The wide divide between oil and gas development and environmental protection was on full display as a conservation organization representative debated one from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.

Katherine Merlin, of Wild Earth Guardians, and Dan Haley, COGA, debated how much mineral extraction is enough in Colorado at the Colorado Sun SunFest last month at the University of Denver.

Merlin is a climate and energy litigator with the conservation organization. Haley is the president and CEO of COGA, a state industry trade association.

Moderated by Colorado Sun reporter Mark Jaffe, the debate underscored the tension between environmental protection and industry interests, with both sides calling for more effective and enforceable regulations.

Merlin kicked off the discussion, saying that the state legislature made huge changes to laws regulating how oil and gas extraction is done in 2019 — but has failed to keep its promise to residents living near oil and gas infrastructure.

“We were not supposed to have new oil and gas development within 2,000 feet of people’s homes because the evidence is clear that health impacts occur at least up to 2,000 feet away from these well pad surfaces,” Merlin said.

But, she said, the 2,000-foot setback rule has an “off ramp” that allows well pads much closer to homes.

“We need rules that actually say, hey, some things aren’t allowed,” Merlin said. “And it’s not a matter of your economic convenience. It’s not a matter of your technological feasibility. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. And that’s what we’re missing right now.”

Haley responded, calling setbacks “a very blunt instrument” and asking whether the goal is to regulate emissions from wells or to ban oil and gas drilling entirely.

“They are not protective. There is no data or science that says a setback is more protective than anything else,” Haley said. “We have tens of thousands of data points — air monitoring data points — showing that we are protective at 500 feet, a thousand feet, 1,500 feet, 2,000 feet.”

The current regulations state that except for schools and childcare centers, reduced setbacks as close as 200 feet may be allowable when “substantially equivalent protections for public health, safety, welfare, the environment, and wildlife resources, including Disproportionately Impacted Communities.”

“I’ll say what the goal is,” Merlin said. “The goal is to reduce emissions, or the goal is to get rid of the industry. And I would say that our goal should be to protect the people that live here and to protect our environment.”

Merlin then turned the discussion towards the high ozone problems the state faces in the Denver metro Northern Front Range ozone nonattainment region, where ozone levels exceeding Environmental Protection Agency standards have been a problem for decades.

Merlin said that pine trees and cars are “certainly” part of the ozone problem, but that oil and gas operations can be more easily regulated.

“We have air that is at unsafe levels, and we can blame it on a multiplicity of factors … but of all those factors that are contributing, oil and gas is the one that we can control,” Merlin added. “We can’t control pine trees.”

Since the state can’t regulate the cars that people are allowed to drive or cap miles driven, Merlin said reducing emissions that help cause ozone formation from oil and gas operations can protect public health and safety. She also criticized state regulatory bodies for not following the intent of the state legislature with respect to reducing ozone levels.

“But we could also regulate the oil and gas industry, and if we can protect public health and safety, if we can protect our children, if we can protect our environment and get our air to healthy levels, … then you can have an oil and gas industry,” Merlin said. “But I just don’t think that your industry should come at the expense of the people who are living here.”

Haley countered, saying that according to modeling and monitoring data, industry emissions only contribute about 3-to-7% of the region’s ozone-producing chemicals, and that about 70% of those chemicals have either natural sources like wetlands and pine trees, or are blown into the region from out of state, and sometimes from other countries.

“This will not be solved by one industry, and we need to have realistic expectations of what’s happening in Colorado with ozone,” Haley said. “If we eliminated all the people in Colorado, it might be very difficult to meet this new federal ozone standard of 70 parts per billion. So, I think the topic often wrongly assumes that oil and gas is a larger contributor to Colorado ozone problem than it really is.”

Haley also said that in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry was almost completely shut down in Colorado, and vehicle traffic levels plummeted, and yet the ozone levels remained above EPA standards.

“Let’s talk about doing what we can do as far as the industry alone could not solve the problem. Well, that’s actually not true,” said Merlin. “I mean, the RAQC (Regional Air Quality Council) just a couple years ago attributed 8.6 parts per billion of our ozone non-attainment to the oil and gas industry. 8.6 parts per billion would put us back in attainment.”

The oil and gas industry is committed to reducing emissions and improving practices, Haley said, but emphasized the need for certainty and flexibility in regulations. He argued that oil and gas production is essential for energy needs and should be done domestically under strict environmental standards, not outsourced to places that don’t have strict environmental standards.