Sandra Duggan, Denver Post, October 1st, 2026

Amendment 82 would enshrine the right to buy and sell methane gas in Colorado’s constitution and has the potential to weaken existing environmental protections in state or local laws. These are protections that Coloradans depend on to limit unnecessary water pollution and fracking operations across the state. The measure could, for example, overturn local rules that prohibit the use of fracked gas-fired appliances in new construction. It could also serve as a justification to continue the expansion of fracking into the population centers in the Front Range.

The intentionally misleading amendment is being proposed by the right-wing advocacy group Advance Colorado. This dark money group, which doesn’t disclose its donors, is seeking a permanent constitutional change, the likes of which doesn’t exist in any other state and would likely be irreversible. 

Our communities are increasingly experiencing the direct health, environmental, and economic impacts of a fossil-fueled climate crisis. Colorado just recorded its hottest summer in history. Worsening drought is impacting freshwater sources and the Colorado River, causing major lakes and reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell to hit new all-time record lows. Wildfires burned approximately 235,000 acres across the state during the 2026 fire season. Coloradans strongly support developing our state’s plentiful clean, affordable, renewable energy, including solar, wind and geothermal energy. Our state should focus on transitioning beyond fossil fuels, not locking in a permanent new right for corporate polluters into our constitution.

Sandra Duggan