Initiative

A Colorado oil and natural gas industry-backed initiative has made the November ballot that, if enacted, would allow financial claims to be made on private property devalued by government action.

Colorado Rising, a coalition of environmental organizations, said a statewide ballot initiative has qualified for the November election, which, if it were to pass, would increase setback requirements to 2,500 feet from 500 feet for new oil and natural gas drilling.

An oil and natural gas lease sale conducted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah office received bids on 53,763 acres of nearly 93,946 acres offered, drawing total estimated receipts of $5.95 million. BLM sold 49 of 74 parcels offered in the Green River District. Fort Worth, TX-based Lonesome Oil and Gas LLC submitted the high per-acre bid at $2,021 and the highest total bid at $2.88 million.

Voters in Washington state on Tuesday rejected a statewide ballot measure to create a carbon tax, with 58% of the votes casts going against Initiative 732, which would have imposed a tax on fossil fuels.

Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner Christi Craddick on Tuesday outlined her plans for lightening the regulatory burden on the state’s oil and natural gas producers.

A Colorado ballot initiative to increase setback requirements for oil and gas activity could cost the state 54,000 jobs and reduce its gross domestic product (GDP) by $7.1 billion over the first five years, according to a new study from the University of Colorado.

A ballot initiative under consideration in Colorado would give local governments control over oil and gas development. More than 50 local elected officials have sent a letter to Gov. John Hickenlooper expressing their support for the initiative.

A charter amendment to ban new natural gas and oil activities in Lafayette, CO, to be on the city’s ballot this fall, “could have incredibly damaging, unintended consequences,” said a spokesman for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA).

Indications from a meeting last week of the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission in Annapolis are that Maryland will continue to chart a cautious course for exploiting its unconventional energy resources, said commission member and Republican State Sen. George Edwards, who represents three counties in western Maryland.