Anti-Fracking Group Floats Ballot Measures

Grace Hood

Coloradans Resisting Extreme Energy Development submitted 11 measures to the state for consideration Tuesday. Some would increase setbacks between industry operations and homes. Another would ban the process of fracking.

The group's executive director Trisha Olson said she doesn’t expect all these measures to make the cut.

“They have to go through the legislative council, the title board," Olson said. "We’ll probably take the pulse of the public as well to determine which ones to go forward with.”

The pro-energy group Protect Colorado says it plans to oppose any anti-fracking measure that makes it to a statewide ballot. In a statement Wednesday, communications director Karen Crummy called the proposed measures "so radical they would kill jobs, ignore established laws, devastate Colorado’s economy and create a patchwork of rules and regulations throughout the state.”

The news comes more than a year after Gov. John Hickenlooper brokered a compromise to eliminate energy-related issues from the 2014 ballot. 

Editor's note: This story was update Dec. 23 to include comment from Protect Colorado.