Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) delivered a lecture to Colorado's Oil and Gas Association on YouTube, asking them to withdraw the lawsuits they recently filed against two cities that passed fracking moratoriums last month.
"I'm calling on the Colorado Oil and Gas Association to stop suing our communities just because they don't want fracking," Polis said in the video. "Look, there's been a public debate, there's been a vote -- you don't win friends by disregarding a public vote and suing to get your way."
In the state's election last month, voters in four communities succeeded in passing five-year fracking moratoriums or outright bans even though the oil and gas association outspent anti-fracking groups by over $850,000. Three communities -- Fort Collins, Lafayette and Longmont -- are now being sued by the COGA, and Broomfield is being sued for the way they conducted their election, which passed a five-year fracking moratorium but was so close that it triggered a mandatory recount.
Polis also wrote a letter to Tisha Schuller, the president of the COGA on Wednesday, asking her to "Please stop suing the communities I represent."
"The voters made their decision. Within the borders of their city, they decided they don't want fracking," Polis continues in the video. "It's a judgment call, but it's a judgement call for voters in cities, in counties to make. It shows complete disrespect for the system."
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