Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Monday the names of the 19 people he has appointed to the task force created to help work out conflicts over land use and gas drilling. His selections should indicate to all concerned that the governor takes this enterprise seriously. And with that, Coloradans have good reason to be hopeful that the final outcome will reflect compromises that respect everyone’s concerns.
The task force emerged from a compromise Hickenlooper worked out between the gas industry and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder. Polis had backed two ballot measures that would have restricted gas production efforts and allowed local governments essentially to ban drilling. In response, the industry put forward two pro-drilling measures.
Correctly viewing these dueling ballot issues as costly and potentially destructive, the governor managed to work out a deal. Polis and the industry both pulled their proposed ballot measures, and Hickenlooper promised this task force – the purpose of which is to propose solutions acceptable both to communities worried about the effects of drilling and to the business interests concerned about the economic consequences of heavy-handed regulation. Whatever ideas the group comes up with will then be presented to the state Legislature.
The only way this will work, of course, is if all concerned recognize that everyone else’s issues are legitimate. They need to know going in that any agreed-upon outcome will be neither a fracking ban nor “drill, baby drill.”
That is why Hickenlooper’s choices are so heartening. The task force is headed up by two co-chairpeople, La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt and XTO Energy president Randy Cleveland.
Having an industry guy as co-chairman – as well as five other industry representatives on the task force – was necessary. All are CEOs or company vice presidents in an industry not known for shrinking violets. Their presence helps insulate the task force and the governor from charges, such as those already leveled by Hickenlooper’s opponent, Bob Beauprez, that the task force will only enable “an extremist element that wants to stop oil and gas production in Colorado.” If those guys sign off on the final product, it will be something they and their industry can live with.
Gwen Lachelt is in some respects the mirror image. She is also possibly possessed of the most overall knowledge of the issues before the task force of any of its members. She has worked on exactly the kind of questions involved for more than 25 years and knows what matters most for landowners, neighbors and local government. She has been part of the process that has led La Plata County to be a leader in responsible gas-development regulations.
La Plata County is also contributing Durango attorney and former county attorney Jeff Robbins, as well as rancher, educator and activist Jim Fizgerald. Other notable names on the task force include former Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, former speaker of the Colorado House and past director of the state’s Department of Natural Resources Russ George and retired state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Kourlis. Others represent environmental groups, cities and counties affected by drilling, farmers and builders.
The job before the task force cannot be easy. Too much is at stake. But it is nonetheless possible to imagine a deal that might work: The industry accepts more regulation, including an emphasis on directional drilling, in exchange for predictability. Its critics back off on local control in exchange for tougher statewide rules.
That is only one scenario, but if there could be one, there might be others. Assembling a group with as much knowledge and experience as Hickenlooper picked only improves that chance.
