confirms less wells venting for liquids unloading and lower re-fracture rates, contributing to a lower GHG emission estimate.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://blogs.cfr.org/levi/files/2012/10/JGRCH4.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Comment on “Hydrocarbon emission characterization in the Colorado Front Range–A Pilot Study.”</a> Council on Foreign Relations, October 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study challenges reports of unexpectedly high methane leakage from natural gas operations by showing these results to be calculated by unsupported assumptions about molecular composition of vented natural gas.<h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px; text-align: center;" /><h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px; text-align: center;" /><h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;">Land</h2> </blockquote><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.denverpost.com/ci_24050332/seismologist-fracking-doesnt-cause-earthquakes" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Seismologist: Fracking doesn’t cause earthquakes</a>. Denver Post, September 2013. <blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This article highlights a recent study conducted by a University of Texas seismologist that found that fracking does not cause earthquakes.</blockquote><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px; text-align: center;" /><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px; text-align: center;" /><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;">The Economy</h2> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://leeds.colorado.edu/asset/brd/2014_colo_bus_econ_outlook.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Colorado Business Economic Outlook 2014</a>. University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, December 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report provides an outlook for Colorado’s economy in 2014. Included is analysis on projected employment in the oil and natural gas industry, and a discussion on the potential effect of fracking bans.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.cred.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/UniversityofColorado_LeedsSchoolofBusiness_OilNaturalGasIndustry_EconomicStudy2012.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Assessment of Oil and Gas Industry. 2012 Industry Economic and Fiscal Contributions in Colorado</a>. University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, July 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study quantifies the economic benefits of Colorado’s oil and natural gas industry in 2012. Highlights include: $29.6 billion in economic output, $1.6 billion in public revenue, high-paying wages, and $600.7 million in property taxes.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/dpr-full.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report</a>. Energy Information Administration, December 9, 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report analyzes oil and gas productivity in the six regions, including the Niobrara Formation in Colorado, that account for nearly 90% of  onshore US domestic oil production.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.ihs.com/info/ecc/a/americas-new-energy-future-report-vol-3.aspx" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">America’s New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil & Gas Revolution and the US Economy</a>. IHS SERA, September 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report discusses the economic and employment contributions that the US receives from unconventional oil and gas development. Included are discussions on household income, boosting trade and global competitiveness.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/americas/us_game_changers" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Game changers: Five opportunities for US growth and renewal</a>. McKinsey & Company, July 2013.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report discusses five opportunities that exist in the United States that can aid in economic growth and renewal. Included is a discussion on the impact that fracking could have on the US economy, including adding 1.7 million domestic jobs and $690 billion a year to GDP by 2020.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.anga.us/media/content/F7D1750E-9C1E-E786-674372E5D5E98A40/files/shale-gas-economic-impact-dec-2011.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">The Economic and Employment Contributions of Shale Gas in the United States</a>. IHS for America’s Natural Gas Alliance, December 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report looks at nationwide employment and economic contributions provided by shale gas. This includes the facts that shale gas alone provided 600,000 jobs in the US in 2010, along with $76 billion to US GDP and %18.6 billion in tax revenues.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://web.mit.edu/ceepr/www/publications/Natural_Gas_Study.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">The Future of Natural Gas</a>. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative, June 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report examines the role that natural gas will play in the United States in the coming years, including a discussion on how our vast  natural gas reserves, with their low carbon footprint, “have intensified the discussion about natural gas as a ‘bridge’ to a low-carbon future.”</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.anga.us/media/content/F7D3E52F-FE09-D44E-DF2D4F09120B3B1C/files/NATL_2012%20USCoM%20Clean%20Cities%20Booklet_F.