Tag: Williams

The Garfield County commissioners Monday did decide to fire off a strongly-worded resolution condemning contamination of drinking water by the natural-gas industry. It just...

GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Everyone was a film critic Monday at a somewhat tense screening of the new anti-gas-drilling documentary “Split Estate” for the Garfield County commissioners. Most of the reviews — surprisingly, even from the industry — were glowing.

This November, Coloradans will be faced with two ballot initiatives dealing with how the state collects and allocates taxes on the oil and gas industry. Severance tax, so-named because it applies to natural resources permanently severed from the earth, not only dominates part of the the state's ballot, but also much of the political discourse this election season. Some fear that increasing taxes on the industry — as Governor Bill Ritter's Amendment 58 will do — will only scare off oil and gas companies or raise gas prices in Colorado.

Oil and gas companies doing business in Colorado have dropped a mind-blowing $10 million into Amendment 58 — a statewide initiative that would cut their state severance tax and raise roughly $321 million a year for college scholarships, wildlife habitat and other programs. But when it comes to whether big oil may be pumping in cash to help Republicans retake control of the state Senate, well, they're just not saying. And in fact, they don't have to.