October 30, 2008 09:28 PM UTC

Truth winning out on Amendment 58

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• by: TheBell

News flash: Denver-based Berry Petroleum Co. announced Wednesday that it posted third-quarter earnings of $53.3 million — a 98 percent increase over the third quarter of 2007.

News flash: Denver-based Berry Petroleum Co. spends $65,000 to fight Amendment 58.

With millions being made in Colorado’s oil and gas fields, maybe Berry should have spent even more to fight Amendment 58.

But the problem for Berry and other large energy companies is that the truth is winning out on Amendment 58.

They tried to scare voters into thinking that Amendment 58 would raise gasoline and natural gas and even grocery bills, but none other than Xcel Energy knocked that down, calling it a “falsehood.”

No, the truth is that Amendment 58 will cost the energy companies a little more money — about what they pay in neighboring Wyoming. In fact, even if Amendment 58 passes, Colorado will still have the lowest effective severance tax rate among the nation’s top energy-producing states.

We want Berry Petroleum and other energy companies to succeed. They are important to Colorado’s economy. A small increase in severance taxes won’t put much of a dent in that 98 percent increase in earnings.