Colorado oil and gas industry argues for 'economically reasonable' greenhouse gas policies

Colorado’s oil and gas industry believes that the Polis Administration’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should allow flexibility in achieving targets, apply broadly to all sectors and be “economically reasonable.”

The Greenhouse Gas Roadmap, a draft of which Gov. Jared Polis released in September, “does not evaluate whether the proposed reductions for the oil and gas sector are technically feasible or economically reasonable,” wrote Lynn Granger, the executive director of API Colorado, in a Nov. 12 letter to the Colorado Energy Office.

“API CO urges the State of Colorado to consider how it can achieve its climate ambitions while maintaining the State's economic competitiveness and doing so without undue harm to Its consumers, workers, and businesses,” she added.

The roadmap stems from 2019 legislation that required reductions of greenhouse gas emissions relative to 2005 levels that amount to a 50% cut by 2030 and a 90% reduction by 2050. The document sets targets by sector, and identifies the oil and gas industry as one of the top sources of carbon dioxide emissions.

Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, wrote in a separate letter that by “setting performance-based standards and not mandating the use of specific technologies, Colorado can accelerate innovation and allow industry to succeed in ways that strengthen the economy and achieve GHG emissions results.”

API Colorado also urged a focus on the economic impacts of environmental regulations on low-income and communities of color, and to be mindful of the jobs the industry supports.

“In recent years, the oil and gas sector has achieved extraordinary emission reductions. Since the early 2000s, a series of rulemakings in conjunction with technological advances in design and operations have combined to decrease emissions from this sector,” Granger explained. “API CO supports global action that drives GHG emission reductions and economic development.”