Category Archives: ECMC

CO state level politics, ECMC, Environmental damage from O&G, General Environmental Reference

Erie Protectors get some help — from The Guardian

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It has taken some time — about 20 years — for the efforts of Christiaan van Woudenberg and the Erie Protectors (see erieprotectors.com) to finally gain some traction in the mainstream media; but that landed with authority in this recent article in The Guardian, an established international newspaper with an historic reputation for hard hitting investigative journalism:

There are thousands of dirty old drill sites in Colorado. The state gave oil firms a $1bn pass

 

I invite you to read the article for its informed recounting of an under-reported issue: the cost of cleaning up the huge backlog of abandoned or low producing O&G wells in Colorado. This has been a known issue among the activist community for years, but has been overshadowed by other political events (to say the least). Nonetheless, it points to the obvious: there is growing political awareness of the need to get the O&G to pay its fair share of the environmental costs to all of us; and to pull back the curtain of darkness over the regulatory agencies that have been covering this up and blocking much needed action.

I first met Christiaan several years back, after I had moved to Fort Collins; but I could relate to deep seated frustration and anger over how his dream house neighborhood had been turned into a nightmare by nearby fracking activity. I lived in nearby Lafayette, about 10 miles south, from 2004 to 2018, and knew that the town of Erie had a split personality: half of it is in Boulder County and half in Weld County. The two counties, as most locals know, are diametrically opposite in their local political leadership over O&G development — and fracking. Unfortunately for Christiaan, his house is in the Weld County side, but which misfortune he had no idea of when he and his family moved there in 2007.

So it was with deep understanding and sympathy that accompanied my learning of Christiaan’s story; and I have deeply admired his commitment and skills and tenacity that he has brought to this struggle. He has not given up, and has provided additional encouragement to the dozens of other committed activists who are fighting an uneven battle against the O&G industry in Colorado in the years since.

What the above article documents is how the state agency that regulates O&G — the ECMC, or Energy Carbon and Management Commission — is deeply corrupt, and continues to coddle and protect this industry that has outlived its economic purpose, but which tenaciously clings to its economic life through deceit, subterfuge and outright lying to the public.

How long will the people of Colorado put up with this? How can they allow such blatant shunting of costs from those who are causing the pollution onto public taxpayers? This is what this report reveals, in all its lurid detail, how the ECMC, knowingly and with full awareness of what they were doing, failed to collect over $1 billion in fines from the O&G industry, which was rightfully owed.

To put that in perspective, the entire state budget for Colorado is around $40-42 billion. If the ECMC had been doing its job, this past year’s budget cuts that had to be made, around $850 million to $1 billion, would have been greatly alleviated if they had forced the O&G to cough up what it should paid — after, of course, the industry has paid for the remediation of the thousands on under-producing O&G wells have been properly plugged and cleaned up.

How long with the good people of Colorado allow themselves to be deceived by the ECMC? We should be demanding that our state legislators hold the O&G industry to account, and make them pay for the cost of abandoned O&G wells. As well as paying for better monitoring programs that should be in place for telling us how badly we are being poisoned.

 

350 Colorado, Allied organizations, CO state level politics, ECMC, Larimer Alliance related, STAR

Wrapping up the 2026 Legislative session…& the LA as well?

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Why this post?

The Larimer Alliance (LA) is changing, and this post is an explanation, a plea and a testimony that I hope will lead to your continued support.

The LA got its start in 2019 primarily focused on local implementation of local regulations of O&G. Once that effort became fairly settled with the adoption of local rules that more or less guaranteed that the chances of any new drilling in Larimer County were pretty minimal, our focus became air pollution from Weld County. This is still a major concern, but other changes in the regulatory landscape have caused our mission to evolve as well. We now see our mission as more of one to keep our community informed how this regulatory landscape is evolving at the state level, because that is what directly affects us here in Larimer County. Keeping you informed about events, about informational meetings, and when your input could help with putting pressure on state representatives, is the role of the Larimer Alliance now, as we see it.

Why keep pushing for such reform? Because there is every reason to hope that further reform is possible; because it is still very much needed; and because the current situation at the national level demands action at the local level. What we cannot accomplish in D.C. under the Trump administration, we can, however, accomplish in Colorado at the state, county and local levels.

As you may have been observing at the national level, the Trump administration is becoming more unpopular with each passing week; and our not-so-beloved Governor Polis has been making similar missteps in his popularity contest. So, depending on who is elected, there is reason to hope that there could be substantial changes in O&G regulation in Colorado.

