9NEWS – Millions Spent on Fracking Fight; 2014 Will be Election Year for Fracking

A million dollars has been reportedly spent in the November four-city fight on fracking moratoriums and bans. Another major traunch of money can be seen in television ads right now as the oil and gas industry try to reinforce the statewide public view that the industry is a safe and valuable contributor to the economy.

The money is being spent in December 2013 because:

“Well, I think 2014 will be an election year for fracking,” said 9NEWS political analyst Floyd Ciruli.

Ciruli lists two main objectives for next year for the oil and gas industry:

1. Prevent more attempts to block fracking, especially a statewide ballot question
2. Protect Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado,) a supporter of fracking

“The forces in favor [of fracking] would like to have a positive political environment for him as much as possible,” Ciruli said.

The danger for the incumbent Democrat is that he’s doesn’t see eye to eye with environmentalists on this. “That’s the base of his party,” Ciruli said. “And that’s one of the bases of his support is the environmental community.”

Ciruli says people who live close to fracking often have lower opinions of it, and the industry learned that spending money to fight for votes only gets you so far. “They feel a better investment at the moment is to try and sort of move public opinion in general,” Ciruli said.

See 9NEWS: Fracking ads remain on air after election