If I see one more ad from the oil and gas industry opposing Proposition 112, I think I’ll scream.
How gullible do they think we are? Do they really have to exaggerate so much? Let’s get a sense of proportion here.
According to CU’s 2018 Business Economic Outlook, there are about 26,000 jobs in a category that includes not only oil and gas, but also coal, metals and construction materials. Compare that number to the over 200,000 direct jobs contributed by the outdoor recreation economy (Colorado Business Review, Vol. 84, #2, 2018). And when the oil and gas industry spoils the environment, what happens to outdoor recreation?
After Proposition 112 passes, there will still be some 50,000 wells in Colorado. The industry isn’t going away. And according to a 9News Truth Test, “history has shown Colorado’s economy can continue to move in a positive direction even when the oil and gas industry has had a downturn.”
The reason the industry is force-feeding us a stream of hyperbolic economic ads is that they don’t want us to pay attention to the life-and-death issues of health and safety.
The exhaustive 2018 Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking (concernedhealthny.org/compendium) clearly states: “Our examination of the peer-reviewed medical and public health literature uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health.”
Read that sentence again. Read the full report. Then vote YES on Prop. 112.
Chris Hoffman
Boulder
