Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, is stepping down from his nine-year tenure at the industry’s Colorado trade association.

Haley told The Denver Gazette that he thinks it’s time for fresh eyes and ideas for an industry that has been grappling with some of the most significant regulatory changes in the country.

“There’s no one particular reason,” Haley said. “I’ve been in this position for more than nine years. We have been through an exhaustive amount of local and state rulemakings. I just feel like this is as good a time as any to make the move and to bring in fresh eyes, new energy — someone who can look at the organization, look at the industry — and really chart that new path forward for us.”

Haley is well respected for his advocacy for the industry and his dedication to all who work in it, according to industry representatives. 

“For nearly a decade, Dan’s poised, pragmatic and deeply loyal advocacy on behalf of Colorado’s oil and natural gas industry has set him apart,” said Kait Schwartz, director of American Petroleum Institute Colorado. “Under his leadership, Colorado has navigated some of the country’s most challenging regulatory landscapes, and his dedication to the thousands of workers who rely on this industry has been unwavering.”

Haley is not leaving the organization immediately. He will stay with the group until his replacement is found.

“Right now, my commitment is to our board in ensuring that we bring a good leader on board to COGA, probably toward the end of the year or early next year would be my guess,” he said.

He also said he has no intention of leaving Colorado at this time. He wants to take some time to reevaluate his interests, he said. 

“I’m a Colorado guy, born and bred. I love Colorado,” Haley said. “I really enjoyed working in the energy space, and when you have a job like this and even the previous jobs I’ve had, you kind of determine what your passion is. And I really am passionate about helping.”

Haley is the former Denver Post editorial page editor. He left the paper in May 2011 after 13 years. He has worked as a corporate communications consultant for CoBank and EIS Solutions, according to his LinkedIn profile.

But first Haley said he could use a vacation.

“I would love to take a vacation. That sounds fantastic. I’ve gotten a lot of texts, people asking me if I was going to do that, so maybe so,” said Haley.

Haley said he is proud to have worked with so many people in what he considers a critical industry that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to support education and other services in Colorado.

“I will say that it has been an honor to advocate on behalf of the men and women who work in this industry,” Haley said. “I really truly believe in what they’re doing every day. And I believe it’s good for our state and our country, and it’s been an honor to represent them at the state Capitol and in those regulatory rooms.”

Despite “healthy disagreements,” Gov. Jared Polis said he appreciates Haley’s willingness to discuss difficult issues.

“Governor Polis is committed to securing Colorado a cleaner, more affordable, and more sustainable energy future. This important work requires open-minded industry partners to move Colorado forward,” Eric Maruyama, deputy press secretary for the governor, said in a statement to The Denver Gazette. “Despite healthy disagreements, Governor Polis has always appreciated Dan’s willingness to come to the table, to have honest discussions, and to work together to help Colorado reach our goals.”

Hayley said the contribution of the oil and gas industry to the economy of the state should not be underestimated — but that it often is.

“If Colorado were to eliminate oil and natural gas development, they would eliminate $2 billion in local and state taxes — $400 million of that goes to K-12 schools in Colorado,” Haley said. “$700 million of that goes to local services like police firefighters, rec centers, parks across the state, not to mention the jobs and all that comes with having good paying jobs in Colorado.”

One of the seemingly intractable problems Haley has grappled with is ground level ozone levels in northeastern Colorado and the Denver metro area.

What’s called the Denver metro Front Range ozone nonattainment region has been out of compliance with increasingly stringent ozone regulations for decades — so much so that the region was downgraded by the EPA from serious to severe in September 2023.

According to a 2017 report from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, sources outside of the region contribute 40 to 50 ppb of “background” ozone to the region, leaving less than 30 ppb generated by local pollution that can be controlled.

One reason Colorado has to work extra hard is because, according to the Air Pollution Control Division, in 2023 roughly 78% of ozone in the nonattainment area comes from background, natural, wildfire and other anthropogenic sources outside the area, including from states upwind and from as far away as China.

That means Colorado only has the ability to control about 22% of the ozone that is putting the state in violation of Clean Air Act standards, according to air pollution experts. That also means it may be impossible to ever meet the EPA standards, according to a state official.

Haley said that it was already difficult to meet EPA’s 75 parts per billion standards, and even more difficult to meet the new 70 ppb standard.

“The head of the Regional Air Quality Council said that on a podcast,” Haley said. “Mike Silverstein said if you eliminated the oil and gas industry, we wouldn’t be able to meet that ozone standard. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our part. We have been doing our part. We’ll continue to do our part. This is an economy wide effort. And even at that, we may not meet that tighter standard.”

Haley also said that it’s unfair to scapegoat the oil and gas industry regarding ozone pollution given that there are so many other sources for ozone-causing chemicals but which cannot be as easily controlled as the oil and gas industry.

“Colorado cannot solve global climate change alone and certainly not by squeezing a single industry into arbitrary reduction goals for resources that Coloradans will rely on for decades to come,” Haley had said in a 2021 interview.

But Haley said he also believes there are people who don’t care about the benefits of oil and gas and they are determined to end extraction, regardless of the cost to Colorado’s economy.

“I think when you have these conversations, that doesn’t move a lot of people,” Haley said. “Some people don’t care, right? They don’t care if we have these jobs here in the state. But I think when you’re talking to some lawmakers or even the governor, they understand the importance of having industry and jobs in our state.”

Haley said he is proud of being an advocate for the industrial trades, in which people work with their hands.

“I always worry how to say this — helping people in Colorado attain the American dream, the Colorado dream of working in the state and knowing that it’s okay to have a job where you work with your hands,” Haley said. “Maybe some of these industries may not be the trendiest industries out there, but they’re vital and essential to our past, to our way of life now, and to our future. How do you help those industries like oil and gas continue to work here in Colorado? I would love to stay in that sort of space.”