In Sunday’s editorial, we’ll examine the issue of severance taxes and how they affect the potential for a drilling resurgence in western Colorado.

It’s an important topic because it raises questions about lessons from the booms and busts of yesteryear. Already local politicians are assiduously putting together a case for minimizing the tax burden on producers so they can unleash the full might of their impact on a still-recovering regional economy.

The issue is complex and deserves its own space. But it’s worth noting the speed with which local governments have coalesced around the idea that drilling is our best chance to gin up the local economy.

“I can’t think of another industry that we have here that has the potential of bringing meaningful high-paying jobs into the community as this industry can,” Marty Chazen told the Sentinel’s editorial board Wednesday. Chazen, a Grand Junction City Council member, is also the chairman of Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado, several members of which echoed his call for the Legislature to resist boosting taxes on production.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.