Another day, another smug victory lap by oil and gas propagandists who know their industry has taken ownership of Colorado state government in its entirety and can show you the receipt in the form of an obedient legislature, docile governor and supine state courts.

We are told it is important not to normalize the machinations of the Trump administration, the abandonment of ethics, the assault on the environment. And it’s true.

The same is true in Colorado. It is important not to normalize the notion that oil wells and residential neighborhoods belong in close proximity. This is a lie propagated by the oil industry that has never before been accepted and must not be accepted now. Improvements in horizontal drilling technology make it unnecessary and we should resist it. If it is only Boulder County that resists, so be it. We can and should make it so difficult and contentious for drillers to infringe on our residential neighborhoods that it becomes more trouble than it’s worth. Already, the major industry players are avoiding Boulder County, according to former county commissioner and Boulder mayor Will Toor. It’s the “bottom-feeders” operating and hoping to operate here, he says.

Read more at The Boulder Daily Camera.