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Natural Gas Works for Cities</a>. America’s Natural Gas Alliance<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report looks at multiple cities across the US that have implemented natural gas into their fleet operations in order to save money and improve air quality.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.westernenergyalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Blueprint-for-Western-Energy-Prosperity.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">The Blueprint For Western Energy Prosperity</a>. Western Energy Alliance, July 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study outlines the economic and environmental benefits of energy development in the West, addresses government regulations that stifle this development and suggests potential policy solutions to increase energy output.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://studyfracking.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Economic-Impact-of-Fracking-Moratorium-Final-Report-March-2014-032414-3.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Hydraulic Fracturing Ban: The Economic Impact of a Statewide Fracking Ban in Colorado</a>. Colorado Leeds School of Business, March 2014.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This study uses Regional Economic Models Inc.’s calibrated dynamic economic modeling system to demonstrate that a statewide fracking ban would harm Colorado’s economy.</blockquote> <h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px; text-align: center;" /><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 28px;">Misc</h2> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/55538.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Natural Gas and the Transformation of the U.S. Energy Sector: Electricity</a>. U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, November 2012.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report analyzes the effect that natural gas production and development will have on transforming electricity generation in the United States.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.netl.doe.gov/energy-analyses/pubs/NG-GHG-LCI.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Inventory of Natural Gas Extraction, Delivery and Electricity Production</a>. U.S. National Energy Technology Laboratory, October 2011.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">This report analyzes greenhouse gas emissions, regulatory trends, water management, and electric power futures related to natural gas production in the United States.</blockquote> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140328235654/http://www.cred.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/energyindepth_hydraulic-fracturing.pdf" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration-line: none;">Hydraulic Fracturing: Effects on Energy Supply, the Economy, and the Environment</a>. Independent Petroleum Association of America, April 2008.<blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;">A fact sheet that shows how hydraulic fracturing affects energy, the water supply and the economy.</blockquote></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: small;"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://moneytrails.org/noble-energy/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://moneytrails.org/noble-energy/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><h3 style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Noble Energy Is A Multinational Oil Conglomerate</h3>Noble Energy Is A Publicly-Traded Oil Company Based In TexasNoble Energy Is A Houston, Texas-Based Multinational Oil Conglomerate With 1,929 Million Barrels In Proved Oil Reserves. “Noble Energy, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids worldwide. The company owns, operates, develops, and acquires domestic midstream infrastructure assets in the DJ and Delaware Basins. Its principal assets are located in the US onshore unconventional basins and various global offshore conventional basins in the Eastern Mediterranean and off the west coast of Africa. As of December 31, 2018, the company had 1,929 million barrels oil equivalent of total proved reserves. Noble Energy, Inc. was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.” [Yahoo Finance, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NBL/profile/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">accessed <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">09/18/19</a>]Noble Energy’s Chairman And CEO Is David Stover, A Longtime Oil Executive Who Has Worked At BP, And ARCO Oil And Gas. “David (Dave) Stover brings nearly 40 years of oil and gas industry experience to his current role as chairman and chief executive officer of Noble Energy – a member of the S&P 500 and one of the nation’s leading independent energy companies. He was appointed chairman of the board in April 2015, CEO in October 2014 and elected to the board of directors in April 2014. Prior to his current role, he served as president and chief operating officer, along with other executive positions. Before joining Noble Energy in 2002, Dave served as BP’s vice president and business unit leader for the Gulf of Mexico Shelf from 2000 to 2002. From 1994 to 2000, he held various onshore and offshore management positions at Vastar Resources. Earlier in his career, he held a number of engineering, operations and management positions at ARCO Oil and Gas Company.” [Noble Energy, <a href="https://www.nblenergy.com/leadership/david-l-stover" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">accessed <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">09/18/19</a>]<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Noble Energy Is A Major Funder Of Anti-Public Lands Front Groups</h3>Noble Energy Funds Coloradans For Responsible Energy Development (CRED) And Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence (PCEEEI), Pro-Fracking Industry Front GroupsNoble Energy And Anadarko Were The Funders Of Coloradans For Responsible Energy, A Campaign To Beat Back Ballot Initiatives That Could Restrict Fracking.  “Noble officials also elaborated on a publicity campaign the company is waging in Colorado in partnership with Anadarko Petroleum Corp., based in The Woodlands. The campaign, called Coloradans for Responsible Energy, is trying to beat back potential ballot proposals in the state that could restrict the well completion process called hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing – injecting fluids and sand into a well under pressure to release oil and gas from tight formations – has contributed to a surge in U.S. production. Opponents say it may contaminate water and cause other environmental damage. ‘I think we’re prepared for a full communication effort,’ Davidson said. ‘It’s going to be a lengthy summer, and we’ll see. There’s a lot of political dynamics that are happening here, and it changes daily.’” [Houston Chronicle, 4/25/14]PCEEEI Is A Noble Energy-Funded Political Action Committee That Uses Millions Of Dollars Oil Companies To Fight Citizen-Led Initiatives To Regulate Colorado’s Oil Industry. PCEEEI Is A Political Action Committee That Fights Regulations On Colorado’s Oil And Gas Industry. Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy, And Energy Independence (PCEEEI) is a political committee whose purpose is “to support state and local ballot initiatives that promote a vibrant colorado economy and oppose those measures that seek to harm Colorado’s economy and way of life.” [Colorado Secretary of State, accessed <a href="http://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CommitteeDetail.aspx?OrgID=26709" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">07/26/19</a>]PCEEEI, Also Called “Protecting Colorado” For Short, Was Established With Money From Anadarko Petroleum And Noble Energy. “…At least four other Front Range municipalities pushing anti-fracking ballot initiatives in 2013 and Polis arguing for a statewide initiative for further restrictions, top energy producers in the state crafted plans to fight back. [Denver Post, <a href="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/DenverPost/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TDP%2F2017%2F07%2F16&entity=Ar00103&sk=4979516B&mode=text" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">07/16/17</a>] PCEEEI Was Formed To Protect Oil and Gas Industry Profits. “A good example is the oil and gas industry front group Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence (Protect Colorado), which was formed specifically to fight against any citizen initiative that could hinder oil and gas industry profits. Among its activities are pushing industry-spawned initiatives that make it harder for citizens to get measures on the ballot along with other political activity like directing campaign contributions to pro-oil candidates, even at the city council level. CRED’s own director of operations and coalitions, Mark Truax, has referred to Protect Colorado as, ‘kinda the political arm we work with.’ And it’s a very short arm.” [Boulder Weekly, <a href="https://www.boulderweekly.com/news/sportsmen-beware/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">06/07/18</a>]Between 2012 And 2017, PCEEEI Spent $30 Million Fighting What It Calls An “Onslaught” Of Citizen-Led Fracking Regulations In Colorado. “Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy, the top energy producers in the state, lead the way. Their campaign-finance records and political activity reports shows that since 2012, the companies are responsible for two-thirds of the money given to an industry political issue committee known as Protect Colorado, which has spent $30 million since 2013 on ballot initiatives and issues. A public relations front group founded by the two companies in 2013 — Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development — also received more than $30 million in donations in its first three years of existence, according to its tax returns. [Denver Post, <a href="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/DenverPost/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TDP%2F2017%2F07%2F16&entity=Ar00103&sk=4979516B&mode=text" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">07/16/17</a>] PCEEEI Is Closely Affiliated With Citizens For Responsible Energy Development, A Dark Money Astroturf Group For Anadarko And Noble EnergyPCEEEI Is “Organized” By Citizens For Responsible Energy Development, A Nonprofit Which Is Also Funded By Anadarko And Noble Energy.  “The oversized glossy mailers and robocalls came in waves over the course of weeks to residents of this small Front Range city, asking them to protect their children, property and low tax rates by voting against a proposed city moratorium on the oil-and-gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The group behind the campaign calls itself ‘Protect Colorado,’ short for ‘Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy and Energy Independence.’ It’s a politics issue committee organized by a public-relations group called Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development, or CRED, which is funded by the two most active Front Range oil-and-gas companies, Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy.” [The Colorado Independent, <a href="https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2014/07/07/oil-and-gas-group-failed-to-file-finance-reports-in-loveland-fracking-election/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">07/07/14</a>]<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">PCEEEI,<span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder; background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> CRED, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">And Anadarko Appear To Have A Coordinated Communications Team. “Olson, when contacted on Wednesday, referred a reporter to John Christiansen, vice president of corporate communications for Anadarko. A message left for Christiansen soon triggered a reply from Karen Crummy, spokeswoman for Protect Colorado, the political arm of Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development, which received initial funding from Anadarko and Noble Energy.” [Daily Camera, <a href="https://www.dailycamera.com/2018/08/01/boulder-based-advocates-of-anti-fracking-initiative-facing-hurdles/" style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">08/01/18</a>]PCEEEI And CRED Shared A Spokesperson In 2017. “‘Scaring people is easy and cheap. Providing factual information on a complex subject is difficult and expensive,’ CRED and Protect Colorado spokeswoman Karen Crummy said in a prepared statement. CRED was created as an ‘education effort to present the public with the science and facts on fracking, she said. Crummy added that ‘Protect Colorado was formed when the energy industry was facing an onslaught of ballot measures and the very deep pockets of one Colorado Congressman who had hundreds of millions of dollars. These measures had the potential to put the industry out of business so we had to fight back.’” [Denver Post, <a href="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/DenverPost/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TDP%2F2017%2F07%2F16&entity=Ar00103&sk=4979516B&mode=text" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">07/16/17</a>] About Half Of PCEEEI’s Nearly $68 Million Has Come From Anadarko Petroleum And Noble EnergySince It was Established, PCEEEI Has Received A Total Of $67,532,853.73 In Contributions– Nearly all of which is from the Oil and Gas Industry. Its largest contributors by far are Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy, which have given $17,786,736 and $16,326,236 respectively. A list of companies giving PCEEEI over $1 million in a single election cycle in one year includes the following: <ul style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$6,941,000 From Anadarko In the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$6,712,500 From Anadarko In the 2016 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$4,115,236 From Anadarko In the 2014 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$6,583,500 From Noble Energy in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$5,627,500 From Noble Energy in the 2016 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$4,115,236 From Noble Energy in the 2014 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$3,499,091 From Extraction Oil & Gas in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$1,047,655 From DCP Midstream in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$1,037,665 From Hall Energy Service Inc in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$3,383,900 from PDC Energy in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$2,235,666 from SRC Energy Inc in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$1,000,000 from ConocoPhillips in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$1,400,000 from Chevron in the 2018 cycle</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">$3,076,971 in in-kind contributions from the Colorado Petroleum Council in the 2018 cycle. [Colorado SoS, <a href="http://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CommitteeFinancialSummary.aspx?Comm=26709" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">accessed 07/29/19</a>]</li></ul>Noble Energy Also Funds Vital For Colorado, A “Coalition Of Leading Business And Civic Organizations” That Formed To Fight What They Call The “Anti Energy Movement”Vital For Colorado Announced Its Formation In March 2014. On March 5, 2014, Vital For Colorado announced its launch in a press release: “A coalition of the leading business and civic organizations across the state of Colorado, calling itself Vital for Colorado, has formed to advocate for a responsible oil and gas policy, it was announced today. The group’s launch comes amid various attempts by environmental activists to make it easier for local governments to ban energy development.” [Vital For Colorado Press Release, <a href="https://www.quiatcompanies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Vital-for-Colorado-Launch-Press-Release-3-5-2014.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">03/05/14</a>]Vital For Colorado Formed To Oppose What They Saw As An “Anti Energy Movement” In Colorado. “The Vital group formed last year after several businesses grew concerned with the increasing ‘anti’ energy movement growing in Colorado. Several Denver business leaders were on a trade mission to Houston, where they heard from executives in oil companies.” [Greeley Tribune, <a href="https://www.greeleytribune.com/news/energy-pipeline-business-trade-organizations-pledge-oil-gas-support-through-vital-pledge/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">08/03/14</a>]Noble Energy Gave $157,988 To Vital In 2016. Noble Energy also gave big to Vital for Colorado in 2016, contributing $157,988, according to the company’s filings on its website.” [Greely Tribune, <a href="https://www.greeleytribune.com/news/local/oil-and-gas-big-business-group-bankrolls-denver-based-political-committee-with-100000-donation-in-greeley-city-council-race/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">11/04/17</a>]Noble Energy Gave Nearly $358,000 To Vital For Colorado From 2016 Through 2018. Noble Energy gave nearly $358,000 to Vital from 2016 through 2018, based on past political activity reports.” [Colorado Sun, <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2019/04/25/colorado-oil-and-gas-local-campaign-finance/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">04/25/19</a>]Noble Gave $160,000 To Vital In 2016.  “Noble Energy gave $5.6 million to the PCEEEI and $160,000 to Vital for Colorado in 2016.” [Westword, <a href="https://www.westword.com/news/oil-and-gas-companies-fueled-attacks-on-governor-polis-during-election-11329919" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">05/01/19</a>] <h3 style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Noble Energy Has A Bad Environmental Record </h3>Since 2000, Noble Energy Has Had To Pay Over $79 Million In Penalties For Environmental And Safety Violations Noble Energy Has Paid $79,375,270 In Federal Penalties Since 2000. Noble Energy and its subsidiaries have paid nearly $80 million in violations the EPA, OSHA, BSEE, PHMSA, and FERC. The majority of this is from 25 environmental violations totalling $74,937,608. [Violation Tracker, <a href="https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/noble-energy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">accessed <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">10/05/19</a>]Noble Energy Had To Pay $73 Million When It Violated The Clean Air Act By Leaking Noxious Gasses In Colorado’s Air. “Noble Energy announced a settlement Wednesday with sate and federal regulators to resolve outstanding allegations of Clean Air Act violations in Northern Colorado’s DJ Basin. The Houston-based oil and gas operator agreed to spend $73.45 million on system upgrades, projects aimed at reducing air pollution in Colorado and a civil penalty. Noble Energy reached the settlement with The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice and State of Colorado. The settlement resolves claims that Noble Energy failed to adequately design, size, operate and maintain vapor control systems on its controlled condensate storage tanks. That failure resulted in emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Colorado’s DJ Basin. [The Coloradoan, <a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/money/2015/04/22/noble-energy-settles/26181905/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">04/22/15</a>]<ul style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">As Part Of The Settlement, Noble Energy Was Forced To Pay A $4.95 Million Civil Penalty. “Noble will pay a $4.95 million civil penalty divided as follows: $3.475 million to the United States; and $1.475 million to Colorado. […] The settlement resolves past violations of Colorado’s Regulation 7, Section XII requirements for controlling VOC emissions from oil and gas operations. The 2008 version of the Section XII requirements is part of Colorado’s federally-approved State Implementation Plan. Federally-approved State Implementation Plan requirements are federally enforceable under the Clean Air Act. Specifically, the settlement resolves alleged past violations of Regulation 7, Section XII requirements relating to installation, operation, maintenance, design, and sizing of vapor control systems at condensate storage tanks. The settlement also resolves past liability for (i) system-wide emissions reduction requirements under Section XII and (ii) failures to mark identification numbers on storage tanks and combustors.” [US Environmental Protection Agency, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/noble-energy-inc-settlement" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">04/22/15</a>]</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">In Addition To The Civil Penalty, Noble Had To Pay For $60 Million In Upgrades, $4.5 Million For Environmental Mitigation, And $4 Million On Supplemental Environmental Projects. “As part of the settlement, Noble will spend an estimated $60 million on system upgrades, monitoring and inspections to reduce emissions, in addition to $4.5 million to fund environmental mitigation projects, $4 million on supplemental environmental projects, and a $4.95 million civil penalty. The case arose from a joint EPA and Colorado investigation that found significant VOC emissions coming from storage tanks, primarily due to undersized vapor control systems. Noble has agreed to evaluate vapor control system designs, significantly reduce VOC emissions, and provide reports to the public. These reports will give other companies the opportunity to learn and apply this information to emissions estimates and vapor control system designs. Using advanced monitoring technologies, Noble will be better able to detect air pollution problems in real time and ensure proper operation and maintenance of pollution control equipment.” [US Environmental Protection Agency, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/reference-news-release-noble-energy-inc-agrees-make-system-upgrades-and-fund-projects" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">04/22/15</a>]</li></ul>After It Was Caught Leaking Poisonous Gas From 78 Wells In Colorado, State Regulators Ordered Noble Energy To Pay $50,000 To Create A “Hydrogen Sulfide Awareness Program.” “In 2011, toxic hydrogen sulfide gas was found in 78 oil wells surrounding the northern Weld County town of Grover. The company operating the wells, Noble Energy, waited nearly eight months to make a required report about