Colorado voters in November will consider banning oil and gas drilling within 2,500 feet of homes, businesses and many green spaces, a move that would effectively prohibit it in most of the U.S.’s seventh largest oil-producing state.
Colorado Rising submitted 123,195 verified signatures to get the initiative on the ballot, above the 98,492 required, state officials said on Wednesday.
It would also affect an estimated 147,800 jobs, a July 2018 report by free-enterprise group Common Sense Policy Roundtable said.
There is one thing that seems certain: the outcome in Colorado could significantly change the oil and gas game in Wyoming.
“There could be a net positive for Wyoming, but maybe it’s a net negative,” said Scott Prestidge, of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. “It’s hard to tell how wide and broad those impacts could be because this is uncharted territory.”