First in a series.
FIRESTONE, Colo. — Bill Coffee’s neighbors in this outer suburb of Denver figured they were doomed to lose their fight against the oil company’s plan to drill 26 wells next to their subdivision.
But Coffee grew cautiously optimistic as he learned about a 2019 state law that prioritized health, safety and the environment ahead of oil and gas production.
“That leveled the playing field, so to say,” Coffee said.
It leveled it enough that they won their fight against Occidental Petroleum Corp. Thanks to the law and the concerted efforts of Coffee, his neighbors and activists, state regulators blocked the company’s plan to drill.
Colorado’s law and the slew of regulations it engendered were one of the biggest regulatory responses to the fracking-powered drilling resurgence that revived the country’s withered oil industry more than a decade ago. The package, commonly referred to by its legislative moniker, SB-181, led to numerous limits on the oil and gas industry, such as banning routine flaring of gas and requiring wells to be 2,000 feet from homes.
The industry warned that the new restrictions would “shut down” Colorado’s energy production. But today, rigs and other heavy drilling equipment are a common sight along the highways north of Denver. Well pads are part of the suburban landscape, along with fast-food joints and stately new signs at subdivision entrances. And Colorado was still the fifth-largest crude oil producer in the country last year.
Oil...
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