The LA would like to continue to keep you informed about state and local issues with O&G regulation, so that you can make more informed choices at the ballot box during elections. As well, we seek to inform you with stories and evidence that you can use to contact your representatives, and participate in the democratic process yourself. Because that’s the only way we’re really going to achieve real reform: by helping each other achieve our greater goals together.

2026 Legislative wrapup

This information comes to you mostly due to the wonderful work of Jan Rose, who is a registered lobbyist for CCLC, the Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate (see colivableclimate.org. Full disclosure: I am the webmaster for them too.) She works quite hard at keeping the activist community informed about developments at the state legislature, and fighting (i.e. lobbying) for bills supported by the CCLC. For a detailed report from Jan on the 2026 session, see here.

In a nutshell, the 2026 session was largely a bust for environmental issues, as the opposition to them was strong. An unholy alliance between the O&G industry, the utilities (i.e. Xcel), and the labor unions united to quash any progress on environmental bills, while pushing their own agenda.

One of the biggest late-session fights involved a proposed constitutional amendment backed by the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado (see www.advancecolorado.org) that would create a constitutional “right” for consumers to use natural gas. Critics argued that it could undermine future local electrification or climate policies; personally, it strikes me as highly unsuitable for a state constitutional amendment, and would likely have been declared unconstitutional when legally challenged. It is quite astounding what Republicans think should become law.

Democratic lawmakers discussed legislation to counter or limit the effects of this proposal, but eventually backed away from a more aggressive response. That retreat was widely viewed as a sign that legislators were reluctant to engage in a direct statewide political battle over gas access during a difficult economic and energy-cost environment.
A striking development this session was the collapse of major data-center regulation proposals. According to reporting from Colorado Politics and environmental-policy groups, lawmakers killed competing bills that would have imposed stronger oversight on large energy-intensive data centers.

STAR, or Save The Aurora Reservoir

After winning an important procedural victory in December 2025 hearing before the ECMC (Energy and Carbon Management Commission) against the Sunlight-Long wellpad, STAR suffered a substantive defeat in April 2026 when the drilling project was ultimately approved. The broader Lowry Ranch project includes more than 160 wells on state-owned land, some near and underneath the Aurora Reservoir itself (!).

The residents of STAR have no intention of giving up, however, and will continue its resistance to this invasive project at every opportunity. For more information, see their website at savetheaurorareservoir.org and their Facebook page.

This is an example where sustained grass roots support matters, because the commissioners are appointed by the governor for staggered four year terms. Interestingly, the commissioners’ terms are not published anywhere, but here the best information I could find about this important topic. Given how many commissioners could be elected by the next governor, it shows how public pressure could help tilt the balance in favor of commissioners with a stronger support actually fulfilling the ECMC’s role: protecting the environment from the O&G industry, and not “fostering” it:

CommissionerRole / background seatMost recent known appointment or reappointmentLikely term expiration
Bernie BuescherChair / public policyAppointed during Polis administration after SB19-181 restructuringLikely 2027 or 2028 (unclear from public records)
Jeff RobbinsOil & gas / technical expertiseReappointed June 2024 by Gov. PolisLikely June 2028
John MessnerLocal government / land use expertiseReappointed June 2024 by Gov. PolisLikely June 2028
Trisha OethPublic health seatAppointed June 2024Likely June 2028
Karin McGowanEnvironmental / wildlife expertiseEarlier Polis-era appointment after ECMC transitionLikely 2026 or 2027

Larimer Alliance wrapup: the LA at a crossroads

In this year of grim politics, the LA must face its own grim prospects: to be or not to be? The LA is down to just myself and Ed Behan to carry on this effort — and I have recently moved to Minnesota for personal reasons.  Due to a declining need for it, we decided to close our website, both to conserve costs and reduce the maintenance effort. On the plus side, we have received some generous donations, and can cover our expenses through 2027.

But in order to maintain an active presence, the LA needs some actual volunteers willing commit some time and help with the following activities:

  • to serve as “officers” both in pragmatic day-to-day, week-to-week planning, scheduling, and action, as well as filling formal positions in our organization as a 501C4 non-profit: Chair, Secretary & Treasurer
  • monitor the news and social media for issues related to LA’s mission, protecting the public from the O&G industry
  • post to our blog and/or Facebook page about such news
  • assist with the (rare) public events when the LA mans a booth with other environmental groups
  • encourage others to contact their elected representatives about specific upcoming votes
  • help mentor occasional student interns

Here are the benefits of such volunteer work:

  • build community awareness on these issues
  • network with other local activists and learn about Colorado’s vibrant environmental activism, both local and statewide
  • help create the political will to influence our elected representatives
  • foster relationships with these representatives
  • foster relationships with local news media groups and personalities
  • learn about the nuances behind how the  O&G industry operates and is regulated
  • have greater peace of mind that you are helping to create positive change!