the hydrogen sulfide to the state. Just a few breaths of hydrogen sulfide in high concentrations can be fatal, but in lower concentrations, the gas can cause vomiting, dizziness and eye damage. Instead of being fined, Noble, which did not respond to requests for comment, was rewarded for cooperating with the commission, which required the company to create a $50,000 hydrogen sulfide awareness program.” [Associated Press, <a href="https://www.aspentimes.com/news/fines-rare-for-breaking-colorado-drilling-rules/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">04/08/13</a>]Noble Energy Is Responsible For Over A Thousand Oil Spills In ColoradoSince January 1, 2000, Noble Energy Has Reported 1,003 Oil Spills In Colorado. [Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, <a href="https://cogcc.state.co.us/data.html#/cogis" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">accessed <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">10/15/19</a>]A 2015 Study Found That Noble Energy Had More Oil Spills Than Any Other Company Between 2009 and 2013. “Noble Energy caused 358 spills in Colorado between 2009 and 2013—more than any other operator. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued only 19 NOAVS to Noble Energy from 2009 to 2013. However, the Commission’s database includes records for 358 spills by Noble Energy in the same time period. Of those 358 incidents, 89 impacted groundwater and 11 impacted surface water. Only 78 incident reports detailed the surface area of the spills, making it difficult to determine relative severity.” [NRDC Issue Paper, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/fracking-company-violations-IP.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">April <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">2015</a>]<h3 style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Noble Energy Gives Millions To Fund Astroturf Campaigns</h3>Noble Energy Funnelled Over $7 Million Into An Astroturf Group To Oppose An Initiated Measure That Would Regulate Fracking On Public Lands In Colorado. “In a last-ditch attempt to defeat one of the most far-reaching environmental measures on the 2018 ballot, a fossil-fuel giant is blanketing Colorado television with election-focused political ads that it now claims are outside the purview of all state campaign-finance laws. The maneuver — which pioneers a novel way for corporations to circumvent disclosure statutes and inject money directly into elections — has been blessed by the office of Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, who has led a Republican political group bankrolled by the same fossil-fuel corporation that is airing the ads. At issue is Proposition 112, a landmark measure that would force fossil-fuel companies to set their drilling and fracking operations further away from hospitals, schools, child-care centers and residential neighborhoods. Natural gas colossus Noble Energy and its subsidiaries have been among the most prominent opponents of the initiative, disclosing $7.1 million in contributions to Protect Colorado, the issue committee opposing the initiative.” [Westword, <a href="https://www.westword.com/news/nobel-energy-finds-way-to-pump-unregulated-cash-into-fight-against-colorados-proposition-112-10916014" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">10/18/18</a>]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">===</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div>Colorado Targeted by</div><div>Fossil Fuel Industry’s</div><div>Disinformation</div><div>Playbook</div><div>
</div><div>Climate Deception Harms Communities’ Health</div><div>and Safety</div><div>www.ucsusa.org/resources/colorado-fossil-fuel-industry-disinformation</div><div>https://doi.org/10.47923/2021.14291</div><div>
</div><div><div>CONTENTS</div><div>Chapter 1 Deceiving the Public: The Disinformation Playbook 4</div><div>The Disinformation Playbook and Colorado Oil and Gas Operations 5</div><div>Chapter 2 Disinformation Tactic: The Fix 7</div><div>Lobbying to Weaken Public Health and Safety Protections and Enhance Fossil Fuel Profits 8</div><div>Overwhelming Public Voices to Thwart Ballot Initiatives 9</div><div>Table 1. An Example of How Industry Spending Overwhelms Health and Safety 10</div><div>Pitting Local Leaders Against the Health and Safety of Their Constituents 11</div><div>Influencing Public Policy Positions from Inside and Out 11</div><div>Using Proxy Groups to Confuse the Public and Undermine Support for Climate</div><div>Accountability Lawsuits 12</div><div>Chapter 3 Disinformation Tactic: The Diversion 13</div><div>Elevating Industry Interests Above Community Voices 13</div><div>Fabricating the Appearance of Local Support 14</div><div>Figure 1. Colorado’s Climate Disinformation Complex 15</div><div>Greenwashing Your Screens 16</div><div>Chapter 4 Disinformation Tactic: The Screen 18</div><div>Building Credibility by Hiding Behind Trusted State Institutions 18</div><div>Burnishing Industry’s Reputation through Association with Respected Nonprofits 19</div><div>Chapter 5 Disinformation Tactic: The Fake 21</div><div>Chapter 6 A Litany of Harms: Health and Safety 23</div><div>Cancer-Causing and Other Dangerous Chemicals in the Air and Water 24</div><div>Poor Air Quality 24</div><div>New Research Identifies Even More Dangerous Ozone Problems 25</div><div>Figure 2. Fossil Fuel Industry Emissions are Higher in High Racial-Minority Census</div><div>Tracts 26</div><div>Dangerous Inactive Wells 26</div><div>Climate Change Impacts 27</div><div>Chapter 7 A Litany of Harms: Economic 28</div><div>Bogus Complaints about High Taxes 28</div><div>Inflated Jobs Claims 28</div><div>Union of Concerned Scientists | 3</div><div>Figure 3. Oil and Gas Extraction’s Boom-and-Bust Contribution to the Colorado</div><div>Economy 29</div><div>Other Harms, Some Difficult To Monetize 29</div><div>Chapter 8 Recommendations 31</div><div>Acknowledgments 32</div></div><div>
