Colorado suddenly got pretty cool, guys. I’m not talking about the weed thing; that joke is beyond played out. I’m not even talking about the wind energy thing, although I’m kind of talking about that, in a way.

I’m talking about how the state has decided to do more testing to track pollution from oil and gas drilling. From the Colorado Springs Gazette:

Colorado oil and natural gas regulators on Monday approved rules making the state the first to require energy companies to do groundwater sampling both before and after they drill.

The sampling is meant to show whether supplies of drinking water have been affected by energy development.

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Seems like something worth testing, I guess!

Here is Colorado Springs, a city in Colorado, because I wanted to add a picture

Here is Colorado Springs, a city in Colorado, because I wanted to add a picture.

Moreover, the Summit County Voice reports:

Colorado officials took another small step to address growing public concerns about the impacts of the state’s energy boom by announcing a $1.3 million study of emissions from oil and gas drilling operations.

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According to a press release from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, the study will help provide information about how oil and gas emissions behave, how they travel and their characteristics in areas along the northern Front Range.

A second phase would assess possible health effects using data collected in the first phase.

The emissions study comes after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that oil and gas operations in Colorado were leaking twice the amount of methane originally estimated.

As is always the case, the tests are not as robust as many would like — and oil and gas companies are already wringing their hands about how onerous the studies will be. The Environmental Defense Fund suggested to the Gazette that the water-sampling test was “the weakest program in the nation.” The program will allow the companies to determine the test sites, which leaves some room for deception.

Nonetheless, steps in the right direction. Therefore: COOLER-ado. Colo-RAD-o. My jokes are stupid and I am ashamed of myself.