Millionaire Boulder Congressman Jared Polis has a long history of pushing the agenda of “ban fracking” activists like Gasland director Josh Fox. Polis hosted a Capitol Hill press conference for Fox in 2011 (left) and promised the New York filmmaker at a Boulder rally in August 2014 to bring back anti-energy measures for Colorado’s statewide ballot in 2016. (Photos – Earthworks, Boulder Daily Camera)

This morning, one of the largest newspapers in Colorado – The Fort Collins Coloradoan – printed an editorial endorsing the opponent of Boulder Congressman Jared Polis. Now, this would be exciting for any long-shot Republican campaigning in a college town, but one of the reasons why the Coloradoan chose not to endorse Congressman Polis was what Energy In Depth found most interesting.

The Coloradoan stated that:

“Leing’s opponent, incumbent Jared Polis, a Democrat from Boulder, didn’t impress the editorial board… Polis has led state ballot initiatives, often funded with his own money, to boost local control over oil and gas development. He halted that effort so Gov. John Hickenloooper could create an appointed commission to study issues, including fracking, and develop proposals for the state Legislature. Yet, when asked about his actions, Polis said he believes the issue will return to the state ballot at the same time noting that citizen initiatives aren’t particularly effective.”

Despite the Congressman’s claims that he’s pro-energy, it seems that the editorial board at the Coloradoan has seen straight through that tall tale. They’re not impressed with Congressman Polis’ pandering to avowed anti-energy activists like Josh Fox, Mark Ruffalo, Yoko Ono and anti-energy crusaders like Tom Steyer.

As many remember, the Polis-funded anti-fracking group, Coloradans for Safe and Clean Energy (or “Safe Clean Colorado” for short), was also taken to task earlier this year by a separate editorial editor: Vincent Carroll with the Denver Post:

“Coloradans for Safe and Clean Energy, which is handling the campaign for Initiatives 88 and 89, has a website claiming, ‘Current laws allow fracking anytime, anywhere in Colorado.’ This is a lie in so many ways that it’s hard to know where to start.”

Safe and Clean Colorado is currently lobbying the new Colorado oil and gas task force to endorse the same anti-energy agenda Congressman Polis was going to take to the ballot – an agenda  that both Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper AND his Republican challenger, Bob Beauprez, have called “radical.”

When two widely-read newspapers in Colorado call attention to the fact that responsible leaders don’t jeopardize industries that support well over 100,000 jobs in our state, it shows you just how fringe the “ban fracking” movement has become here in Colorado.