As oil and gas markets crash around the globe, Colorado and the United States are facing a looming crisis: thousands of oil and gas drilling sites could be left abandoned and un-reclaimed due to inadequate bonding regulations. Current rules allow oil and gas operators facing bankruptcy off the hook for reclamation and cleanup costs, leaving taxpayers paying the bill. Yesterday, Senator Michael Bennet introduced two bills that will not just address this crisis but also put out-of-work oil and gas workers back on the job cleaning up abandoned well sites. The bills in question are the Onshore Oil and Gas Orphaned Well Remediation and Reclamation Bonding Reform Act and the Public Engagement Opportunity on Public Lands Exploration (PEOPLE) Act of 2020.

Please take a moment to thank Sen. Bennet for his legislation, which will genuinely help Western Colorado communities be more healthy, just, and self-reliant!

Western Coloradans support Senator Bennet’s legislation to fix the growing crisis of under-bonded oil and gas wells across the West. We still live with the unreclaimed remnants of hundreds of oil and gas facilities abandoned across our federal lands, leaving taxpayers with the cleanup costs and often leaving landowners with a mess on their hands. With a new wave of bankruptcies looming, it is critical to fix federal bonding rates now to protect taxpayers and our public lands. This effort, coupled with crucial legislation to protect our communities’ ability to weigh in on land use and management decisions, will make our system work better now and for years to come.

— Steve Allerton, President, Western Colorado Alliance