It’s That Time of Year….

It is that time of year when all those non-profits out there are begging for our donations during the holiday season of giving and thanks.  Well, the Larimer Alliance is not doing that; we don’t need your money — we need YOU! That is, we need some volunteers willing to attend meetings, learn about meaningful issues, and get involved as citizens in our democracy. Does that sound like something you would be interested in? If so, please read on…

Why Is Activism Necessary?

Activism is how the world gets changed through politics; it can be either bad or good. Bad activism results in bad outcomes for society,  and history is full of them. Good activism results in good outcomes for society; history shows this can happen as well. In the case of the O&G industry, local activism is most necessary, because this is where it can be most effective: because O&G lobbyists or lawyers rarely attend city and county level events (though I have seen it happen).

How positive activism happens is no mystery: first you inform yourself about an issue, then inform your community, and then to inform your elected representatives about them. The last two steps take the longest,  nudging them along, both your community and your representatives, with encouraging evidence that these policy recommendations will be a good choice: good for people, good for the economy, good for the environment.

A Short History of How We Got Here

The Larimer Alliance started in August 2019 with about a half dozen people fired up by the passage of SB-181 earlier that year that empowered local governments to regulate the oil and gas industry; the only problem was: they didn’t really know how to do that, as we came to find out over the next few years. Nonetheless, we persevered…

We attended county commissioner meetings, did our research about the damaging effects of O&G development (both locally and globally), and testified at meeting after meeting. In the end, we successfully challenged the Planning Committee that had been created by the previous three Republican Commissioners, who had been there for years. We were aided by the election of three new Democratic Commissioners: Kefalas in 2018, and Stephens and Shadduck-McNally in 2020. Did having an all-Democratic board of commissioners make a difference? Yes. Did we get every policy change we asked them? Hardly. We learned that change is incremental, and that politicians are politicians: when they feel confident  that the public will support them, they will vote to support something…but that they tend to be very hesitant, often disappointingly so. What was accomplished in Larimer County and inside Fort Collins were increased setbacks for any new wells that might get drilled. Due to these new setbacks, the percentage of eligible land for drilling with the city limits of FoCo is now so miniscule that it is unlikely any new wells will ever get drilled.

Outside the city limits in the county, there are existing wells, and the possibility of new wells; however, our local activism has put any potential developer on notice that such efforts will be resisted. And we publicized existing violators, where we achieve a notable success: the shutting down of the notorious Prospect Energy operation in the Hearthfire neighborhood in 2024. (See that post here.)

Nonetheless, gaining experience with how to prepare for, interact with and support your elected representatives has been a deeply rewarding experience of practical  citizenship.

Where We Are Now

Where we are focusing our energy now is our air quality.  This is a regional issue; consequently, it means pursuing regulatory change at the state level. If you were not aware, northern Colorado has been out of EPA compliance for ozone exposure levels since 2004. We believe the state could be doing a much better job of both measuring the precise causes of this, and then doing something about it.

If you filter on the category of ‘air quality monitoring’ there are 34 articles that document our efforts in this area to date; so we have a detailed awareness on this issue, and what is possible at the state level. Currently, we doubt there is much of any possibility of making progress until after a new governor is elected in Colorado in 2026.

Which is why we need more volunteers! We will only be successful is we can persevere until the political winds shift in our favor. Another factor in our favor is that we are now connected to other like-minded organizations, primarily through the CCLC, or the Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate. (colivableclimate.org) This helps us to have more information on when and how best to push for change at the state level. We have also developed connections with our three main representatives: Senator Cathy Kipp, Representative Andy Boesenecker, and Representative Yara Zokaie.

So if this interests you, or if you just want to ask some questions, send an email to volunteer@larimeralliance.org.