Is our regulatory system hopelessly lost to moneyed interests? We’ll see this week. Gov. John Hickenlooper’s oil and gas task force is meeting here in Durango on Thursday and Friday. Ostensibly, this is an opportunity for the task force to hear from Western Coloradans who have been directly affected by decades of gas and oil drilling.
As usual, those who profit from the status quo already are working hard to hijack our meeting. From robo-calls funded by the American Petroleum Institute to multinational energy companies paying employees to pack the meeting, every stop is being pulled to drown out authentic local voices in favor of those businesses that command the almighty dollar.
Do not let them win. Public comment is accepted between 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday evening. Grab a friend. Bring the family. Come to this meeting and make sure your voice – the voice of the community – is heard. For more information and talking points, visit www.sanjuancitizens.org.
Dan Olson
Durango
