Colorado Govenor Hickenlooper issues executive order on fracking

FOX31
2/29/2012

DENVER — Gov. John Hickenlooper, already having irked Colorado environmentalists this week for voicing a radio ad in favor of hydraulic fracturing on behalf of the state’s oil and gas industry, issued an executive order Wednesday afternoon creating a task force to determine whether the state or local cities and counties have control over fracking operations in the state.

“This is an important step to better define state and local jurisdiction regulatory structures as Colorado’s oil and gas industry continues to grow,” Hickenlooper said in a statement.

“We want to protect public health, the environment and wildlife and to avoid duplication and conflict between different regulations of oil and gas activities. We expect these efforts to also help foster a climate that encourages responsible development and enhances existing cooperation and coordination between state and local government.”

The order comes after the town of Erie voted Tuesday night to draft an emergency 180-day moratorium on fracking, a common process used by oil and gas companies to loosen mineral reserves for extraction by shooting a mix of water, sand and chemicals more than mile beneath the surface.

The town had rejected a moratorium proposal a month ago, but reversed course based largely on a report last week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that showed levels of propane — a chemical used in fracking — 10 times higher in Erie than in other cities.

Environmentalists have long argued that fracking is contaminating groundwater and causing health problems for people living nearby.

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Get a clue Governor, your statements appear wrong in that, that this rogue oil and gas industry is not causing groundwater contaminations, air quality degradation etc... 

OVERTURN THE FEDERAL EXEMPTIONS THE INDUSTRY DOESN'T HAVE TO ABIDE BY AND LET'S SEE IF THE INDUSTRY CAN OPERATE! 

Enough already!