Colorado’s Amendment 82 Would Hand the Fossil Fuel Industry a Constitutional Right to Pollute

Earthjustice today blasted Colorado’s Amendment 82 ballot initiative as an attempt by the fossil fuel industry to evade the commonsense laws that protect Coloradans’ clean air and health and urged voters to reject it at the ballot box. The initiative, which was put on the ballot by a dark money group refusing to disclose its funders, would unnecessarily lock in the “right” to buy and sell methane gas in the state’s constitution (buying and selling gas is already legal in Colorado). The real purpose is to limit the state and local government’s ability to regulate corporate polluters through pollution limits and other reasonable measures to protect communities. Experts warn it could also allow utility companies to further raise rates on residents to pay for new pipelines, including infrastructure for new data centers.

“Amendment 82 threatens to take our state backwards and undo years of progress toward cleaner, more affordable energy sources,” said Megan Kemp, state legislative representative with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “If successful, it would provide the fossil fuel industry with a constitutional right to pollute, which will undoubtedly be weaponized to evade the laws that protect our air and health. It is being sold as a way to lower utility costs, but in reality, it will have the opposite effect by allowing utility companies to raise rates to pay for new pipelines and other gas infrastructure for things like data centers. Coloradans should see through the spin and reject Amendment 82 at the ballot box.”

The measure would also undermine Colorado’s efforts to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. For example, in 2021, Colorado passed the nation’s first Clean Heat law enacting greenhouse gas reduction targets for the gas distribution system. Utilities must now file Clean Heat plans showing how they will meet the targets, including by incentivizing electrification. In the years since, Earthjustice and our partners have secured numerous victories in front of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to shift the state away from polluting fossil fuels and toward clean energy, including decisions on Xcel Energy’s and Black Hills’ Clean Heat Plans that have expanded rebates for heat pumps and other electrification measures. These incentives will reduce costs and make clean energy technologies even more affordable for customers. Amendment 82 threatens to undo this progress and tie the hands of state and local decision makers to benefit the fossil fuel industry.

A wide coalition of organizations has spoken out against Amendment 82, including the Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Physicians for Social Responsibility Colorado, Conservation Colorado, League of Women Voters of Colorado, Healthy Air and Water Colorado, Sierra Club Colorado Chapter, Colorado Academy of Family Physicians, 350 Colorado, Western Colorado Alliance for Community Action, Counties & Commissioners Acting Together, and more.