We’ve supported the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas project largely on the promise of the jobs it will create in western Colorado – a position that seemingly puts us at odds with our oft-stated hope that we can reshape our local economy to be less dependent on an industry that rises and falls with commodity prices.

But Jordan Cove would help stabilize those fluctuations by establishing opportunities to sell Piceance Basin natural gas to overseas buyers at prices that would be locked in over a period of decades.

Opening global markets and reducing tariffs has long been a hallmark of the GOP’s economic freedom agenda, with many Democrats accepting free trade as a pillar of American prosperity.

President Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, however, caps a shift in nearly a century of U.S. economic policy toward freer markets.

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