Colorado Prop. 112

Environmentalists lost against an energy-backed Goliath on Tuesday when Colorado voters rejected a ballot measure, 57 percent to 43 percent, that called for severely curtailing where oil and gas wells could be drilled across the state.

Proponents pushed a similar measure in 2016 that never made the ballot. Then, in April 2017,  two people died in a house explosion caused by a nearby gas well in Firestone, Colorado. The accident galvanized green activists to try again.

This year’s measure would have increased the distance oil and gas wells needed to be set back from homes, schools, waterways and other areas. Had it passed, the current 500-foot buffer would have grown to 2,500 feet.

Local supporters raised about $1.3 million, including from environmental groups as far away as Washington, D.C.

But the oil and gas industry reared up against the measure, which one estimate said would have placed 54 percent of the state’s land off limits to new wells. Almost entirely fueled by energy industry cash, opponents raised more than $42 million, state campaign records show.

“We appreciate our fellow Coloradans’ support for responsible energy development,” said Chip Rimer, chairman of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association’s board and an executive at Houston-based Noble Energy. “This measure was an extreme proposal that would have had devastating impacts across the state on jobs, education and numerous other programs.”

Still, some proponents plan to keep fighting. “We are as strong as $40 million industry dollars,” wrote Brett Fleishman on Twitter late Tuesday after it was clear his side had lost. “And we ain’t going away, we growin!”