Weapons of Mass Obstruction: How the Environmental Lobby Stymies Energy Production and Hurts America

Policy Brief No. 2013-1 * 2013-02-13 16:17:02

By Kelly Sloan

Abstract: Editor: The militant environmental lobby has developed a successful playbook for using legal strategies to deny, delay, and deter energy production on public lands in Colorado. Known as “the Colorado Model," it is now being applied across the country. Its impact is to curtail domestic energy production, slow the onset of American energy independence, block job creation and economic growth, and drive up costs for both consumers and taxpayers. This policy brief looks three case studies of the model at work in western Colorado, illustrating how the environmental lobby deploys its "weapons of mass obstruction." We conclude with a menu of recommended policy solutions.