Colorado has a ballot question this year, Amendment 74, that if passed, would represent an unprecedented fleecing of Colorado taxpayers. It would amend the Colorado constitution to allow any corporation to sue local governments over any law they contend might cost them money. This amendment would hold towns and neighborhoods hostage to the specter of costly lawsuits, creating a strong disincentive for passing laws to protect the public. For example, a town that prohibits oil and gas drilling too close to schools could be successfully sued for damages to companies wanting to drill there. The list of absurd possibilities are endless. After Oregon passed a similar measure, the state faced nearly $20 billion in claims in just the first three years. Thankfully it was repealed before it bankrupted local communities and undercut the state’s ability to fund schools and infrastructure. The consequences of passing Amendment 74 are vast. In addition to allowing corporations to siphon away Coloradans’ tax dollars, it would undermine the environmental protections, health standards and zoning laws needed to protect the public. In short, it makes everyone and second class citizen by giving more power to moneyed special interests. This is not conservative. Nothing good can come from Amendment 74. This is why CRS hopes this reckless amendment is defeated at the ballot box on November 6. Below is a short piece by two Colorado conservatives explaining why Amendment 74 runs afoul of basic conservative principles, even as flyers promoting try to tie the effort to great conservatives like Ronald Reagan. Reagan was a steward of taxpayer’s wallets, he would no doubt see this scheme for what...
On September 5, CRS petitioned Secretary of the Interior Zinke to temporarily withdraw approximately 117,000 acres of public lands in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming from oil and gas leasing. Over the past year-and-a-half, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has unsuccessfully tried to sell oil and gas leases on all of these lands. It is now time to take a step back and reexamine whether other uses of these lands, such as hunting and fishing, safeguarding drinking water, and recreation, should take precedence. “Responsible stewardship and multiple use are conservative principles that have guided America’s public land management for more than a century. The Trump administration has turned this tried and true approach on its head, threatening the public access, resource quality, and diverse revenue stream that western communities depend on,” said CRS president David Jenkins. The parcels included in our petition include critical habitat for big game and other wildlife, migration corridors, trout streams, popular outdoor recreation areas, important drinking water sources, and significant historic sites. Many of these parcels were leased over objections by state and local agencies that understand the true values of these lands. For this administration’s leasing program, quantity is trumping quality. There is no correlation between number of acres offered and number of acres actually leased. Since this administration came to office, the BLM has offered more than 12.7 million acres for oil and gas leasing, yet only 1.3 million acres have sold. With this no-holds-barred pursuit of its so-called “energy dominance” agenda, the Trump administration has made oil and gas drilling its preferred use of America’s public lands, and in doing...
The Trump administration’s decision to scrap the Clean Power Plan, and replace it with a scheme that will allow at least 12 times the pollution, is irresponsible and will do nothing to meet moral and legal obligations to lower carbon emissions. Despite this brazen effort to prop up the coal industry, free market forces will continue to displace coal in favor of natural gas and renewables. Pandering to coal state residents with false promises of a coal comeback is self-serving and cruel. Scrapping the Clean Power Plan, along with this administration’s effort to roll back auto fuel efficiency and emission standards, and a host of other pollution control rollbacks, together constitute the biggest assault on America’s air quality since President Nixon signed the Clean Air Act into law 48 years ago. Equally problematic, is the administration’s total abandonment of efforts to address climate change. Ignoring a very real problem, which is already having significant impacts and proving costly, is not conservative. A comprehensive, common-sense policy to reduce carbon emissions is greatly needed, and Republicans in Congress need to finally step up. Thirty years ago President Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, two of the world’s greatest conservative leaders, were both boldly calling for action to address climate change. Thatcher warned that we must “remember our duty to Nature before it is too late.” In the three decades since, the science has gotten more certain, the impacts have become obvious, and yet today’s pretend “conservatives” have prioritized special interest politics over their moral obligation to safeguard our planet, or as Reagan put it, “this magical planet that God gave us.” The current...
