{"id":730,"date":"2020-12-01T21:05:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T21:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=130390"},"modified":"2020-12-01T21:05:49","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T21:05:49","slug":"protect-us-colorado-high-school-students-post-video-pleading-with-local-authorities-to-ban-fracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/01\/protect-us-colorado-high-school-students-post-video-pleading-with-local-authorities-to-ban-fracking\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Protect Us&#8217;: Colorado High School Students Post Video Pleading With Local Authorities to Ban Fracking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p>Students at a Colorado high school on Monday published a poignant video pleading with local authorities to ban a proposed hydraulic fracturing operation near their campus.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\"><span>&#8220;Especially during a pandemic, if anything were to happen to the outdoors it would be a disaster for my mental health as well as that of my friends.&#8221;<br \/>\u2014Mercer Stauch, Niwot High School<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2020\/12\/01\/%E2%80%9CEspecially%20during%20a%20pandemic,%20if%20anything%20were%20to%20happen%20to%20the%20outdoors%20it%20would%20be%20a%20disaster%20for%20my%20mental%20health%20as%20well%20as%20that%20of%20my%20friends,%E2%80%9D\">video<\/a>, produced by the Niwot High School Environmental Club in Niwot\u2014a small town of 4,100 residents located about 35 miles north of Denver\u2014calls on the Boulder County Commission to ban fracking. The students&#8217; school is located just three miles from the proposed Crestone Peak Resources fracking site, which, with 140 wells, would be the largest such facility in Colorado.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The idea that elected officials would allow for something that is so detrimental to the environment and to our health is mind-blowing,&#8221;&nbsp;said Niwot High freshman Desta Soma in the video.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Don\u2019t Let Them Frack Our Future - A Message From the Niwot High School Environmental Club\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/srSUEOmgtHM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>The students timed the video&#8217;s release to coincide with a Tuesday county commission meeting where members will hear public comment on proposed revisions to local regulations governing oil and gas operations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We, the youth of Colorado, simply ask our elected officials to do their job, to protect us by using their power and the opportunity presented by <a href=\"https:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/sb19-181\">S.B. 19-181<\/a> to protect Colorado&#8217;s future,&#8221; implored Niwot High senior Maya Beauvineau, referring a measure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/04\/16\/colorado-oil-gas-bill-signed-gov-jared-polis\/\">signed into law<\/a> last year by Gov. Jared Polis that gives local authorities more power to regulate fossil fuel companies&#8217; activities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Especially during a pandemic, if anything were to happen to the outdoors it would be a disaster for my mental health as well as that of my friends,&#8221; Mercer Stauch, a junior, said in the video. Another unidentified student added that fracking &#8220;affects us mentally, physically, and socially.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\n<p><iframe title=\"How does fracking work? - Mia Nacamulli\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Tudal_4x4F0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"block-inject-16\" class=\"block-inject block-inject-16\">\n<div id=\"block-block-86\" class=\"block block--block block--block-86\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Last September, a Boulder County District Court judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bouldercounty.org\/news\/statements-on-crestone-8-north-oil-and-gas-court-rulings\/\">dismissed<\/a> 20 of 34 claims in a lawsuit filed by the commissioners in an effort to halt Crestone\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.crestonepeakresources.com\/\">one of the largest<\/a>&nbsp;oil and natural gas&nbsp;extractors in the Denver-Julesberg Basin\u2014from developing the site.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-cards=\"hidden\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">The largest fracking site in Colorado is proposed to be developed only 3 miles from Niwot High School. These students need your help urging their commissioners to keep Boulder County frack-free by watching and retweeting! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tkzwWHwFfq\">https:\/\/t.co\/tkzwWHwFfq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 350 Colorado (@350Colorado) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/350Colorado\/status\/1333886453718380545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 1, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Residents of Boulder County already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lhvc.com\/story\/2019\/10\/02\/news\/boulder-county-lawsuit-against-crestone-peak-dismissed\/5007.html\">suffer<\/a> from exposure to high levels of carcinogens and toxic ozone caused by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greeleytribune.com\/2020\/08\/24\/colorado-regulators-new-oil-gas-rules\/\">more than 20,000<\/a> active oil and gas wells in neighboring Weld County.<\/p>\n<p>One of the Niwot students in the video described having to endure &#8220;a brown haze layer that is steadily growing.&#8221;&nbsp;Another said that &#8220;some days we feel burning sensations in our lungs.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We shouldn&#8217;t be afraid for our health when we step outside our own houses,&#8221; asserted yet another.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/2020\/12\/01\/protect-us-colorado-high-school-students-post-video-pleading-with-local-authorities-to-ban-fracking\/\">Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students at a Colorado high school on Monday published a poignant video pleading with local authorities to ban a proposed hydraulic fracturing operation near their campus.\u00a0 \u201cEspecially during\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":731,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730\/revisions\/731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}