Big oil weighs in big in Longmont fracking vote

Cathy Proctor – Reporter- Denver Business Journal

Two groups opposed to a local Longmont ballot initiative that would ban fracking within the city limits have raised $507,500 to defeat it, according to documents filed with the Longmont City Clerk’s office.

The bulk of the money — which came from oil and gas companies and industry trade groups in Colorado and across the country — was raised prior to Oct. 16, when the Longmont Taxpayers for Common Sense reported it had raised $447,500 in contributions to defeat the ballot issue. A second group also opposed to the ballot, Main Street Longmont, reported Tuesday it had raised $60,000.

The pro-initiative group — Our Health, Our Future, Our Longmont — reported raising $15,138 in cash to support its campaign. Counting in-kind contributions, the group has amassed a total of $24,408, according to reports filed with Longmont’s City Clerk’s office.

The biggest contributor to the group supporting a ban on fracking in the city was Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., that’s made $8,643 in in-kind contributions, according to reports filed by the campaign.

Read More at The Denver Business Journal