Initiatives to ban or place moratoriums on fracking are up for a vote Nov. 5 in four Colorado cities. In campaign finance filings posted Tuesday, opponents of the bans and moratoriums have significantly outspent those in favor of ending the practice.
The cities of Fort Collins, Broomfield, Boulder and Lafayette have initiatives on the ballots starting to arrive in mailboxes across Northern Colorado.
In Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Alliance for Reliable Energy, backed almost entirely by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, posted contributions amounting to over $250,000 in their most recent filing [.pdf]. Compare that to Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins, with contributions of just over $3,800. Those dollars, in support of the moratorium, came in small amounts from $10 to $300 [.pdf] from individuals, not including in-kind contributions.
The story in Broomfield is similar.
The group opposed to the city’s five year fracking ban, the Broomfield Balanced Energy Coalition, states their total monetary contributions in the most recent filing are over $156,000. Like in Fort Collins, the largest contributor to the group is the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
The industry trade group is also the largest contributor to another group opposed to the moratorium, It’s Our Broomfield Too. Their contributions stand at over $15,700, with $15,000 coming from COGA.
The group Our Broomfield, in favor of the city’s moratorium, has received just over $4,900.
In Boulder, Question 2H would extend the current ban on fracking within city limits, but also forbid drilling permits on city open space land as well.
2H opposition group Boulder Citizens for Rational Energy Decisions state in their filing they’ve received over $110,300 in contributions. The group is reported to have received $110,237 from COGA.
On the other hand, the group Yes On 2H, supporting the extension of Boulder’s ban, received just over $3,800.
In Lafayette, for the reporting period ending Oct. 10, East Boulder County United raised $1,568 while the Lafayette Campaign for Energy Choice, raised $67,074. Of that, $66,974 came from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
