In Colorado, oil companies work behind the scenes to degrade public land protections by financing pro-industry “astroturf” groups that pretend to represent citizens. Groups with misleading names like “Coloradans For Responsible Energy Development” and “Protecting Colorado” funnel millions of dollars from oil companies into campaigns against actual citizen-led initiatives seeking to safeguard public lands from unrestricted oil development.
Money Trails unmasks the oil companies trying to fool Coloradans into deregulating public lands development at the behest of oil and gas industry, showing what they really are: special interests who put profits over Colorado by threatening the state’s public lands, recreation economy, and outdoor heritage.
-Public land supports 229,000 jobs in Colorado, generating $28 billion in consumer spending and $2 billion in state and local tax revenue.
-Colorado has 23,849,572 acres of federal public land including more than a million acres of vital National Conservation lands spanning two national monuments, three national conservation areas, and five wilderness areas.
-Colorado has four national parks-- Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, and Rocky Mountain.