Remember the old adage “if you do the crime, you do the time.” That slogan reflects the time-honored belief that those who willfully engage in criminal behavior should be held accountable. Unfortunately, President Trump veered sharply away from this basic law and order principle when he recently decided to pardon Dwight and Steven Hammond, both of which are convicted arsonists. The Hammonds, who have a decades long history of lawless and bullying behavior, were convicted in 2012 of setting fires on public land in 2001 and 2006 that endangered nearby hunters and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff. One of those fires was set to cover up another crime after a hunting party witnessed the Hammonds poaching deer. The Hammonds’ conviction and 5-year prison sentence, which was ordered by a Reagan appointed judge, became a cause celeb for anti-government radicals. It gained national attention in 2016 when Ammon Bundy and roughly a dozen other militants seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, beginning a 41-day occupation and standoff with authorities. Indiana oil products tycoon and friend of Vice President Mike Pence, Forrest Lucas, lobbied for the Hammonds pardon, as did Oregon Congressman Greg Walden and Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke. After the pardon, Lucas flew the Hammonds home on his private jet. This pardon sends exactly the wrong message to those who willfully ignore public land protections and violate the law. It will likely embolden others, especially the militant Bundy types who seek to run roughshod over the ownership rights of all Americans to our parks, refuges and other public lands. Furthermore, given the exploding problem of wildfires plaguing the...
Count CRS as part of the bi-partisan chorus calling for an end to the Scott Pruitt era at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). From the start, it was clear that Scott Pruitt—who had sued the EPA 13 times to block environmental protections—was ill suited to lead the agency. His open disdain for EPA’s mission and overwhelming bias towards polluting special interests were obvious concerns. Still, he has managed to be far worse than billed. Pruitt’s many ethical lapses are so jaw dropping that they stand out even against the backdrop of an administration replete with ethical shortcomings. It started with him having a $43,000 soundproof booth built in his office to prevent other EPA staff from overhearing his conversations. Then we find that he was living in an energy lobbyist’s condo on sweetheart lease terms. Beyond that, there were shady real estate dealings in Oklahoma, flying first class on taxpayers’ dime, and taking expensive overseas junkets to promote natural gas exports. Recently it was discovered that Pruitt’s EPA, along with the White House, sought to block publication of a federal health study on nationwide toxic water-contamination that threatens human health after an aide warned it would cause a “public relations nightmare.” Pruitt’s tenure is also rife with examples of him privately meeting with industry lobbyists, then immediately ordering policy changes that favor those same special interests. Having Scott Pruitt as EPA chief makes the president’s “drain the swamp” rhetoric down right Orwellian. Under Pruitt, the swamp of special interest influence and self-dealing has gotten exponentially deeper—and the mission of EPA turned upside-down. This corruption of EPA and total...
Remember the old adage waste not, want not? Apparently, some in Congress have forgotten it. There is a strong push–fueled by the oil and gas industry–to reverse a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule that requires oil and gas companies to be responsible and capture the natural gas that they extract from our public lands. The rule was needed because these companies have been cutting corners and wasting a lot of gas through flaring and leaks. Not only does wasted gas represent a big source of air pollution, no royalties are paid on a resource that belongs to all Americans. Any true conservative should support efforts to prevent waste, especially waste that is costing taxpayers a bundle. Unfortunately, some lawmakers in Congress who profess to be conservative are trying to repeal the BLM rule through the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The House of Representatives already bowed to the oil and gas lobby by passing a CRA resolution rolling back the rule. Now, this issue is before the Senate. CRS maintains that there is nothing conservative about waste or pollution and that BLM’s methane waste rule should remain in place. You can hear CRS board member Steve Bonowski from Colorado discuss the issue here, Western Officials Push U.S. Senators to Keep BLM Methane Rules, and CRS President David Jenkins discusses it here: Conservatives Defend BLM Natural Gas Waste Rule. Background The BLM, which oversees oil and gas development on nearly 250 million acres of public lands, is required to prevent the waste of public resources that belong to all Americans. To fulfill this mandate, over the past few years the agency...