</div><div>...For more than a decade, Colorado oil and gas exploration and development have intensified, often putting dangerous and polluting industrial activities in close proximity to homes, schools, playgrounds, and other public spaces. This report exposes how the fossil fuel industry positions itself as the backbone of the state economy, often framing any community opposition to this industry’s dangerous operations as a fight against local interest in the form of tax revenue, school funding, and jobs. The industry largely glosses over evidence it causes health, economic, or environmental damage, and its clout enables oil and gas extraction and expansion to continue with little regard for those facing the adverse health and economic impacts. In Colorado, the oil and gas industry is comprised of powerful transnational corporations, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, along with companies such as Noble Energy (now owned by Chevron), Anadarko (now owned by Occidental Petroleum), and Suncor (a large Canadian tar-sands operation with close ties to ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell). </div><div>
</div><div>The industry’s interests are represented by heavyweight national lobbying outfits like the American Petroleum Institute (API), as well as local trade associations, like the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA). A proliferation of industry-created and backed front groups includes several with ties to the private multinational conglomerate Koch Industries. They often all work together to run the same Disinformation Playbook. Of course, the fossil fuel industry uses similar tactics and wields considerable political clout in other oil- and gas-producing states and at the federal level. Consider its success in stalling any meaningful climate action for more than two decades and its ability to despoil public and Native lands and waters with drilling and pipelines. Or consider the API’s nationwide TV and digital ad campaign, launched ahead of the 2020 elections and targeting not only Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and other key oil- and gas-producing states but also Wisconsin, Michigan, and other political swing states (API 2020a; API 2020b)....</div><div>
</div><div>Lobbying to Weaken Public Health and Safety Protections and Enhance Fossil Fuel Profits </div><div>
</div><div>In the early years of fracking in Colorado, API and its local division, the Colorado Petroleum Council (CPC), pushed the state legislature to enact the little-known ad valorem tax credit, which allows oil and gas companies to deduct local property taxes from the severance tax that fossil fuel companies must pay to the state. As local property taxes have increased, particularly for oil and gas operations, the state’s pool of severance taxes, based on production and profits, has shrunk—even though severance-tax revenues are needed to remediate abandoned and orphaned wells. Such wells are often underground pathways through which toxic fluids and gases migrate upward into air, water, and homes. These wells are also a significant source of leaked methane, a heat-trapping pollutant that has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere (Bushkin-Bedient et al. 2020). </div><div>
</div><div>Thanks to the ad valorem tax credit, some oil and gas operations have paid nothing to the state in recent years, leaving old wells unremediated and dangerous to residents (Eason 2020; Legislative Council Staff, n.d.; Silbaugh 2020). In April 2017, a house in Firestone, Colorado blew up, killing two residents and seriously injuring a third. The explosion was traced to gas leaking from an old well that had not been disconnected from the wellhead or properly capped (Markus 2018; Osher 2017; Svaldi and Finley 2017). In direct response to the explosion, the legislature took up a science-based bill to require regulators to map oil and gas pipelines throughout the state; a filibuster in the Republican-controlled state Senate killed the proposal. Lobbying disclosure reports and campaign-finance records showed that Anadarko and Noble Energy, both of which opposed the bill, spent significantly in support of Senate Republican candidates in the 2016 election as well as to directly lobby against the bill (Osher 2017; Sirota 2017).</div><div>
</div><div> Also in April 2017, the legislature considered a bill mandating that new oil and gas facilities be set back a certain distance from school property. Such a policy is intended to reduce children’s exposure to toxic releases by keeping them a safer distance from potential explosions. By a one-vote margin along party lines, a Senate committee killed the bill to establish a buffer zone separating oil and gas wells and associated facilities from occupied buildings and property lines. COGA, CPC, and other industry representatives led the opposition, arguing that “energy is the cornerstone of [the state’s] prosperity” (Glick and Ray 2017)—overstating the industry’s economic importance while ignoring the value of keeping children safe. An investigative report put oil and gas industry clout into some perspective: “Most of the people who testified in favor of the school setback bill were residents. . . . Virtually all who opposed it were paid lobbyists, most from industry associations” (Glick and Ray 2017). </div><div>
