Protest at County Commissioners Office: Defend Boulder County! May 1st

Dear Community Defenders, This Week the Boulder County Commissioners Announced They Will Not Extend the Moratorium, and Will Allow it to Expire May 1st Unfortunately, they also have given no support for a proposed lawsuit to protect our health, safety and welfare from the dangers of fracking. Our Last Hope: A Legal Approach

Now, though our own legal efforts, we the people intend to stand up for our rights and assert these rights in court. Here is how:

1. Seek Injunction. Would create an immediate pause so that fracking cannot begin soon after May 1st while we push forward a more long term legal strategy described below. With the recent explosion in Firestone that tragically killed two men in a home near afracking well as well as the victory in the Martinez case, we have strong grounds to pause all activity on fracking for oil and gas. Because of the recent explosion, the commissioners have called for a pause on all vertical wells. We need to call on them to expand the stay to horizontal wells, as well. 2. Protect Boulder County Open space. The people of Boulder County have invested over $100 million in open space. The Open Space Trust, which is a contract, states that open space is only to be used for agricultural use, passive recreation and environmental conservation. We intend to defend open space based upon constitutional rights to preserve the agreement of the Open Space Trust. We will also raise constitutional rights to protect our health, safety, property and the environment. If they are unwilling to take on their responsibility as the trustees of open space, we are calling on them to step aside and allow the people to defend it. The commissioners can do this by appointing an independent trustee that can take legal action on our behalf. 3. Re-establish the right of local initiative. Local bans and moratoria were overturned using preemption. This worked only because the state sued the city councils, and the people were not parties, with the right to bring constitutional law claims. State preemption can overturn ordinances of a city council, but it does not trump the people’s constitutional right of initiative, a fundamental right of the highest order.

Join The Protest at the County Commissioners Office & pressure them to Support Legal Defense of Boulder County The county commissioners have shown through their actions that they do not feel responsible for protecting the health and safety of their constituents. Join us in upcoming actions to demand that they uphold their duty and make our Open Space tax dollars available to support legal actions, which are our last resort for protecting our beautiful home. Whether or not you can attend, please send an email to the commissioners at oilgascomment@bouldercounty.org demanding that they use public funds to defend Boulder County.

Protest Details

What: Protest at County Commissioners Office When: Monday, May 1st, 12pm-1pm Why: To demand that county commissioners financially back law suits to protect Boulder County Where: Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St Boulder, CO 80302 What to bring: Make a sign that says, "Elise Jones, Deb Gardner and Cindy Domenico, Use public funds to defend open space!" Thank you for standing up for your community!