We are so fortunate to live in Colorado, where we have an abundance of natural resources to help feed our families, power our communities and make life livable in the 21st century.

As a livestock producer, I know first-hand how important it is for us to be good stewards of the natural resources we’re blessed with. Farmers and ranchers were among the first environmentalists. We know that if we care for the land, it will provide for us and others. Our agriculture communities in Colorado are not only putting food on tables from Sterling to Durango, but we’re also helping grow the safest and highest quality food that goes around the world. We can all be proud of that.

But as a state senator from northeast Colorado, I also understand how inter-connected our economy is, and how vitally important it is to guard against policies and laws that have broad, damaging impacts that affect families, communities and economies.

It’s one of the reasons I’m concerned with how Democrats I serve with on the state’s Interim Committee on Ozone are targeting the oil and natural gas industry.

The interim committee was made possible by House Bill 23-1294, approved by Democrats this spring. When Gov. Jared Polis signed the legislation creating this interim committee, he encouraged the Democrats who are leading it to consider the entire economy when looking for ways to improve Colorado’s ozone situation. Even the governor, it seems, understands oil and natural gas aren’t the only, nor are they the largest, reason for the Front Range’s ozone issue (The biggest issue is naturally occurring ozone and what blows in from other states and countries).

But at the first hearing, Democrats on the committee seemed to constantly target only oil and gas, despite what the facts showed, and what the experts from state government said.

As a committee, we shouldn’t focus on just one part of our economy if we’re going to try and solve this problem. We should be addressing the full issue and remember we’re all in this together.

As a senator from a rural part of Colorado where agriculture is so vitally important, it’s important to me we have a healthy oil and natural gas industry in this state. If Colorado’s oil and gas industry is upended by overreaching legislation, it doesn’t just hurt one company or one county, it hurts the entire state.

Stay up to speed: Sign-up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

Not only is the energy industry an economic driver in this state, many farmers and ranchers depend on reliable and affordable energy to power their farms and, often, diversify their income.

According to a new study called “Advancing America’s Agriculture: The Value of Natural Gas to U.S. Agriculture and Agrochemicals,” the “American farmer relies on domestic natural gas for the fertilizer in their fields, the fuel to run their equipment, and energy to process, store and transport our nation’s food supply to feed 330 million Americans, in addition to the countless individuals overseas who depend on U.S. agricultural exports.” 

The uses of natural gas are numerous and as prices increase, input costs around the farm increase affecting what farmers plant, how they plant it and ultimately whether or not they can compete. If farmers can’t compete regionally, or even globally, they scale back what they can grow and our need to import food increases which doesn’t make for a strong or secure food system.   

Low-cost natural gas is directly linked to the cost of food on grocery store shelves. Everyone surely has noticed how expensive food is these days.

Any restrictions or bans on natural gas coming out of Colorado’s legislature would not only hurt our friends and neighbors in that vital industry, they would have broad implications to the agriculture sector, including disruptions to the supply chain, an impact on land value, a dangerous reliance on imports needed for agriculture from China and Russia and higher costs passed on to consumers, according to the study from the American Gas Association:

The report also found:

• U.S. agriculture is one of the largest consumers of natural gas, consuming roughly 1.7 trillion cubic-feet (“Tcf”) of natural gas – equivalent to almost 15% of all U.S. commercial and industrial consumption demand.
• Fertilizer and other agrochemical production is the most significant consumer of natural gas in the agriculture supply chain.
• Natural gas is required to produce nitrogen, a main fertilizer component, which enables increased crop yields.
• Between 70% and 80% of the energy used to produce critical fertilizers comes from natural gas. 

• The U.S. agriculture sector supports 17.2 million jobs and approximately $1.75 trillion in U.S. GDP, roughly equivalent to the GDP of Texas, the second-largest state economy after California.

Without natural gas-based fertilizers, our farmers would not be able to grow food to satisfy the many diets and preferences we have grown accustomed to.

Colorado’s economic livelihood is a delicate balance. Our state legislators and regulators need to understand how the ripple effects of their anti-oil and gas rhetoric and policies affect other industries, including our farmers and ranchers.

If we want to solve ozone, let’s have that conversation. If you want to punish oil and natural gas and agriculture, count me – and most of Colorado – out.

Sen. Byron Pelton is a livestock producer/master electrician, who represents Senate District 1 at the Colorado General Assembly.