American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015 - 119

ConventionSection: Colorado Oil & Gas Association
"We did comment on some legislation
that did not deal directly with oil and
gas, but that would have affected the
larger Colorado business community."

Mind-Set Shift
Flanders describes the 2015 session
as a culmination of COGA and industry's
hard work to explain the minutiae and
impact of the state's oil and gas sector.
"Over the past few years, we have been
doing a lot of what we like to call 'unsexy'
work," he describes. "That includes meeting with legislators and the public oneon-one, discussing oil and gas with them
on doorsteps, in coffee shops, and in
town hall meetings. I think we saw all
that work finally coming together this
past session."
Flanders also explains how he thinks
the drop in oil prices, which led to some
Colorado companies downsizing and/or
moving, changed some legislators' outlook. He says lawmakers saw firsthand
how Colorado energy companies had
benefitted the state's economy.
"Our industry was holding the Colorado

economy together so much during the
national recession, Colorado didn't feel
the downturn the way other states did,"
Flanders elaborates. "When the oil prices
started going down, we saw legislators
get more nervous because they began to
realize how critical oil and gas was to
our everyday economic success."
He points out that legislators also
started catching onto which public groups
were willing to work with industry and
regulators to find "winnable solutions"
for all parties, and which ones were not.
Because of that, Flanders opines, legislators
did not propose as much anti-industry
legislation as they had in years past.
"I think they started to distinguish between activists and people who had legitimate questions and concerns about
oil and gas operations," he evaluates.
"Whereas concerned people will work
with us to find solutions, activists only
want to run oil and gas out of town
forever. I think legislators started to see
that difference and responded positively
toward the oil and gas industry, because
they know we are willing to find workable

and reasonable solutions rather than demagogue an issue."

Energy Summit
With the global energy puzzle ever
evolving, COGA members and others
can catch glimpses of the larger oil and
gas stage during the association's annual
Rocky Mountain Energy Summit, Aug.
24-27 at Denver's Colorado Convention
Center, Landry notes.
This summit's theme is "The Global
Energy Puzzle," she says, adding that the
association has coordinated several puzzle- and energy-related decorations in the
expo hall. "I think it really will provide an
engaging and energetic atmosphere for conversation and networking," she remarks.
The association is expecting 1,500 attendees and more than 100 exhibits ranging
across the broad spectrum of the oil and
gas industry, Landry describes. This also
will be the first year visitors may purchase
an expo-only pass, she mentions.
While the summit has a substantial
agenda, Landry highlights a few events:
* The "Unscripted: Can Colorado

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015

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