In the wake of the United States’ decision to drop out of the Paris Climate Accord, several political leaders across the country have taken it upon themselves to form the US Climate Alliance. On Tuesday, July 11, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper became the latest state leader to join the crusade when he proclaimed that Colorado’s state agencies would reduce overall emissions throughout the state.

In Colorado, where the state’s oil and gas industry is a consistent economic boon, a pledge to reduce emissions sounds like the governor is putting the oil and gas industry in his sights. But how much real impact will this new Climate Alliance have on the state’s energy producers?

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For several months, the American public has been forced to endure a tidal wave of stories focused on the supposed Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. While the media has remained eagle-eyed for any minute development in that story, another incident of Russian collusion has gone largely unreported.

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Among the myriad ongoing conflicts between anti-fracking protestors and the oil and gas industry, fracking’s supposedly harmful impact on nearby water sources is one of the most controversial. An integral part of the fracking process, water has been at the center of a debate that is still ongoing.

Frankly, the continued outrage over fracking and its relationship with water is getting increasingly shaky. New technology, industry pledges, and old-fashioned scientific evidence is proving that when done responsibly the extraction of shale through fracking isn’t a concern.

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Since the Trump administration took office earlier this year, the President has been working to make good on his campaign promises. In a lot of cases, that has meant battling his way upstream against a steady flow of criticism. The President’s environmental goals have been no different. Whether its the repeated attacks on his decision to open up federal lands to more extraction opportunities or his attempts to de-regulate the oil and gas industry, it seems that environmentalists can’t stand anything Trump does.

In general, that kind of partisan in-fighting is to be expected. What’s more, those decisions on the part of the Trump administration are easily defensible thanks to the continuing innovation within the oil and gas industry and the obvious economic benefits that extraction brings.

When it comes to Trump’s stance on the 2015 Paris Agreement, however, things get more complicated. In that instance, prominent oil and gas company executives are urging the President to comply with the terms of the Agreement.

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After several years of waiting for the Nigerian government to agree on some form of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, the country’s Senate has finally passed a version of the PIGB. Lawmakers from the oil rich African nation set about rallying the country’s House of Representatives to pass the bill, as well. If Nigeria is capable of coordinating its efforts and passing a finalized version of the PIGB, then its oil and gas reserves will finally become truly open to the outside world.

The decision would have a huge impact on the African nation, allowing it to lean heavily on the vast petroleum reserves in the Niger Delta.

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