</div><div>With the passage of Senate Bill 181 in 2019, the state got serious about tightening health and safety controls on the oil and gas industry. The industry, which aggressively opposed the bill, lobbied successfully for a late language change that weakened the ability of local governments to protect public health and safety. At the behest of industry lobbyists, the terms “necessary Union of Concerned Scientists | 9 and reasonable” were added as qualifiers to the bill’s text, potentially limiting the ability of cities and counties to require new protective measures (Bloom 2019)....</div><div>
</div><div>Overwhelming Public Voices to Thwart Ballot Initiatives </div><div>
</div><div>In 2016, aggressive campaigns by Protect Colorado and Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development (CRED)—front groups funded by API, CPC, Noble Energy, and Occidental Petroleum—prevented two grassroots-driven ballot measures from getting in front of voters (Dyer 2016a). One measure would have increased local control over oil and gas expansion, with the aim of putting science at the forefront of decision-making on siting, reporting, and safety requirements designed to protect the communities. </div><div>
</div><div>The other measure would have improved community health and safety by requiring fracking operations be set back 2,500 feet from any occupied structure (homes, schools, businesses) or “areas of concern” (drinking water sources, lakes, parks). The current scientific consensus is that a setback of 2,000 to 2,500 feet is needed to protect health and safety, especially that of children (Lewis, Greiner, and Union of Concerned Scientists | 10 Brown 2018; Milton et al. 2014; McKenzie et al. 2012). The setback would have reduced exposure to air and water pollution, lessened noise pollution, and kept children further from potential explosions. Opponents outraised proponents by a ratio of 24–1, with 99.9 percent of the opponents’ nearly $17 million total coming from energy industry companies or front groups; their campaign drowned out the public health and safety arguments at the heart of initiative (Table 1) (Blake 2016; Claypool 2016)....</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>,,,Protect Colorado repeated the play again two years later, in 2018, spending almost $40 million to oppose Proposition 112 (Sirota and Woodruff 2018b), which would have required new oil and gas development projects to be set back 2,500 feet from occupied buildings and other areas of concern. In addition to donating millions of dollars to Protect Colorado PAC to oppose Proposition 112, Noble Energy directly funded spots on at least 12 TV stations in the month before the election (Sirota and Woodruff 2018b). One ad explicitly told voters: “When you vote, we need your support to stop Proposition 112, so we can continue producing the natural gas and oil that power our daily lives.” </div><div>
</div><div>This ad ignored the initiative’s health and safety intent, instead advancing a bogus economic argument that stronger protective measures would put the industry out of business (Sirota and Woodruff 2018a). In 2020, the industry poured money into ad campaigns even with no initiatives on the ballot or legislation in the works. Protect Colorado spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a statewide online and TV ad campaign aimed at Governor Polis and the COGCC, threatening to challenge any new regulations, particularly on siting setbacks, that the industry deemed unreasonable (Bunch 2020). The industry promoted 500-foot setbacks—about one-fourth the distance that scientists say is best to protect communities, especially vulnerable populations (Lewis, Greiner, and Brown 2018; Milton et al. 2014)....</div><div>[rev dr]</div><div>
</div><div>Using Proxy Groups to Confuse the Public and Undermine Support for Climate Accountability Lawsuits </div><div>
</div><div>In 2018, Boulder and San Miguel counties and the city of Boulder sued ExxonMobil and Suncor, arguing that the companies violated state law by deceiving the public about the dangers of their fossil fuel products. These local governments are demanding that the companies pay their fair share of remediating climate damages accruing in their communities (Boulder County, n.d.; City of Boulder, n.d.; EarthRights International, n.d.; San Miguel County, n.d.). </div><div>
</div><div>Almost immediately, ExxonMobil and Suncor launched a counteroffensive, using proxy groups to distort the public’s understanding of the case. The defendants, falsely suggesting that the local governments were seeking a back-door path to achieve legislative goals, attempted to redirect attention away from the on-the-ground reality that communities face budget-busting expenses due to climate change-related fires, flooding, bad air quality, and extreme heat. Industry PR companies, particularly Western Wire (an ExxonMobil executive serves on its board of directors) and Energy In Depth (a project of the Independent Petroleum Association of America), ramped up their substantial media buys to discredit the legal strategy (EarthRights International 2018). </div><div>
</div><div>Industry groups also attacked and attempted to discredit a public forum at the University of Colorado Law School on holding fossil fuel companies liable for climate change harms in the state (MAP 2019; University of Colorado Law School 2019). Further, their representatives posed as journalists to try to interview plaintiff’s attorneys outside of appropriate court channels (EarthRights International 2018; EarthRights International 2019). For more than three years, the defendants have used procedural tactics to keep this case—like other recent climate accountability complaints against fossil fuel companies—from being considered on its merits....</div><div>
</div><div>Chapter 3 Disinformation Tactic:...</div></div>