Commissioners plan opposition letter to ECMC petition from WildEarth Guardians; ask staff to gather emissions and health data

Rio Blanco County commissioners discussed a petition submitted to the Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) by WildEarth Guardians and considered preparing an opposition letter; they asked county staff to gather air‑quality data and coordinate with regional stakeholders before testifying.

Commissioners and staff characterized the petition as seeking stricter reporting requirements and broader regulatory changes focused on greenhouse‑gas emissions. One commissioner said the petition’s rhetoric often described operators’ reporting as “wildly” inaccurate and asked staff to clarify what the petition meant by that term. “They tend to put in these sentences in their petition... they were questioning the operators and what they're reporting by saying wildly incredible,” the commissioner said.

Reese, staff member, noted that operators typically monitor emissions at well sites and that much of the petition’s concern centers on whether current monitoring and regulatory approaches sufficiently protect public health and air quality. Commissioners asked staff to consult the county public-health director and to discuss available monitoring data, including any site-specific operator monitoring and CDPHE records, to assemble a factual record before submitting comments or testifying.

Commissioners also flagged questions about the petition’s references to the “social cost of carbon,” which they described as variable and difficult to quantify. One commissioner said the petition’s social-cost requests appeared to lack robust, locally applicable metrics and expressed skepticism about relying on those figures.

Several commissioners emphasized the county’s economic reliance on energy production and said that any policy change should consider regional energy demand and the comparative environmental costs of importing energy from elsewhere. One commissioner suggested the petition’s proposals risked discouraging operators from producing energy in Colorado, shifting production to other regions with potentially higher environmental impacts.

Reese said the ECMC had declined a similar petition in the past, and commissioners discussed the procedural timeline and the county’s opportunity to provide comments. Commissioners requested staff coordination with West Slope COCA (a regional organization identified in discussion) and with local operators and public-health staff to assemble emissions data and a response strategy. Reese said he would help coordinate those efforts and that commissioners would have another opportunity to engage during any rulemaking process should ECMC accept the petition.

No formal action or vote was recorded; the work session concluded with staff direction to gather data and coordinate with regional partners prior to drafting a formal comment or testimony.