PSR CO Joins Advocacy Groups in Petitioning COGCC for a Rulemaking to Regulate Cumulative Impacts of O&G Development
PSR Colorado is proud to join other health and environmental advocacy organizations in officially petitioning the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to carry out its mission to protect the public and wildlife from harmful cumulative impacts of oil and gas (O&G) production in our state by requesting that the regulatory agency undertake a formal rulemaking.
Cumulative impacts of O&G production negatively affect all regions of Colorado, but especially impact historically marginalized and disproportionately impacted communities, including low-income communities and communities of color, that are faced with ongoing environmental injustice every day.
In solidarity, PSR Colorado joins WildEarth Guardians, 350 Colorado, Womxn from the Mountain, the Larimer Alliance, and the Sierra Club of Colorado in petitioning the COGCC for an official rulemaking to ensure the agency is carrying out its stated and codified mission to regulate the development and production of oil and gas in a manner that protects public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife resources.
In an article by the Colorado Times Recorder, Kate Merlin, a PSR CO Board Member and attorney with Wild Earth Guardians, describes one of the many important reasons behind the petition:
“Colorado’s production does not meaningfully change the price that Colorado consumers pay for fuel — it’s a global commodity with prices set by the balance of global demand and global production plus industry profiteering — but our bad air quality does cost Coloradans in health spending, in lost life and lost productivity,” Merlin said. “It hurts our tourism industry. It hurts our most vulnerable people: children and the elderly. It also hurts folks who work outside, like postal carriers, road crews, and farm and ranch workers. Colorado’s air has been so bad for so long that we’re being automatically bumped up to the ‘severe’ category of ozone nonattainment which will increase all of our gasoline prices and dramatically increase regulatory compliance costs for many hundreds of businesses.”
Read the full article from the Colorado Times Recorder at the link below.
