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Anthony Maine: Member Op-Ed: Oil & Gas

Recently, the Longmont Observer sent out a question to its members and asked them to give their opinions on it.
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This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Recently, the Longmont Observer sent out a question to its members and asked them to give their opinions on it. This month's question asked Longmont Observer members: There was a public forum concerning oil and gas on Tuesday, May 15 held by the Longmont City Council. The city council is planning to vote on the issue on May 22, what are your thoughts?

The following is the opinion of one Longmont Observer Member.

As much as I commend the city council’s efforts to keep drilling operations out of city limits, this approach is not a model I would want other communities to imitate for several reasons. First, the deal is structurally flawed in that horizontal drilling can still occur as long as the surface operation is outside the city, which in effect pushes the negative externalities of the operation (pollution, decreased quality of life) to other communities that are not fortunate enough to have the resources to buy out corporate mining interests. Second objection is the precedent this sets in that if effectively invites oil and gas companies to hold communities hostage to either deal with their operations or pay them off so they will go bother some other Colorado town. Most importantly and what saddens me the most about this deal is that it represents a last-ditch, desperate effort by a local governing body to safeguard the rights and health of its citizens. The city’s valiant effort to challenge state law regarding gas and oil exploration was ultimately shot down and any such future attempts will go nowhere as well so long as the legal system assumes national and state law preempts or overrides any local laws designed to protect the health and safety of its residents. Combined with a dysfunctional political system that tilts policy toward corporate interests and we have the situation we are in today where a city must buy its health and quality of life. It’s a disgrace and it needs to change.

Anthony Maine

This is an opinion piece that was submitted to the Longmont Observer and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Longmont Observer. If you have an opinion piece you'd like published, please visit our 'Submit an Opinion' page.