MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Jared Polis, a US House of Representatives member for Colorado, has agreed to withdraw two fracking initiatives to be undertaken in Colorado, The Time reported.
The decision came after people in Colorado displayed massive opposition to fracking activities in the state.
“We are outraged to see politicians once again prioritizing political expediency over the health and well-being of Coloradans. The proposed compromise represents a failure on the part of both Polis and Hickenlooper to protect Coloradans from the dangers of fracking,” Russell Mendell of Frack Free Colorado was quoted by The Time as saying.
The decision of withdrawal is not, however, in the interest of local people. This is because Polis together with Hickenlooper, made a decision to establish a task force led by XTO Energy president Randy Cleveland instead of granting the public the right to vote on any drilling and fracking activities in their state, The Time reported.
The move has precipitated massive acrimony among Coloradans, prompting them to send a letter of disapproval to the politicians and label the situation as “a democracy crisis” in addition to an environmental one, the CommonDreams website reported. Specifically, Coloradans voiced concerns that they were deprived of the possibility to vote in the interests of their own well-being.
The withdrawal of the fracking initiatives by Polis is seen to be in the interests of political expediency. The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper reporting on the US Congress, said that Polis intended to become the next chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Colorado’s Kdvr.com reported that Democrats are utterly concerned about the strong opposition to the anti-fracking activities, which is bound to “effectively pump another $10 million into the GOP [Republican] field operation this fall, likely imperiling [US Senator Mark] Udall and [Democratic congressional candidate Andrew] Romanoff’s chances of victory.”
