The fracking war in the Colorado legislature continued to be one of attrition, as a Republican bill to force communities to pay up if they ban oil-and-gas operations was killed by Democratic majority in the House. The Republican majority in the Senate returned the gesture by killing a Democratic bill to give more regulatory control to local governments.

Democratic Sens. Kerry Donovan of Vail and Leroy Garcia of Pueblo voted with Republicans to kill House Bill 1071 by an 8-3 count. The bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Salazar of Thornton and Sen. Dominick Moreno of Commerce City, both Democrats, would have given more weight to environmental and public safety concerns.

“This is a good outcome for the Colorado business community, the state economy and working families, all of which rely on a strong local energy sector,” Peter Moore, chairman and CEO of Vital for Colorado, said in a statement. “Colorado is a major energy producing state with the toughest environmental protections in the nation. For more than a decade, under Govs. (Bill) Ritter and (John) Hickenlooper, state oil and gas regulations have been revised and toughened over and over again with environmental groups and public health professionals closely involved every step of the way.

Vital for Colorado is a business coalition supportive of the industry, which includes the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, Colorado Business Roundtable and Colorado Farm Bureau.

The Colorado Petroleum Council also was pleased to see the bill go down, predictably.

“Our state should not rewrite the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s mission at the request of out-of-state, out-of-touch activists, who hope to transform every permitting decision into protracted litigation, costing the state millions to defend administrative and judicial appeals, not to mention millions more in lost tax and royalty revenues due to permitting delays,” Tracee Bentley, executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council, stated.

Democrats were just has pleased about putting the kibosh on House Bill 1150, the bill by Republican Rep. Perry Buck of Windsor to pay owners of mineral rights if a local government takes them away. The bill died on a 6-3 party-line vote.

“We should be encouraging, not penalizing, local governments that want to prioritize health and safety when it comes to oil and gas operations,” said committee chairman Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, in a statement.

Rep. Edie Hooton, D-Boulder, added, “As far as the oil-and-gas industry is concerned, there is no such thing as reasonable limits on drilling.”