Without some other volunteers stepping forward to help with this effort, the LA may have to shut down…which would be a loss to the local community, as there aren’t any other similar non-profits based in Larimer County.

But my hope is that the rest of 2026 will see a resurgence of activism with the approaching mid-term elections, which has sure signs that a change is in the air!

–Rick Casey

Air quality monitoring, Earthworks, ECMC, General Environmental Reference, State government

Another fracking LTE appears in….Greeley?

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I was surprised to see a byline “Fracking fight” in the Greeley Tribune Letters To the Editor section recently (March 21, 2026), but there it was:

Work to monitor fossil fuel sites slow, but hopeful

 

After blinking my eyes in disbelief, I was pleased to see that the author was our friend in Ault, Carol Hawkins. She also pointed out how much work that Andrew Klooster with Earthworks has done over the years. She has worked closely with him to document many emissions violations in Weld County; and notes that the response rate of the ECMC to such complaints has increased from about one third to fifty percent in 2025.

Small steps towards progress; but, yes, it is indeed hopeful, and I hope it continues.

CO state regulatory agencies, ECMC, Environmental damage from O&G, General Environmental Reference

Another wrist slap on the bad old O&G industry

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There was a good news/bad news article in the Colorado Sun earlier this week (Feb 24, 2026):

Colorado fines Chevron subsidiary $1.7 million over 2025 well blowout in Weld County

How much is seven square miles of inhabited properties, still polluted from a four day bath of toxic spewing in April 2025, worth? Apparently not all that much. A fine of $1.7 million to Chevron (which had an net income, i.e. profit, of $17.6 BILLION in 2024)  would be little more than pocket change to them.

If that kind of grates you the wrong way, as it did me, you are not alone…and here is the testimony of another Front Range resident who expressed her outrage in this way (name withheld to protect the incensed):

Crumbs!!!
When are we going to stop crouching under the table of Oil/Gas/State Regulators while begging for crumbs?
Chevron’s fine for the “Galeton Geyser” that spread toxic chemicals as far away as four miles (as detected by CSU mobile monitors called out to the site that day in April 2025), will not be remedied by 1.7 million.  Let’s not forget that the spokesmen for Chevron, at an emergency Galeton Town Hall meeting, assured the public that there’s no danger here, as the well was still spewing 100 feet in the air, in windy conditions, that lasted FOUR DAYS.  Mobile air monitors from CSU were called to the scene that day and found high levels of toxins (think benzene, etc.) as far as four miles away.  Chevron called the CSU monitors “poor methodology.”  
As I raged about this injustice (yes, I’m calling out BOTH the ECMC and Chevron), I was reminded by another activist that “The SUNCOR spill several years ago that contaminated the Commerce City area profusely was fined something like over $9 million. An additional grant received in 2000 was for $1.8 million. So Chevron got off quite cheaply in Galeton.”

If the Galeton Geyser didn’t get the ECMC to act with equal justice, or recent health studies (McKensie) that support previous health studies of the negative impacts of living within six miles of an oil and gas complex don’t move our regulators to action, then we can be sure that they’ll do little if anything for the daily spills, leaks, road damage, and clogging infrastructure we already experience in towns like mine in Ault.  Yet even when we do protest permits, the ECMC fails us, and when we later capture the pollution these permits bring on OGI images, only a third of complaints get any action.  Why?  Intended loopholes from bogus regulations and complicit regulators who refuse to stand up to the fossil fuel industry.  Three years of data (2022, 23, 24) prove this case in Ault.  

Now we witness a slap on the wrist by the ECMC toward Chevron.  I’d like to slap them all (ECMC and Chevron) across the face for this injustice . . . but a slap is not enough.
The ECMC, by its very name (Energy Carbon Management Commission) serves the Industrial Carbon Complex, not the people of Colorado who pay their salaries.  I can only hope that we get a new governor and revamp our state agencies, particularly by firing current state regulators, to best serve the public and protect our environment from the onslaught of dirty oil and gas development across Colorado.  There’s no such thing as clean well pads.  “Best Practices” is a myth used by industry to keep drilling the cheapest and fastest way possible.  And setbacks won’t save us either.  Don’t be duped by a new playground at your local school courtesy of oil and gas.  If a fracking operation is within six miles of that playground, those children and locals are at risk. 
Show some brass, ECMC!
Let’s Educate, Organize, Resist . . . Vote out the current government, fire its regulators, and ban the permits!   
I must confess I feel the same way…and we will still need to continue our struggle against these state regulatory agencies who have kowtowed to this industry for far too long.