A Smarter Colorado: Investing in our future
Vote YES on Amendment 58
Yes on Amendment 58 means smarter investments for a better future
In the 1970s, Colorado leaders thought the oil and gas industry in our
state needed a leg up. The industry was experiencing another bust in
Colorado due to lower prices. At the time, leaders thought it was a
good idea to set into play a tax break that would help this struggling
industry regain its footing.
And take hold it did. Today, there are more than 37,000 active oil and
gas wells in Colorado. What once seemed like a reasonable tax incentive
has turned into a $300 million annual handout to the oil and gas
industry.
Environment Colorado believes it’s time to vote yes on 58 and end this subsidy so we can make smarter decisions about Colorado’s future, beginning this
November.
Investing in us, not oil
Voting yes on Amendment 58 will end the tax subsidy and
will free funding for the Colorado Promise Scholarship Fund, investment
in clean energy projects, protecting wild spaces and wildlife habitats,
and offsetting the environmental impact of oil and gas development.
Today’s oil and gas boom is a big bust for Colorado’s wild lands such
as the Roan Plateau, wildlife, water quality, and public health. And
once the oil and gas is gone, so are the jobs and the benefits to
Colorado’s economy promised by the industry.
Thinking ahead
Voting yes on Amendment 58 will allow us to invest in Colorado’s
future by: protecting open spaces, ensuring a skilled workforce and
creating a more sustainable economy that can survive when all the oil
and gas wells have dried up.
But the oil and gas companies will fight hard to keep their corporate
handout. This fall, oil companies such as Chevron and
Encana had already spent more than $3.6 million against this sensible
proposal.
It’ll take a lot of hard work to beat the oil and gas industry, which
can and will outspend us by millions. However, at the end of the day,
it’s voters like you that will decide whether we end the handout to the
oil and gas industry and, instead, create a smarter Colorado this
November.
