July 07, 2014 10:16 AM UTC

Gardner Recites Every Fracking Fallacy In The Book

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Durango Herald's Brandon Mathis reports, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Cory Gardner has got his talking points on energy down pat.

It's total BS, of course, but he's got great delivery:

U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, seeking to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, defended hydraulic fracturing as a job creator and said bans of the practice would kill thousands of jobs “overnight” in a visit to Durango on Sunday.

His “all-of-the-above energy policy” relies on fracking. [Pols emphasis]

“If an energy ban were to take place in this state, you would lose 120,000 jobs overnight,” he said. “Twelve billion dollars in economic activity would walk away and $1 billion in tax revenues that builds roads and schools in this state.

Colorado has some of, if not the most, stringent regulations in place. A hydraulic fracturing ban on the ballot would be devastating to our economy.”

As our readers know, there is no statewide "fracking" ban proposed by anyone in Colorado for the 2014 elections. Because there is no statewide ban proposed, there is no danger of Colorado "losing 120,000 jobs overnight"–not to mention that the "120,000 jobs" figure has been inflated to the point of total absurdity. Does Gardner really believe that every gas station in Colorado would close "overnight" if his fictitious "fracking" ban were to pass?

The only thing more frustrating than hearing this nonsense from a "competitive" U.S. Senate candidate is a reporter who reprints it without even two seconds of critical thinking. This issue deserves better. Voters deserve better.