As the players in and observers of Colorado’s public policy arena buckle in for a new legislative session, the usual range of emotions, from excitement, to trepidation, to hope, have returned. 2020 marks the beginning of a new decade, and with it both distinctive opportunities and looming risks. The natural gas and oil industry’s three wishes for the 2020 general assembly focus on maximizing Colorado’s abundant opportunities while minimizing its most avoidable pitfalls.

First, we hope that lawmakers will allow for previously-passed legislation to fully take hold prior to introducing any measures that may prove duplicative, redundant or unnecessarily reactive. Senate Bills 19-181 and 19-96, along with House Bill 19-1261, were signed into law last year and have already significantly altered Colorado’s energy landscape, but the entirety of their effects have yet to be fully realized. The passage of these bills prescribed assorted rulemakings and reviews, many of which began in 2019 but will continue deep into 2020. In other words, we don’t yet know what a post-181 world will truly look like, so we’d caution against rushing new, potentially highly consequential energy measures through the legislature in the interim.

Our next wish is hardly limited to the preferences of the natural gas and oil industry: We hope that lawmakers will allow for a more inclusive and comprehensive stakeholder process for any and all legislation it considers. If a law is worth creating, it is worthy of thorough discussion among those who know the issue best. The 2019 legislative session was hotly charged, but at times lacked sufficient, sustained engagement with subject matter experts and affected parties. Let’s endeavor to get back to the Colorado way of doing business: collaboratively and comprehensively.

Our last wish is to bring some civility back into the conversations we are having under the Gold Dome. In many cases it feels like we have lost our way, the Colorado way. We stopped respecting one another and decided that the issues we are standing behind define us as people. If we didn’t agree with someone else’s issue or concern, we disregarded them. We have forgotten that before someone is a politician, a lobbyist, an activist or a regulator, they are people. We stopped listening to one another and we stopped trying to understand one another. As leaders of Colorado, it is our job to bring back the Colorado way, a place where civility and open dialogue are welcome.

We live in the greatest state in America at a time of unprecedented opportunity. Our public policies should embrace the positives of this moment in time while keeping an eye on ways to make our shared future even brighter. Doing so will require mutual commitment, good faith and unwavering honesty in tackling each of Colorado’s unique challenges. We couldn’t be more excited to play a role in making it happen. See you at the Capitol!

Lynn Granger is executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council, a division of the American Petroleum Institute, whose more than 600 members produce, process and distribute most of the nation’s energy.