The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Attempt to Secure a Constitutional Right to Pollute in Colorado

When Coloradans head to the ballot box this year, they will have an opportunity to send a resounding message to the fossil fuel industry: no pollution in our state’s constitution!

If that notion sounds absurd, it’s because it is. The fossil fuel industry is attempting to evade the commonsense laws that protect our clean air and health – the laws that everyone else must comply with – to give itself a constitutional right to pollute. On November 3, Coloradans should vote NO on Amendment 82.

This initiative – put on the ballot by a dark money group refusing to disclose its donors – threatens to undo years of hard-fought progress on pollution. It’s also just not necessary. Industry wants to lock in the perpetual “right” to buy and sell methane gas in our state constitution, but this 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. We have energy choice in our state, and consumers should continue to be able to opt for healthier, cleaner means to power their homes rather than be subjected to ongoing pollution and volatile costs from the fossil fuel industry.

The industry is selling Amendment 82 as a way to lower utility costs, but in reality, it would allow utility companies to further raise rates on residents to pay for new pipelines and other infrastructure for things like data centers. Providing monopoly utilities with a constitutional right to raise our energy prices would be a devastating blow to Colorado families and would be nearly impossible to undo.

Methane gas also poses risks to public health and safety throughout its lifecycle. People who live near oil and gas activities are more likely to be exposed to air and water pollution (via well design/construction/maintenance, groundwater contamination, fuel transport, fuel extraction and processing, and fuel burning). Benzene, a known carcinogen, is one of the many pollutants that can negatively impact residents who live near gas activities. Gas extraction also releases nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds that form ozone, and our state is already in severe nonattainment on federal ozone standards. Gas used in homes is confirmed to have health-harming pollutants like VOCs that can cause cancer and other illnesses; in fact, studies have confirmed over 21 different hazardous air pollutants in consumer-grade gas.

The measure would also undermine Colorado’s efforts to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. Methane is over 80 times more potent to the climate than carbon dioxide. 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.

This could set a dangerous precedent nationwide. If industry is successful in adding this to Colorado’s constitution, they will likely turn to other states with a similar approach. We need to stop this wrongheaded idea in its tracks.

A wide coalition of organizations has come together to defeat 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. Additional information on how to get involved is available at No82.org.

This ballot initiative could take our state backwards and undo years of progress toward cleaner, more affordable energy sources. The only ones who win from this ballot initiative are big corporate polluters. Colorado should see through the industry’s spin and reject Amendment 82 at the ballot box.