Environmental activists who oppose oil and gas development like to tell the public they are just seeking reasonable changes to the way energy is developed in Colorado. They have even issued statements to the press like: “This isn’t about banning fracking.” But after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced an indefinite extension of his state’s six-year moratorium on shale gas development, the activists have – once again – revealed their true agenda is banning oil and natural gas development across Colorado.

Governor Cuomo’s decision – which rests on questionable research papers and activists posing as independent scientists –unleashed a flurry of celebrations among environmental activists in Colorado. Frack Free Colorado called the New York ban an “inspiration” and cheered: “What do you say, Colorado? Let’s do this!”

Sierra Club’s Denver Metro Network chapter trumpeted that a ban on fracking in Colorado would be next:

Food & Water Watch echoed: “Let Colorado follow suit!”

In fact, Food & Water Watch’s Mountain West Region Director Sam Schabacker told the Colorado Independent it was time to “ban fracking in Colorado”:

“Fractivist” Shane Davis, the local representative of the anti-energy Gasland campaign out of New York, provided the graphical representation of the sentiment:

This just goes to show the dishonesty of anti-energy activists when they cloak their agenda in the rhetoric of local control, and it’s not the first time they have been caught in the act.

For example, Food and Water Watch – which actively campaigns for statewide, national, and global bans on hydraulic fracturing – co-founded a group last year called Local Control Colorado, which operated under the slogan “Your Town, Your Call.” Local Control Colorado told the media:

 “This isn’t about banning fracking, it is about giving communities the ability to put some controls on development – community by community.”

In an interview with Bloomberg, a Local Control Colorado representative went further and said:

 “I’m not anti-fracking … It’s strictly about giving them the constitutional protections, as a community, to be able to regulate oil and gas as they see fit.”

But during a strategy call with Americans Against Fracking, Local Control Colorado announced:

“Those of us who are working to ban fracking will be excited to hear that under the name of Local Control Colorado, a coalition of grassroots groups has moved forward to create a statewide ballot measure.”

The strategy call even ended with the activists chanting, “Ban fracking now!” The total disconnect between their talking points for the press and their internal confabs with fellow “ban fracking” activists led the conservative political website Colorado Peak Politics to conclude “either they don’t understand what they’re pushing or are willfully misleading Coloradans.”

At this week’s oil and gas task force meeting in Greeley, we can only hope the activists will be open about what they really want – as they were when they celebrated New York’s ban on fracking and thirsted after one in Colorado.