Gov. John Hickenlooper told a crowd of energy industry and civic leaders on Wednesday that he doesn’t expect restrictions on hydraulic fracturing and drilling to reach the ballot next year. The former geologist contended that enthusiasm for anti-fracking measures has ebbed since a year ago, when ballot measures were at the center of hotly contested political fights.
“There will be proposals,” he said, “but I don’t think there’ll be something funded to a significant extent. I don’t expect there to be something that’ll get on the ballot.”
Fracking, Hickenlooper said, has been “a lightning rod” that has drawn concern, but it’s up to the industry and its supporters to dispel myths about the process, he said. “We’re going to begin to see kids in school and people all over the state having a much more balanced approach,” he added, when the facts are better understood.