Government Monitor: A battle in Colorado

On the face of it, a proposal in Colorado to guarantee consumers the right to purchase natural gas for cooking or heating and for producers and utilities to sell it doesn’t seem very controversial.

But initial impressions can be deceiving.

In response to the proposed ballot measure to amend the state Constitution, an environmental group fired back in March by filing preliminary ballot measures that would Impose strict liability requirements on natural gas operators and block utilities from passing pipeline expansion or decommissioning costs onto existing customers, among other things.

Brian Ford

The actions threatened to upend a 2024 truce between fossil fuel interests and environmental organizations to halt a so-called “oil and gas ballot war” in the Centennial State.

In October 2025, Advance Colorado, a conservative organization whose stated goal is “to push back on the progressive policies that have put our state on the wrong track,” filed a draft initiative to enshrine the right to buy and sell natural gas in the state Constitution. In order to get Initiative 177 on the state voting ballot next fall, the group would need to gather petition signatures amounting to 2% of all registered voters in all 35 state Senate districts. State law provides that petitioners have 180 days to collect signatures after the ballot language and title are finalized.

The Denver, Colorado-headquartered Independence Institute, a free-market, libertarian think tank, wrote that the natural gas initiative “leaves every existing rule in place and does not weaken air quality standards, setback requirements or production fees. Instead, it simply bars the government from banning Coloradans from purchasing natural gas or prohibiting utilities from selling it, a direct response to gas-hookup bans already enacted in Lafayette and Crested Butte.”

But the initiative did not sit well with environmental organizations, including Conservation Colorado. This March, the group responded by filing four of its own proposed state ballot measures, calling Initiative 177 a “cynical attempt by Advance Colorado to lock into the state constitution the ability of the fossil fuel industry to sue to stop renewable energy policies.”

“If the Advanced Colorado initiative moves forward, we’ll work to inform Coloradans of the risks and ensure industry is fully accountable for the impacts of drilling,” said Kelly Nordini, chief executive officer of Conservation Colorado.

The four Conservation Colorado proposals would:

• Impose strict liability on current oil and gas company owners for environmental damage
• Create joint and several liability for past and current oil and gas operators
• Ban distributors and utilities from passing pipeline expansion or decommissioning costs to existing customers, and
• Require oil and gas operators to fully pay the cost of cleaning up contaminated aquifers.

The Independence Institute blasted the Conservation Colorado retaliatory ballot proposals, saying they were “designed to make the future of Colorado oil and gas as bleak as possible.”

The joint and several liability measure was the “most dangerous of the bunch,” the Independence Institute said, continuing: “Under joint and several liability, a plaintiff can demand the full cost of alleged damages from any one company, even if that operator was responsible for only a tiny share of the activity or sold its interests years ago. This is an open invitation to sue whoever has the deepest pockets.”

The fusillade of competing ballot measures threatened to blow up what has been called a fragile truce between environmental interests and oil and gas leaders that was reached in 2024 with the assistance of Governor Jared Polis.

During that year, oil and gas interest groups and environmentalists proposed competing ballot initiatives, while state lawmakers mulled strict air quality rules for the drilling industry, according to CPR News. All sides agreed to halt their plans in order to keep the competing initiatives off the ballot. Instead, Polis signed a bill requiring oil and gas companies to pay a fee to fund transportation projects. That deal was intended to stay in place until 2028, according to news reports.

But with the initiative by Advance Colorado to cement the right to buy and sell natural gas in the state Constitution, Conservation Canada accused the oil and gas industry of breaking its word.

Advance Colorado maintained it was never part of the 2024 deal, according to news reports.

As of early April, it remained to be seen whether the various factions could reach some accord or if a full-out ballot fight would break out.