Well, Colorado lawmakers will spend the final days of this
year S legislative session considering a major climate deal.
Denver Sevens Brandon Richard shows it was put together by
groups who are often at odds with one another when
it comes to what's best for Colorado.
Oil and gas industry and environmentalists are often worlds apart.
People that don't always see eye to eye,
in fact, seldom see eye to eye.
But Colorado Governor Jared Polis says both groups put their
differences aside and reached a major agreement.
What we've done is bring people together,
and that's really the Colorado way.
Under the agreement, the state will get more permitting and
enforcement authority to reduce emissions and improve air quality.
And oil and gas producers will have to pay a
new fee.
Fee will result in about $138 million a year,
Senate President Steve Finberg says.
That money will help pay for transit projects and restore
public lands.
We're excited about this. This is something that we think
is a reasonable approach.
Funding will also be provided to plug abandoned and low
producing wells that emit harmful pollutants.
I really believe that these are monumental next steps in
dealing with ozone and air quality in this state.
Another key part of the deal,
legislation calling for tougher oil and gas regulations will not
move forward this year and both sides have agreed to
scrap their ballot initiatives.
We were really concerned about a series of ballot measures
that were proposed by the oil and gas industry that
we saw as rolling back nearly a decade of climate
progress here in Colorado, Jessica Goad with Conservation Colorado says.
That alone made the deal too hard to pass up.
We believe that this is going to be the right
thing to do for the environment and for Colorado.
Now, to be clear, environmental groups say there's still a
lot that they want to be able to accomplish to
hold oil and gas companies accountable for their actions.
But they say this deal is a step in the
right direction.
It's really taken a lot of time and hard work
and tough conversations with diverse stakeholders.
The question now How many others will jump on board?
Brandon Richard, Denver 7.