‘OUR STATE WILL BE FINE WITHOUT THEM’: PROP 112 CAMPAIGN’S SHAMEFUL COMMENTS ON ENERGY WORKERS

State Rep. Joe Salazar, attorney and spokesman for the Proposition 112 campaign, said the following at a small rally outside the State Capitol on Saturday:

“The oil and gas industry needs to be looked at as an immoral industry … It has no business here in the state of Colorado. Our state will be fine without them.”

These disgraceful comments deserve immediate condemnation from political leaders and candidates across the spectrum. Calling tens of thousands of energy workers immoral, saying they have no right to live here, and declaring our state will be fine without them is shameful, dishonest and extreme.

These are decent men and women with families, and thanks to their hard work, we can heat our homes in the winter, drive our cars and keep the lights on year-round, along with so many other modern conveniences that support our way of life. Colorado energy workers are also our friends, neighbors and family members, contributing in countless ways to their communities and our state. But to the Proposition 112 campaign, they are bad people who should be kicked out of our state.

Rep. Salazar’s comments and the cheers he received from Prop 112 activists expose yet again what the Proposition 112 campaign is all about. For all their denials about trying to ban new drilling in Colorado and all their deceptive talking points, Rep. Salazar’s gaffe reveals the truth: Proposition 112 is just an extension of the “ban fracking everywhere” and “keep it in the ground” campaigns of Food & Water Watch in Washington, D.C. and 350.org in New York.

These fringe national groups are heavily supporting Proposition 112 is because they know it will effectively ban new drilling in Colorado and drive the oil and gas sector out of our state, along with tens of thousands of working families. They would call that a huge victory, but the losses for our state would be massive, including almost 150,000 jobs destroyed, a $7-9 billion in shortfall in state and local tax revenue for schools and other essential services, and roughly $200 billion in economic losses over the next decade.