Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper Says He Will Sue Fort Collins If Ban On Oil And Gas Development Passes

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said that he will sue Fort Collins if our city approved a ban on oil and gas development within its city limits.

What’s your response to this?

According to the Coloradoan, Hickenlooper says that ban would “take” mineral right away from Fort Collins citizens and that the ban violated state law. While Fort Collins Mayor Karen Weitkunat said the ban is “Not about defiance; it’s about what’s good for our residents and what’s the best way to achieve that.”

Fort Collins officials plan to meet and have a final decision on the ban by March 5^th.

Obviously there are a lot of opinions on this, a lot of lives and livelihoods that would be affected, and a lot of money involved.

I can understand Hickenlooper not wanting to allow cities to break state law, but it also seems that telling a city what they can or can’t ban would violate some other law out there. And I can see why Weitkunat wants to “protect” our citizens, but at the same time doesn’t want to get our town sued.

Such a tangled web these arguments have woven.

What do you think about this whole scenario?

[Coloradoan]